Artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman’s cottage saved for the nation

The £3.5million campaign to save Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage was supported by a £750,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The Prospect Cottage campaign has been high profile and very effective in securing crowd funding and lower level donations.

It was supported by more than 8,000 donations including the Fund’s grant and £500,000 from the Art Fund which led the campaign.

NHMF’s grant award is towards the acquisition cost of £1,500,000, however the total fundraising target of £3.5m includes a £2m endowment for the management and maintenance of the property.

The Art Fund, working in partnership with Tate and Creative Folkestone will use the funds to acquire Prospect Cottage, the Dungeness home and garden created by Derek Jarman (1942–94), filmmaker, artist, and activist from the Keith Collins Will Trust.

The Fund will manage a permanent public programme, the conservation and maintenance of the building, its collection, its contents and renowned garden.

It was recommended to the NHMF board that public ownership was needed to maintain and safeguard the property and maintain public access. And that the Will Trust would be required to pursue a private sale if the property was not acquired by the Art Fund. This was particularly important as a private sale risked the separation of the house and collections.