|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The New Banbury Museum opens Spring 2002
|
Founded in the 7th century, Banbury has a long and noble history from which
many stories and events have passed into folklore. Genuine Banbury Cakes are still made in Banbury and dispatched around the world, and the Rhyme of Banbury Cross is still
recited to children as it has been for many centuries. Banbury Museum was established in the 1940s. Originally housed in the town library, the museum moved to its current
site in 1981. New displays and an exciting temporary exhibition programme swelled the number of museum visitors from 35,000 to a remarkable 75,000 a year.
|
These high attendance figures for such a small museum, coupled with the desire to expand the
range of services offered, led to a search for a new location for the museum. In 1996 one was found. The new site was central and included two parcels of
land divided by the Oxford Canal, which incorporated the historic Tooley's Boatyard, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The boatyard is significant for both Banbury and the
nation. In continuous use since its opening in 1778, it serviced the narrow boats that allowed the town to
embrace the industrial revolution and grow into a manufacturing centre. More recently, in the 1940s, a boat named Cressy was refitted at Tooley's for use as a
leisure boat. The book Narrow Boat, recording this and L.T.C. Rolt's cruise on Britain's inland waterways, is credited with encouraging the formation of the
pressure group, the Inland Waterways Assocation, which in turn spawned a new public leisure interest in canals.
|
The new museum design won an architectural competition organised by the
Royal Institute of British Architects. Designed by ECD Architects, the striking modern building will be a prestigious state-of-the-art facility offering an
exciting range of heritage services free of charge, some of which are listed below.
- The Museum galleries will illustrate six themes from Banbury's history
- The English Civil War
- The manufacture of plush
- The Victorians
- World War II
- Banbury Today
- The Oxford Canal
Collections currently in store will be displayed for the first time, including examples of costume and textiles, and natural history specimens.
- A waterways discovery gallery will offer an exciting "hands-on" space
enabling visitors to find out in a fun way, about the scientific principles that govern both waterborne transport and the canal infrastructure.
- There will be access to an historic working boatyard where the visitor will
be able to see traditional and modern skills and machinery in use.
- The temporary exhibition gallery will be used to display touring exhibitions
and important works of art borrowed from national collections. In addition there will be an exhibition space available for local artists to display their work.
Other facilities and services will include
- A tourist information centre and museum shop.
- a 50-seat lecture theatre and cafe overlooking the canal, which will be
available for hire.
- an education programme, planned to support both permanent and temporary
exhibitions.
For more information please contact:
Simon Townsend, Museum Services Manager Banbury Museum Heritage Centre Spiceball Park Road Banbury OX16 2PQ Tel 01295 259855 Fax 01295 270556
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|