The Novium facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Novium
The Novium, from Tower Street
General information
Type	Museum
Location	Tower Street, Chichester, West Sussex
Coordinates	50°50′15″N 0°46′53″W / 50.8374°N 0.7813°W / 50.8374; -0.7813
Inaugurated	2011/12
Design and construction
Architect	Keith Williams

The Novium is an exciting museum located in Chichester, West Sussex, in southern England. Its name comes from "Noviomagus Reginorum," which was the Roman name for the city many years ago. The museum was officially opened on July 8, 2012.

The museum was designed by a famous architect named Keith Williams. It is much bigger than the old museum, covering an area of 1,300 square meters. The building has three floors, and each floor has a special gallery for exhibitions. There's also a room for research and learning, plus a storage area for historical items.

One of the coolest things about The Novium is that it's built right over the top of Chichester's ancient Roman Bath House complex. You can see these amazing Roman ruins on the ground floor!

The museum holds over 350,000 objects! These items are about geology (rocks and earth), archaeology (ancient history), and social history (how people lived). About 50,000 of these objects are kept inside the museum. The rest of the archaeological collection is stored at the Fishbourne Roman Palace nearby.

The History of Chichester's Museum

How the Museum Started

In 1831, a doctor named John Forbes decided to create a group called the Philosophical and Literary Society in Chichester. One of their main goals was to start a museum. This first museum focused on natural history.

It was first located at the Royal West Sussex Hospital. People from the public donated many items to start the collection. Later, the museum moved to 45 South Street. They had planned to move to 7 North Pallant, but it didn't happen because of money problems.

Growing Interest in History

In 1851, people became very interested in the museum. This was partly because of the Great Exhibition in London. Also, a group called the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland held their yearly meeting in Chichester. This made many local people excited about their town's history. It also led to lots of archaeological digs in the area.

A Time of Decline

Sadly, in the 1890s, fewer people were interested in the museum. This led to a very unfortunate decision: they had to sell some of the artifacts to keep the museum going. In 1914, the army took over the museum building. There were rumors that the remaining exhibits were badly damaged. By 1924, almost nothing was left of the museum, and the collection had been completely sold off.

Bringing the Museum Back to Life

In the 1930s, people started to care about the museum again. They tried to bring it back, but the city council wasn't very interested in giving money. Finally, in 1936, a two-week exhibition was held at the Guildhall in Priory Park. It showed artifacts that had been collected over the previous three years. This led to the Guildhall becoming a storage place for new artifacts for the next 25 years.

In 1961, another temporary exhibition opened. This inspired a local architect to buy an old Corn Mill that was no longer used. He offered to let the council use it to open a new museum.

The New Chichester Museum

In 1962, the new museum opened its doors. It was called the Chichester Museum. It showed local art from the 1700s. The Duchess of Richmond officially opened it in April 1964. Since then, the collection has grown a lot because of all the archaeological work happening in the area. In 1974, the museum's name changed to the Chichester District Museum. This showed its direct connection with the District Council.

The most recent big event in the museum's story was closing the Little London Corn Mill. This happened because the museum was moving to its brand new building and getting a new name: The Novium.

The History of The Novium Site

The first signs of the Roman baths were found in 1960. This happened during construction work behind a store. Workers found a piece of black and white mosaic and part of a wall. More archaeological digs took place in 1972 when the Post Office Building was being built. At that time, the site was planned to become a multi-storey car park. If that had happened, all the ancient Roman layers would have been completely destroyed.

What to See at The Novium

Here are some of the main things you can see at The Novium:

• Chichester Roman Bath House
• Jupiter Stone
• Chilgrove Mosaic

In 2019, a statue of King Charles I was loaned to the museum. This statue was made by Hubert Le Sueur and was originally located on the Chichester Cross.