West Berkshire Museum

West Berkshire Museum
Established 26 October 1904 (1904-10-26)[1]
Location Newbury, Berkshire
Coordinates 51°24′05″N 1°19′18″W / 51.401337°N 1.321743°W / 51.401337; -1.321743
Collection size 20,000[2]
Website www.westberks.gov.uk/museum

The West Berkshire Museum is a museum located in Newbury, Berkshire. Established in 1904, the museum houses various artworks and collections. The museum is housed in two of Newbury's most historic buildings.[3] The Cloth Hall was built in 1626-1627 by Richard Emmes, a master carpenter of Speenhamland for the Newbury Corporation as a cloth factory. Originally part of a larger range of buildings with a courtyard in the centre, the building was subsequently used as a workhouse, hospital and school before being used for storing corn from 1829 until its conversion to a museum.[4]

The museum itself hosts eleven different exhibitions galleries, café, resource and discovery centre. Opening hours are Monday (bank holidays only 10am -4pm) Wednesday - Sunday 10am - 4pm.

West Berkshire Museum is unusual in that the exhibitions are not permanent. All of its galleries change regularly, and community groups and individuals are strongly encouraged to make their own exhibitions for display.

The museum underwent a £2.2m renovation in 2014 to update its exhibit areas and visitor facilities. The funding came from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£1.2m), and the West Berkshire Council, Greenham Common Trust and the Headley Trust (£1m total).[2]

References

  1. ↑ Sutton, Kate (26 October 2004). "West Berkshire Museum is 100 years old!". Finds.org.uk. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  2. 1 2 "West Berkshire Museum opens after refurbishment - BBC News". BBC. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "West Berkshire Museum". The Art Fund. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  4. ↑ "West Berkshire Museum, Newbury". 24 Hour Museum. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.

Coordinates: 51°24′05″N 1°19′20″W / 51.4013°N 1.3221°W / 51.4013; -1.3221

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.