News
The doors of the long-awaited entrance to North Hertfordshire Museum will be opening in 3 weeks time.
As well as a new entrance hall with its welcome desk, there will be a shop and café too. Upstairs our Terrace Gallery will open, with displays showcasing the people, art and collections of North Herts. Sit down in our mini cinema and enjoy animations of local folk tales. The Arches Exhibition Space will feature local artists’ work, starting with Vanessa Stone and her beautiful paper cut pictures of the district.
In our main exhibition gallery there will be a fabulous sensory experience for family audiences. Drop in and see Blood and Bone, an interactive installation. Spacecadets Air Designs have taken inspiration from human biology and the artworks are inspired by cells and organisms inside our bodies. You are invited to explore, listen to and touch a series of giant breathing tunnels and caves.
Come down on Saturday 6 July at 10:15 am to see the entrance doors officially open for the first time.
We will be joined by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Neville Reyner, as well as, members of the District Council:
- Chairman of the Council, Cllr Jean Green
- Leader of the Council, Cllr Martin Stears-Handscomb
- Executive Member for Enterprise and Co-operative Development, Cllr Keith Hoskins
Drop in for free and take part in family activities that will be running all day. Be one of the first people to experience the fully open North Hertfordshire Museum.
Important information: the Museum will be closed from 24 June till we reopen on 6 July.
North Hertfordshire Museum is most grateful to the National Lottery Heritage fund as without it we wouldn’t have such a wonderful new museum.
A ninth-century capper alloy scabbard chape from Ashwell
At Kris Lockyear’s blog Sensing the Iron Age and Roman Past: Geophysics and the Landscape of Hertfordshire, he reports on a recent geophysical survey he and his team undertook in Ashwell. The Museum Service had previously done fieldwalking on the site and I was given the task of plotting out the results. In those days (1986), everything was done by hand as we didn’t have the benefit of computers or GPS. A couple of items from the site are on display in the museum, most notably a very well preserved Viking-era scabbard chape, found by a metal detectorist in the 1970s.
Guest post by Lucy Slater
Lucy with a swimming trophy that she cleaned
As a university student with no prior museum knowledge, completing three weeks worth of work experience at North Hertfordshire Museum has been an eye opening and incredibly fun experience. Coming in to the museum for my first day as a complete novice was nerve wracking, but everyone at the museum was helpful, kind and willing to answer my constant stream of questions. My time at the museum has consisted of undertaking a multitude of tasks, such as digitising accession records, cleaning objects of interest (from local swimming trophies to ancient axe heads), and even locating a painting needed by the museum. Each of these tasks brought to light a new aspect of the challenges of museum work and provided me with new knowledge and skills. My goal for this work experience was to learn as much as I could, and the team at the museum made sure I reached that goal.
Local History truly comes to life at the North Herts Museum. My time here gave me a fascinating glance into the world of museum work, but also into the detailed and at times incredibly personal history of the district. From impassioned correspondence between the curator of the former Hitchin football museum and the clubs he requested objects from, to the extensive, colourful, and occasionally abrasive geology collection, North Hertfordshire Museum contains some of the most interesting objects I’ve ever had the opportunity to discover.
If ever you’re in the mood to be immersed in an engaging and dynamic museum experience, or wanting a challenging and fulfilling work experience placement, I cannot recommend North Hertfordshire Museum enough.