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Invitation to tender For the provision of freelance specialist archival consultancy services to Fulham Palace in support of a Heritage Lottery Funded Volunteer Archive Research and Interpretation Project

Background

Fulham Palace is a truly remarkable place. For centuries, this Grade I Listed building situated in

extensive grounds by the River Thames was the country residence of the Bishops of London with

an important archaeological history. The Palace is now managed by Fulham Palace Trust, which is

inspired by a vision to restore our nationally significant historic buildings and grounds to their

original beauty and to provide outstanding facilities for the local community and visitors from farther

afield.

The Trust is embarking on a HLF funded major project ‘Discovering the Bishop of London’s Palace

at Fulham’. The project will focus on bringing the iconic Tudor Quadrangle and key historic rooms,

such as the Great Hall, back to life by conserving the building and dressing the rooms to show how

the Bishops of London would have lived and worked here across the centuries. The Project will

also enhance the botanical gardens, including re-establishing some of the exotic species that were

first introduced to Europe by the botanist and bishop Henry Compton in the late 17th and early 18th

century.

A core element of the Project will be an 18-month volunteer archive research and interpretation

strand of work, which will undertake further investigation of sources at Fulham Palace as well as in

external partner archives. This is with a view to offering more evidence to support our structured

interpretation plan for the Palace.

To this end, the Trust is inviting consultant freelance archivists to submit proposals on delivering

the attached brief.

The scope and direction of the research will take as its starting point the sources lists completed in

2016. Resources on site include a small reference library, copies of relevant primary material and a

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Museum collection which includes archival material and photographs.The research project will

address, where feasible, identified gaps in the Conservation Plan and in the interpretation

framework to identify, document and make accessible material to support our key themes for

permanent and non fixed interpretation and provide evidence for potential co-creation projects, for

high quality temporary exhibitions and the ongoing development of a programme of talks and tours.

The project is planned to involve 9 volunteers, of which 4 will be new to Fulham Palace,

contributing at least 270 hours over 18 months.

Our Requirements

Fulham Palace Trust is looking to appoint a freelance consultant research archivist to support the delivery of the the following:

A professionally delivered programme of volunteer team training including: archival investigation and research skills; simple collections management and handling techniques; identification of quotes, text and images suitable for potential wider interpretation; listing and creation of list database;

Templates for recording volunteer research that maps properly to the gaps in our 2016 Conservation Plan and themes of our Interpretation Framework. The consultant will be expected to frame the research to ensure that it meets the requirments of the project’s interpretation workstream;

A workflow programme which plans out the research project over 18 months using the sources report as its basis for estimates of time and sets out key target milestones as well as an anticipated meeting schedule;

Special one to one training for a potential Volunteer Coordinator to undertake a coordination role for other volunteers and ownership of the workflow and quality of outputs;

Follow up training with volunteer cohort for quality assurance purposes over lifetime of project;

Quality assurance and ongoing monitoring of the work being undertaken throughout the life of the project.

Delivering the brief

This project is to begin in early May 2017 (potential start date 2nd May 2017) and will last for 18 months. We would like the process to be iterative and for the freelancer to be prepared to work closely with members of Fulham Palace team including the Learning and Engagement Manager, the Curator, the Volunteer Development Officer and the Community Archaeologist. We would expect the process to include:

1. Familiarisation with interpretation planning to date, source report and communication with

Cultural Consulting Network, providers of interpretion and strategic advice to Fulham

Palace to date (1 day)

2. Site visit to Fulham Palace to meet project team

3. Site visits as required at the start of project to review existing archival resources

4. Site visits as required to train volunteer team recruited by Fulham Palace (to include

planning of all necessary workshops alongside the Volunteer Development Officer)

5. One training session with Volunteer Coordinator

6. Follow up site visits to support volunteer cohort during 18 month project

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7. Quality assurance of the final research outputs

8. Final meeting with Fulham Palace staff for evaluation purposes

Project management and monitoring The client for the work is Sian Harrington, Chief Executive, Fulham Palace Responsibilities The consultant will be responsible for the deliverables outlined in above. Fulham Palace will be responsible for providing all necessary information and data, making sure that staff and volunteers attend meetings to agreed deadlines and milestones set by the Consultant. Timetable The work should start on the 2nd May 2017 and be completed by end September 2018.

Budget

The total budget available for this commission is £6,250 including all applicable VAT, travel and expenses.

Responding to the brief

To respond to this brief, the consultant freelance archivist should provide Fulham Palace with:

A short methodology statement explaining how the brief requirements stated above will be

delivered within the timescale required. This should include an anticipated timetable of

activities and key dates.

CV and details of relevant professional experience and skills. Demonstrating any

experience of similar HLF funded projects would be desirable.

2 references from clients of similar work

The extent of professional insurance or indemnity cover.

Responses of no more than 6 pages of A4 should be emailed for the attention of Sian Harrington,

Chief Executive at admin@fulhampalace.org by 5pm on 3 April 2017.

A shortlisting process will be undertaken and interviews will be held on Tuesday 11th April 2017 at

Fulham Palace. Consultants are kindly requested to keep this day free for this purpose. All

consultants will be informed about whether they are to be invited to an interview no later than

Thursday 6th April.

Other matters

Copyright and confidentiality The copyright for the work will be vested in Fulham Palace. The consultant should clear the copyright for any illustrations or other material used. Archiving Any new historical material that is collected while the plan is being prepared will be retained by Fulham Palace.