In 2020-2022 MonLife museums took part in a Collection Review Project, this allowed the county’s museums to discover more about the objects within their collections and their connections, if any, to Monmouthshire's story.

The review was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the project has enabled officers to develop a more sustainable way of caring for collections. Within the project, some items have been identified as without a clear connection to Monmouthshire.  

Over the last few years, a number of these items have been transferred to other museums and learning departments, including MonLife's learning department. In 2022, the museum also used a public auction to move items, which was conducted under the Museums Association's Code of Ethics. All money raised from the auction was then used to enhance the MonLife Museum's collections and conservation work.  

Following the success of the 2022 auction, the museum will used a further public auction in line with the Museums Association's Code of Ethics on May 3-4 2024 at the Salesroom, Pontrilas, under the supervision of Nigel Ward & Company.  

Removing carefully chosen items from the collection is a vital part of our ongoing commitment to preserving the history of the people and places of Monmouthshire, making sure that the items we hold within the collection are relevant to local history.  

The money raised from the auction will be used solely and directly to benefit the museum and its collections in the long term.

The enhancement of collection work continues in Monmouthshire, thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. A full inventory of the Monmouth Museum's local history collection is underway as part of the Dynamic Collections project. You can take a look at the collections by visiting: www.monlifecollections.co.uk/  

Monmouthshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Equalities and Engagement, Cllr Angela Sandles, said: "By carefully removing items from our collection, we can ensure that the collection is relevant to local history. Following industry standards, officers have identified items to be removed, which ensures we have space to store items of importance to Monmouthshire." 

To find out more about current exhibitions, visit www.monlife.co.uk/heritage/