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Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum is housed in a beautiful Victorian building in the heart of Worcester. The gallery runs a lively programme of exhibitions, activities and events. The museum hosts a unique programme of contemporary art exhibitions, as well as housing a historic picture collection and an intriguing selection of objects ranging from a 19th century chemist’s shop to the wonderful Regimental Museum. As well as regularly changing Museum and Gallery exhibitions, there is an atmospheric Balcony Cafe all of which is fully assessable to all. Worcester Museum was founded in 1833 by the members of the Worcestershire Natural History Society and claims to be one of the oldest regional museums in the Country. The collections were described as miscellaneous by one of the first curators and were originally shown in temporary rooms in Angel Street. In 1835 a new building was built to house the collections in Foregate Street on the present site of the Odeon Cinema. The museum was called the Hastings Museum in honour of Sir Charles Hastings, who was president of the Worcestershire Medical Society and a consultant physician at Worcester Infirmary. Unfortunately, during the 1860’s the museum went into decline and the artefacts in the museum were described as being covered in dust. In 1879 the Free Libraries Act was adopted in Worcester and the Museum, Art Gallery and Library were amalgamated and given renewed funding. In the 1880’s the museum committee sought the advice of the British Museum and Dr Henry Woodward submitted a long report making recommendations on the future management of the Museum. In 1894 the foundation stone was laid by King George V for a new building to house the Museum, Art Gallery and Library. This building was opened to the public in 1896 and is the present home of Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. Worcester City Museum has a geological collection of around 12,000 specimens. It contains a wide variety of geological material – rocks, fossils, minerals, ores, gemstones, meteorites and models. Most specimens are from British sites and range in age from the Precambrian to the Quaternary, representing around 2000 million years of the Earth’s geological history. The strength of the collection lies in its comprehensive range of the local fossils and rocks, particularly those from the Malvern Hills – one of Britain’s most important classic geological areas. However, the collection also has superb minerals and surprisingly interesting vertebrate fossils. Many specimens are of excellent quality and others can no longer be collected today. The Collection was mainly assembled in the 19th Century. Many specimens were collected during the construction of the railways and others came from sites that no longer exist or are now protected. Some specimens are just beautiful and fascinating objects, others are scientifically important specimens and therefore the collection has national significance. Rocks, fossils and minerals are displayed in the museum gallery, including an Iguanodon footprint, a three toed dinosaur of the cretaceous period, who made this footprint over 130 million years ago. An Ice Age display complete with Woolly Mammoth tusk, Hippopotamus vertebra and Red Deer antler transports you back in time to the birth of the River Severn. Well worth a visit! Explore the Geology and Landscape around Worcester Museum
Explore the bedrock and superficial geology of Worcester City on the British Geological Surveys ‘Geology of Britain Viewer’ – click here to be directed to their webpage
National Curriculum linked activities for schools:
Opening Times 2015
Christmas Holiday Closures 2015
Admission to Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum is FREE |
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