Bagshaw Museum facts for kids
Exterior of the museum
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| Former name | Wilton Park Museum |
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| Established | 1911 |
| Location | Batley, West Yorkshire |
| Type | Local museum |
| Key holdings |
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| Founder | Walter Bagshaw |
| Owner | Kirklees Council |
| Nearest parking | On site (no charge) |
The Bagshaw Museum is a cool local museum in Batley, West Yorkshire. It is located in Wilton Park. The beautiful old mansion was built in a style called Gothic Revival. Walter Bagshaw turned it into a museum in 1911.
It was first called the Wilton Park Museum. After Walter Bagshaw passed away in 1927, it was renamed in his honor. The museum started with Walter Bagshaw's own collection. Later, his daughter Violet and a collector named John Hilditch added many more interesting items.
Today, the museum has a mix of old objects and items from different cultures. It even has a special gallery about ancient Egypt. This is unusual for a local museum! You can see a replica mummy there. It was made using a real Egyptian death mask. The museum also has a large collection of Asian textiles. This shows Batley's history with the textile industry and its diverse community. A very valuable painting by Francis Bacon, called Figure Study II, was once at the museum. It is now at the Huddersfield Art Gallery.
Today, Kirklees Council owns and runs the museum.
Contents
History of the Museum
The museum building was originally a grand house. It was called 'The Woodlands'. A mill owner named George Sheard built it in 1875. The house was very fancy and cost a lot of money to build.
When George Sheard died in 1902, no one wanted to buy the house. So, the local government bought it for a very small price. Walter Bagshaw then changed it into a museum in 1911. It was first named the Wilton Park Museum. After Walter Bagshaw died in 1927, it was renamed the Bagshaw Museum. This was to honor him as its first curator.
How the Collection Grew
The museum started with Walter Bagshaw's own private collection. After he passed away, his daughter, Violet Bagshaw, kept traveling. She bought and donated many more objects to the museum.
The museum's collection grew a lot in 1929. It received 170 items from the collection of John Hilditch. He was a well-known collector of items from Eastern cultures. Hilditch had shown many of his items in a travelling exhibition. His will said that his collection should go to wherever the exhibition was when he died. It happened to be at the Bagshaw Museum at that time.
In 2016, there were talks about closing the museum. This was because of budget cuts. However, the Bagshaw Museum is still open today. Other nearby museums, like the Dewsbury Museum and Red House Museum, closed instead.
What You Can See: Museum Collections
The museum has several interesting galleries. There are two galleries about local history. There is also a gallery about South Asia. You can also find a space for temporary exhibitions. Most exciting is the special gallery about ancient Egypt. This is quite rare for a local museum!
Ancient Egypt and World Cultures
The main attraction in the Egypt gallery is a full-size replica mummy. A curator named John Lidster created it in 1969. He used a real historic death mask, bandages, and even ground coffee to make it look real.
The museum also has many real old objects and items from different cultures. These include:
- An Egyptian coffin from the 7th century BCE. It has the name of its owner written in hieroglyphs.
- A carving of Sekhmet, an ancient Egyptian goddess.
- A wooden statue of a Chinese general from the Han dynasty named Guan Yu.
- A carved coconut head from the South Pacific islands.
- A carving of the Hindu deity Garuda.
- A decorated box from British India.
- An Aboriginal Australian spear thrower.
- A 19th-century sword from Sudan.
Asian Textiles and Art
The museum also has a large collection of Asian textiles. This includes items from Japan and China. Many of these came from the Hilditch collection. Other items were donated by people and by famous museums. These include the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Imperial Institute. The museum has also recently added new textiles from South Asia.
In the 1950s, the Contemporary Art Society gave a Francis Bacon painting to Bagshaw Museum. It is called Figure Study II. This painting is now worth a lot of money. When the museum's ownership changed in 1974, the painting was moved. It is now at the Huddersfield Art Gallery. You can see it there on permanent display. Sometimes, it is loaned to other museums for special exhibitions.
See also
- Listed buildings in Batley
