Bushey Museum & Art Gallery facts for kids

Bushey Museum exterior view, December 2021.

A view of the Herkomer Room at Bushey Museum

A view of one of the Local History Rooms at Bushey Museum

Bushey Museum is a cool place to visit in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It first opened its doors in October 1993. This museum is run by amazing volunteers.

Before it even opened, the museum won a big award! It got first prize in the Gulbenkian Foundation Awards. This award was for museums that do a great job with not a lot of money. The building itself is quite old. It was built in 1909 and used to be offices for the local council.

What You Can See at Bushey Museum

Bushey Museum tells the story of Bushey, Hertfordshire. It shows you the local history through many interesting items. These include old objects, important papers, maps, and beautiful artworks.

Bushey's Art Story

The museum really focuses on Bushey's special art history. You can see art from the Monro Circle, a group of artists from the early 1800s. There's also a huge collection about Sir Hubert von Herkomer. He was a famous artist who had an art school in Bushey a hundred years ago. Students came from all over the world to learn there!

You'll also find many paintings by Lucy Kemp-Welch. She was a student of Herkomer's. Her cousin, Margaret Kemp-Welch, and her friend, Lucy Marguerite Frobisher, also have art displayed. There's even a special teaching studio named the Frobisher Studio.

Bushey's Everyday Life

The museum also shows what life was like in Bushey long ago. You can see old maps and things found from ancient times. It also displays products made in Bushey. For example, you can see Lotts Bricks, Ellams Duplicators, and Bushey Heath pottery. The exhibits show how people lived in both peaceful times and during wars.

If you are interested in family history, you can look at old records. The museum has a Local Studies Centre where you can check out things like census information. The museum also has new exhibitions regularly. These shows explore different parts of Bushey's art, social life, and business history.

Friends of Bushey Museum

The museum gets a lot of help from a group called the Friends of Bushey Museum. There are about 800 members, making it one of the biggest "Friends" groups for a museum in the country!

The Friends meet monthly in the evenings. They also visit other museums and interesting places. They hold fun events to raise money for the museum. They help the museum by volunteering their time and by buying new items for the collections.

Visit Bushey Museum

Bushey Museum is open every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You can visit from 11 AM to 4 PM. The best part is, entry is completely free! You can find the museum at Rudolph Road, Bushey, WD23 3HW.