Weston Park Museum
Weston Park Museum, one mile west of the centre of Sheffield, England, lies beside Weston Park and surrounded by the University of Sheffield. It is managed by Museums Sheffield.
The building, neo-Classical and in the Ionic order, was completed in 1868, and extended twice since. Some of the extension works were funded by donations from local businessman J. G. Graves. The front part of the building was the city museum, while the rear was the art gallery. The art gallery is a Grade II* listed building.
Weston Park Museum was named the Sheffield City Museum and Mappin Art Gallery until 2006. It opened in 1875, and housed Sheffield's archaeology, natural history, decorative art and social history collections.
The Mappin Art Gallery had a small section given over to a rotating exhibition of the city's collection, but the majority of its galleries contained a contemporary mixture of commissions and touring exhibitions.
The building closed in March 2003 for complete renovation. The £17.3 million re-development was partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sheffield City Council and Objective 1 for South Yorkshire. The building reopened in October 2006 as Weston Park Museum.
There are seven galleries: the Harold Cantor Gallery, Sheffield Life and Times, History Lab, Arctic World, What on Earth!, Treasures and About Art. The Harold Cantor Gallery houses temporary exhibitions, which can change up to four times a year. There is also a weather station monitoring area in the foyer.
The museum has been updated to appeal to families and non-traditional museum visitors as well as the seasoned museum visitor, and won The Guardian's Family Friendly Museums award in 2008.[1]
Entrance is free and the museum is open every day.
The museum's archaeology exhibits include a replica of the Bronze Age rock art from Gardom's Edge and many items collected by Thomas Bateman, notably the Benty Grange helmet which closely matches the descriptions of warriors' helmets in Beowulf.
[edit] References
- ^ Hickling, Alfred (2008-05-01), "Bring on the giant spiders", The Guardian, http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/heritage/story/0,,2277014,00.html.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Details from listed building database (457336) - Mappin Art Gallery - Grade II*. Images of England. English Heritage.
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Coordinates: 53°22′54″N 1°29′32″W / 53.381724°N 1.492116°W
- Buildings and structures completed in 1868
- Museums established in 2006
- Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield
- Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
- Museums in Sheffield
- Art museums and galleries in Sheffield
- Archaeology museums in England
- Natural history museums in the United Kingdom
- Local museums in South Yorkshire
- 2006 establishments in England
