Dewsbury Museum | | Recently reopened with many enhancements for visitors' convenience and comfort; with newly exposed features to see, together with new permanent local history exhibitions and the popular 1940s classroom and toy gallery. | Dewsbury Museum re-opened on Monday, August 2 2010, after an extensive programme of development, refurbishment and restoration.
Work included the installation of a lift in a new three-storey tower, giving visitors with mobility problems access to all floors of the museum in Crow Nest Park, Dewsbury. The tower also houses new visitor facilities.
A disused area of the museum has been transformed into a new education room for visiting groups of schoolchildren and adult learners. The building is also the first of Kirklees' museums to have a biomass boiler which burns wood pellets and produces low carbon emissions.
Original features such as wood panelling, ornate ceiling work, fireplaces and mullioned windows were revealed during the work which was supported by the Council's capital programme. Because the museum is a grade 2 listed building of special architectural interest with parts dating back to the 16th Century, they were repaired carefully using historic materials.
Visitors can still enjoy the popular toy gallery and recreated 1940s classroom and take another look at Area Committee funded local history exhibitions - 'Dewsbury Greats', 'Transforming Thornhill Lees' and 'The Life and Times of Patrick Bronte in Dewsbury' - which are now permanently housed there.
Many famous people have connections with the town of Dewsbury. These individuals come from the worlds of entertainment, literature, sport, business and politics. Others have performed great acts of bravery. The 'Dewsbury Greats' exhibition, produced by Kirklees Museums & Galleries, looks at some of these people, all of whom have left a lasting impression on this town. Among the notable names are Patrick Stewart and Anthony Newley from the worlds of entertainment, Baronesses Boothroyd and Lockwood from the political sphere, and sporting greats Mike Stephenson and Eileen Fenton. In addition the exhibition features local heroes Wallace Hartley, bandleader on the Titanic's doomed voyage, and Dewsbury's two Victoria Cross winners. There also some surprising famous names with ancestral links to Dewsbury.
'Transforming Thornhill Lees' looks at the industrial past of the Thornhill Lees area, recalling the stories of the people and the businesses that made the area internationally famous. The exhibition was the culmination of nearly two years of work and research by a group of local residents and Kirklees Museums and Galleries staff.
'The Life and Times of Patrick Bronte in Dewsbury' was created for last year's Bronte Dewsbury 200 celebration to mark the arrival of Patrick Bronte in Dewsbury. The exhibition explores his life, work and impact on the town at a pivotal time in Dewsbury's industrial life and heritage. It was shown at Dewsbury Minster during the celebrations and has also been displayed in Dewsbury library.
Coming soon is the museum's new 'Discovering Dewsbury' gallery which blends historic stories, archives and collections with modern day images of Dewsbury people and the stories behind the aspects of their local heritage and identity that mean the most to them.
The gallery links into the 'Significant Places' project in which local people were photographed in their 'significant places' in and around the town. Some of the photographs and related stories form a new touring exhibition. Images from 'Significant Places' will be featured in the 'Discovering Dewsbury' gallery which opens to the public on Monday, August 23. They will sit alongside panels and objects that look at various historical themes - Life and Loss, Knowledge and Power, War and Peace, Work and Play, Town and Village and Comings and Goings.
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| For more information, contact: | Dewsbury Museum
Crow Nest Park,
Heckmondwike Road,
Dewsbury,
WF13 2SG | Tel: 01924 325100
Fax: 01924 325109
Email: dewsbury.museum@kirklees.gov.uk |
Disclaimer:
Please note, in some cases, the instructions for finding venues may only be exact to the the nearest street. Also, whilst we try to ensure these instructions are accurate we cannot accept responsibility for any postcode errors, or to subsequent changes in the venue details. |
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| Venue: |
Dewsbury Museum,
Crow Nest Park,
Heckmondwike Road,
Dewsbury,
WF13 2SG |
| Getting there: |
Map |
Directions |
| Opening times: |
All year.
11.00 - 17.00 Mon - Fri
12.00 - 17.00 Sat - Sun
Admission free.
Visiting groups should pre-book. |
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