CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
15th MAY - SEPTEMBER 2010
THE STAGES OF ABINGDON: TWENTY-SIX CENTURIES OF A TOWN
Come to Abingdon County Hall Museum for one of the final
exhibitions before the multi-million pound redevelopment of the
County Hall and the redisplay of the galleries in the Museum.
This exhibition will give visitors an insight into the potential
design ideas for the new permanent display areas planned for the
Sessions Hall gallery.
Telling the story of the last twenty-six
centuries of Abingdon, and demonstrating the town's claim to be
the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in England, there
will be a mixture of historic objects from the collections of
the Museum and Abingdon Town Council. Around these will be
stories, information and images relating to the various
personalities, events and experiences that make Abingdon so
special, both to visitors to the town and its loyal residents.
The
displays themselves will try to give possible ideas of the style
of the state-of-the-art exhibition approach that will be taken
following the Museum's redevelopment. Each part of the
exhibition will follow a different style and this will give the
public an opportunity to voice their own opinions on how they
would like the Museum displays to look following the work.
STUARTS OF ABINGDON 1603 - 1714
This is a brand new exhibition never seen elsewhere,
specifically created for Abingdon museum by Abingdon museum.
This exhibition will bring to
light another important time period of Abingdon history plus
general Stuart history, life and society. This
is a follow up exhibition from the previous Tudor exhibition in
May-September 2009.
The Stuarts are another very important part of British and
Abingdon history from 1603 with the crowning of James I and
ending with the death of Anne of Great Britain in 1714.
The Stuarts continued a time
period of complex history including religious quarrels inherited
from the Tudors, civil war and absolute monarchy, stability of
the country and union of the crowns, execution of a King, exile,
politics, fashion and architecture.
The history of the Stuarts is vast and complex but Abingdon was
very much at the centre of Stuart life.
From these complex times
many fascinating artefacts have survived to tell the story of an
important part of British and Abingdon history.
The
vast majority of artefacts in the exhibition are either from
Abingdon museum or other Abingdon collections and will not have
been seen before, thus giving the public a rare glimpse and
understanding of this time period. The exhibition is focused to
accommodate people of all ages so everyone can benefit including
children.
This exhibition will look at the complex history of the Stuarts
from all angles including prominent people, architecture, civil
war, union of the crowns, food, fashion, religion, children,
politics, Kings, Queens and much more.
