News
Thursday, 01 September 2011
Intrigue and Wonder Await at The Oxfordshire Museum
Rare and varied objects, diverse touring exhibitions, unique collections telling Oxfordshire’s story and a Jurassic garden surprise...these are just a few of the exciting things to explore at The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock.
The free to enter county run venue is situated in a large 18th century house in Park Street. The Museum, which has eleven permanent galleries, houses displays of history, art, archaeology, landscape and wildlife, and explores some of Oxfordshire's most innovative industries, ranging from nanotechnology to nuclear power.
The Garden & Brew House galleries display a varied and exciting programme of touring exhibitions throughout the year. Relax in the Museum Café with decked garden terrace and browse for that unusual gift in the museum shop. The stunning museum garden is a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of historic Woodstock town and has a pre-historic surprise to reveal as you walk into the secret walled garden! The museum opening hours are 10.00am to 5.00pm Tuesday to Sunday, and from 2.00pm to 5.00pm on Sundays.
The newly opened Victorian Oxfordshire gallery encourages visitors to explore life in Queen Victoria’s reign, the centre piece being a unique model of Queen Victoria looking out across the gallery upon the many inventions and improvements she and Prince Albert encouraged. Discover how sanitation, schooling, industry, farming, health and living conditions all greatly improved during this period.
One of the many interesting items on display is a rare silk dress worn by Alice Liddell. She was on a rowing boat on the River Thames on July 4 1862 with Lewis Carroll travelling from Folly Bridge in Oxford to Godstow when he told her stories about the adventures of a girl named Alice, who fell into a rabbit-hole. Alice encouraged Carroll to write the story down – a version was eventually published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Another new addition to the permanent galleries is the Interactive Dinosaur gallery. With fun in mind, children can feed the dinosaurs and discover which dinosaur is vegetarian and which is a meat eater. Learn about how they lived, dress up and have fun with fossils and bones.
Currently on display in the Garden and Brew House galleries is a fun interactive automata exhibition from Mechanical Cabaret Theatre and Science Projects, which cleverly brings together art and science. No matter what age, you won’t be able to resist having a go at turning dials, moving cogs and levers on specially designed models. This exhibition runs until 11 September and the museum is also running several drop-in activities with the automata theme.
In September the temperature is set to rise with a new touring exhibition from The British Society of Enamellers. The Heat is On highlights jewellery created by melting coloured glass onto metal at 900 degrees. The work of more than 25 enamellers will be on display in the museum’s Garden Gallery from Saturday September 17 to Saturday October 15.
For more information about The Oxfordshire Museum, visit the official website.
