Stapleford Granary

Stapleford Granary is a live arts and music venue operated by The Association for Cultural Exchange, a groundbreaking charity established in 1958. Its Founder, Philip Brooke Barnes, set up the charity to promote lifelong cultural education.

The spirit of change and optimism that characterised the late 1950s permeates the charity. Philip’s model of education was progressive and forward-thinking. He believed in hands-on, experiential ways of learning. His study tours encouraged observation, discussion and debate, field work, curiosity, exploration and questioning. It was a model that moved away from a traditional, literature-based education towards a more socially conscious one. For decades, ACE (as it is affectionately known) made it possible for groups of people with enquiring minds to travel throughout the UK, Europe and the world to learn about art, architecture, literature, design, music and natural history under expert tutelage.

In 2009, the charity purchased Stapleford Granary in south Cambridgeshire as an arts centre home. At the same time, ACE Cultural Tours was restructured as a business (owned by the parent charity) and continues to operate its acclaimed expert-led tours to this day. With ACE Cultural Tours helping to provide financial support, charitable activity moved to Stapleford Granary. Now the owner of a beautiful building, the charity had exciting potential to connect with a community, build relations with regional and national partners, and establish itself as a unique, vibrant centre for the arts.