Kingston Museum facts for kids
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| Location | Wheatfield Way, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2PS, London, England, United Kingdom |
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| Type | History museum |
| Public transit access |  Kingston |
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Listed Building – Grade II
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| Official name | Kingston Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery |
| Designated | 17 January 1973 |
| Reference no. | 1080102 |
The Kingston Museum is a cool museum in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It's a great place to learn about history! A kind person named Andrew Carnegie helped pay for the museum building. It's right next to the Kingston Library.
You can visit the museum for free. They often have new exhibitions and fun events. The museum was built in 1904. It has three main displays that are always there:
- "Ancient Origins" shows Kingston's past from very old times up to the Anglo-Saxon period.
- "Town of Kings" tells the story of Kingston as a market town. This covers the Middle Ages until the 1940s.
- "Eadweard Muybridge" is all about a famous photographer. He was born in Kingston.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many interesting things in its collection. You can see about 120 special pots called Martinware ceramics. Some of these are on display.
There's also the Brill Collection. This is a group of over 110 artworks. These pictures show how the landscape of Kingston has changed over time. Teachers and students from Kingston University created these artworks. The idea for this collection came from Reginald Brill. He was the head of the Kingston School of Art. The project ran from 1955 to 1971. Later, in 1997, a group called the Friends of Kingston Museum started it again. New artworks are added every year. You can see them in the art gallery stairwell.
Other cool things to see include stained-glass windows. These came from the old Town Hall. There's also an old Roman altar with writing on it. You can even see an Anglo-Saxon skeleton! A very popular item is a model of Nipper. He was the dog in the famous "His Master's Voice" logo. Nipper was buried under what is now Kingston's Lloyds Bank in 1895.
The museum building is a special historic place. It is listed as Grade II. This means it's an important building to protect. It shares this listing with the library and art gallery next door.
Eadweard Muybridge Gallery
The Eadweard Muybridge gallery is all about a photography pioneer. His name was Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904). He was born and died right here in Kingston. The gallery shows many items he gave to the museum. These include over 2,000 glass slides for magic lanterns. These were early projectors. He also gave 67 glass zoopraxiscope discs. A zoopraxiscope was a machine that showed moving pictures.
You can also see equipment Muybridge used for his public talks. He gave these talks in the US and Europe in the 1880s and 1890s. Muybridge spent most of his working life in America. There are other collections in the US that also have important items from his work.
From September 2010 to March 2011, the museum had an exhibition. It was called "Muybridge Revolutions." It showed Muybridge's zoopraxiscope discs. You can also find more information about Muybridge online. A website called Eadweard Muybridge: Defining Modernities shares details about his work around the world.
Kingston Art Gallery and History Centre
The art gallery is on the first floor of the museum. It has different art shows throughout the year. They also hold talks and events there. In the museum's front entrance, there's a special display case. Local groups can use it to show their own exhibits. In 2017, the museum got its first artist-in-residence. This was Paul Mowatt. His photos and videos were inspired by Muybridge's work.
The Kingston History Centre is another part of the Heritage Service. It is located at Kingston's old Magistrates Court. This building is part of the Kingston upon Thames Guildhall. The History Centre has many research materials. It also keeps old records and documents. These help people learn about local history.
