On Wednesday we visited the fairly new
museum in Shrewsbury. The Museum was previously housed in a timber framed
building called Rowley's House but over the last year or two it has
moved to the former Music Hall building and behind it the older building
known as Vaughan's Mansion.
It is a lovely museum, especially for me the Medieval, Tudor and Stuart galleries. Above a view of the medieval gallery in the old hall of Vaughan's Mansion.
I was impressed with the use of space and the way the differing galleries were displayed within it. Above a view from the balcony of the Shropshire Gallery on the floor of the old Music Hall.
It was very hard to chose just five things from the variety of objects in the displays so I have sneaked in a collage of others at the end of this post. So, below are five random objects, not in chronological order, from across the museum exhibits.
1. A carving, from the Tudor Gallery, of the Shrewsbury Borough Arms or 'loggerheads' removed in 1760 from the outside of Romaldesham Hall, the home of the Montgomery family, and placed with two other carvings into the fronts of cottages built on the site of the old hall. These cottages stood from 1760 until 1949.
2. Women's shoes c. 1710 from the costume section of the Shropshire Gallery
3. An early 18th century oil painting by John Bowen of a formal garden belonging to a house on Dogpole in Shrewsbury. The town has some very unusual street names which I will include in another post.
4. A seahorse from the art installation by Shirley Chub on the balcony overlooking the Shropshire Gallery
5. A silver hand mirror from the Roman gallery. Said to be the finest ever found in Britain it was made in the Rhineland and may have been brought here by a wealthy Roman woman.
I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from our day to enjoy five
things. Please go and visit the other people who are also blogging about
Five on Friday this week.
Amy from Love Made My Home
Helen from Woollybluebells
Helen from Woollybluebells
Gina from Fan My Flame
Joanne from A Whole Plot of Love
Debbie from Saylor Street Cottage
Lil from House With Hearts
Looks like a great place. So good to see a local museum opening/moving/thriving. Many are under pressure to be closed down. And look at all that local history, so much and dating back hundreds (thousands?) of years. The Roman mirror is amazing. I am going to stick with my original Five on Friday, the 4th Of the month, even though the format has changed. x
ReplyDeleteYes it is good to see a local Museum thriving in this present cliamate. It always disappoints and saddens me when the first things that get cut when the economy is struggling are the things that make life bearable and interesting as well as often being free admission for those who are struggling - things like museums, libraries and also theatres:)
DeleteI like the tapestry woven shoes very much. I bet they are a tiny fit! I also like the 'loggerheads' - do you know if that is where the saying comes from Rosie - to be at loggerheads with someone? Have a happy Friday! x
ReplyDeleteThe shoes are lovely aren't they? Apparently loggerheads comes from the description of someone being a block head or fool - I notice they are all blobbing their tongues out in a foolish manner:)
DeleteI like the carving, I have a 'thing' for carvings be they in wood or stone. X
ReplyDeleteThanks, there were some interesting carvings in that gallery in particular, it was hard to choose which ones to use:)
DeleteFive incredible things! The mirror is amazing isn't it. Obviously a very interesting place to visit. I hadn't thought about it being the 13th until yesterday, I think that it is lucky to be sharing with other people today, that is how I am looking at it! Hope that you have a great weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteYes, it must be awful to have a fear of Friday 13th. The mirror would have been held by a servant with the handle so that the owner could see herself in the other side:)
DeleteI think my favorite was the Roman mirror, but the shoes ran it a close second. Looks like quite an interesting museum.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fascinating museum and buzzing with visitors and school parties - the staff/volunteers were very helpful and enthusiastic too:)
DeleteI love it all but those shoes are stunning! So many interesting things. xx
ReplyDeleteThe shoes are wonderful aren't they?:)xx
DeleteWhat a fascinating place! I love the seahorse :)
ReplyDeleteI too love the shape of the seahorse - have always been fascinated by them since I was a child:)
DeleteWhat a lovely selection of objects. I think the shoes are my favourite!
ReplyDeleteI kept popping back to look at the shoes - they are fascinating:)
DeleteHi Rosie, I live in Shropshire and work in Shrewsbury. I loved this museum too, my faves were the costumes on the bottom floor and the magnifying circles of nature (from the seahorse installation) but I love it all really. Do pop over and visit my blog. I just finished my first scrappy double bed quilt. Go and see...Jo x
ReplyDeletehttp://joeveryday19@blogspot.co.uk
It seems that we liked the same things, Jo. I will pop over and visit your blog and see your quilt:)
DeleteWhat a lovely selection of objects, I must visit that museum one day x
ReplyDeleteIt is well worth a visit, Joanne:)
DeleteWe were in Shrewsbury last weekend (having lunch at the oyster bar in the market) and we went past the old Rowley's House. What are they planning to do with that building? It looks really impressive from the outside and I'd hate to think it was going to be too commercial!
ReplyDeleteWe wondered what was going to happen to it - we could see some drawing boards in there as the park and ride bus we were on passed by. I looked it up when we got home and apparently the University of Chester have submitted plans to the council to use it as a teaching and education facility:)
DeleteThe restoration of the Music Hall buildings must have been fascinating to witness. Was the Music Hall gutted inside except for the wall decoration and balcony? The Shropshire Gallery looks high up judging from the view down onto the other museum spaces. The costume collection and the medieval gallery would interest me.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it was Linda there is nothing left of the seating or raked floor (if there was one) I'd never been inside it before except to the information centre at the front. The Shropshire Gallery is below the balcony on which there was an art installation relating to the antiquities in the museum and where I stood to take the photo:)
DeleteThank you for the information, Rosie. I hope you're having a good week.
Delete