The Eric Ravilious: Downland Man exhibition which ran from October 2021 to January 2022 was our first high-profile exhibition featuring major loans from regional and National Museums. What a journey it was, with petrol shortages and threatened COVID lockdowns to keep us on our toes...

It was a huge success, with over 12,000 visitors to the exhibition and had a direct impact on the local economy of almost £390,000. These figures were developed as a result of a carefully planned robust evaluation, using the methodology developed by the Association of Independent Museums to identify the economic impact of museums.

The headline statistics were:

• 12,225 visitors
• 69% were first-time visitors to the Museum
• 120,000 views on social media
• 45,000 website visitors
• 50% of visitors came more than 33km (from beyond Bath, Hungerford, Frome and Swindon)
• 72 volunteers gave 2,791 hours of their time, representing a value of £42,000
• 100% of volunteers said that the exhibition improved their well-being
• 98% of volunteers intended to continue volunteering with the Museum
• £50,000 in admission income
• £70,000 in shop sales
• 2,000 catalogues sold, 500 sold through our online shop
• £389,926 – direct tourism impact of our visitors on the local economy (spend in cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops etc)
• £991,202 – full year economic impact of the Museum in the local area (tourism impact plus impact of staff employed, procurement of services etc)
  • £247 generated for each £1 of revenue grant from Devizes Town Council
  • £77 generated for each £1 of revenue grant from Wiltshire Council
• 1 Royal visit by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

Read the full report here.