Funding agreed to conserve and display a series of nationally significant panel paintings in Chichester
Published 16:17 on 4 Nov 2025
A series of unique panel paintings showing eight female cultural heroines are to be fully conserved over the next two years and then displayed at The Novium Museum thanks to funding from Chichester District Council.
The Worthy Women, also known as The Amberley Panels were purchased by Chichester District Council in 1983 for £6,500, supported by a generous £4,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
Commissioned around 1526 by Robert Sherborne, Bishop of Chichester the paintings are the work of artist Lambert Barnard (c. 1490-1567). Painted on oak panels, they were originally part of the elaborate panelling which decorated the Queens Room at Amberley Castle, the residence of the Bishop at the time. They are thought to have been specially painted for the room where Queen Katharine of Aragon was meant to stay on a visit with her husband, King Henry VIII during his Royal Progress through Sussex. While it is thought very likely that King Henry VIII saw the panels, his wife never made the trip.
The panels had been displayed in Pallant House Gallery until the early 2010s when the gallery changed its focus on contemporary art.
At the time, The Novium Museum did not have the space to display or store the panels, so an agreement was made with the Church Commissioners for England for the panels to be displayed in The Sherborne Room at the Bishops Palace, which itself is home to an elaborate painted panel ceiling created by Lambert Bernard.
The panels are now in need of conservation work and Chichester District Councils Cabinet has agreed to spend just over £248,000 on their full restoration and for them to be displayed to the public.
For those people lucky enough to have seen these panels up close, they are truly magnificent and very beautiful works of art, says Councillor John Cross, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Place at Chichester District Council. These panels are extremely rare survivals and are exceptional examples of their kind because they can be confidently attributed to a named painter and patron. As a significant part of our national and local heritage, its vital that they are conserved fully and as custodians of these panels, we have a duty to ensure that they are cared for properly.
The panels are nationally and internationally significant and once conserved and displayed, have the potential for a huge amount of local pride.
Unfortunately, due to their age, materials and fragility, they now require urgent conservation work.
As part of the process, a series of purpose-built crates will need to be made so that the panels can be carefully removed from the Bishops Palace, overseen by a conservator, and taken to specialists at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge. An area of the museum will then be refitted and redesigned so that the panels can be displayed in optimum environmental conditions to help protect them for the future.
Cllr Cross adds: While this essential and specialist work takes place, the museum will work to try to secure grant funding towards future exhibition costs and programming.
I have no doubt that once the panels go on display at The Novium Museum, they will become a huge draw. Having them on display also means that the museum will be able to develop activities for schools and the local community to complement the current learning programme. Being such rare and significant works, these are sure to be bring many visitors to the museum which will help boost tourism and the local economy I view this as a very exciting opportunity.
