Curious About the County Museum?

Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury Castle will be hosting two lunchtime tours this summer to allow visitors to learn more about the beautiful Grade 1 listed building and the fascinating collections the Museum cares for.

The first event, 'Curious about the Collection?' will take place at 11am on Wednesday 20 June and offers a chance for a rare behind the scenes tour of the huge museum stores with the Museum's two Collections Officers. Visitors will be able to get up close to hundreds of interesting objects, some of which have never before been shown to the public, and also have the chance to see inside the Furniture, Costume and Archaeology 'pods'. Some of the more unusual and unique items the public will be able to see range from a mummified cat to a waistcoat worn by Worcester born Music Hall star Vesta Tilley.

A second guided tour, 'Curious about the Castle?' will take place at 11am on Tuesday 17 July.  The tour is being offered as part of the national Festival of British Archaeology, 14-29 July 2012 (http://festival.britarch.ac.uk/). Participants will explore over 1000 years of history discovering how a medieval moated castle became a 'gentleman's residence' for Georgian bishops and learning to recognise where one period of building ends and another begins. This tour through the ages will include viewing the bastion of a 13^th century tower, the site of a 14^th century kitchen, 15^th century roof timbers in a medieval Great Hall, a rococo Georgian saloon, a 'Gothick Revival' bishop's chapel all the way through to a 21^st century glass elevator.

Tickets for both tours must be pre-booked on 01299 250416.  Tickets cost £16 and include a tasty lunch in the museum Café after the tour and a chance to view the rest of the museum at your leisure after lunch. 

Rachel Robinson, Visitor Experience Manager said: “These tours offer a great chance to learn more about the work of the Museum and about the important building where we are based. Participants really enjoy the chance to see areas of the building and items from the collection which aren’t seen by the general visitors and with lunch and a chance to visit the Museum afterwards it really is a full day out and it is definitely not to be missed.”

For more information or to purchase tickets please contact the museum on 01299 250416

This page was last reviewed 28 May 2012 at 12:56.
The page is next due for review 24 November 2013.