Stamford Museum facts for kids
Stamford Museum
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| Location | Broad Street, Stamford |
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| Collection size | Stamford ware, Bull running |
The Stamford Museum was a museum located in Stamford, a historic town in Lincolnshire, Great Britain. It was housed in a beautiful Victorian building on Broad Street. The museum was managed by the museum services of Lincolnshire County Council and was open from 1980 until 2011.
Contents
The Museum's Cool Building
The building where the museum was located was built in 1895. It was first used as a technical school. You can still see the words "School of Art" and the town's crest carved above its main doorway! The building is made from a type of stone called oolitic limestone. A local architect named John Charles Traylen designed it. The museum moved into this building in 1980. Before that, it had opened in 1961 in the town's library on High Street.
Stamford is a very old town. It has been around since Anglo-Saxon and Viking times. In 1967, Stamford was named England's first Conservation Area. This means its historic buildings and areas are specially protected. The town still has five medieval churches and a 15th-century almshouse, along with many other old buildings.
What Was Inside the Museum?
The Stamford Museum shared the interesting history of the town. It had many cool things to see!
Famous Collections and Exhibits
One of the museum's special collections was about Stamford Ware pottery. This was a type of pottery made in Stamford a long time ago. Another famous exhibit was about Daniel Lambert. He was an 18th-century man known for being very large.
The museum also had some unique items. These included an old Blackstone oil engine. It also had the only known piece of the Stamford Eleanor Cross. Eleanor Crosses were special monuments built by King Edward I.
Galleries and Research
In the museum's upper gallery, there were permanent displays. These showed the archaeology and social history of Stamford. Archaeology is the study of old things people left behind. Social history looks at how people lived in the past.
The lower galleries often had new, temporary exhibitions. These shows would change regularly. Also on display was the Stamford Tapestry. This amazing tapestry took 17 years to make! It was hung in the museum in the year 2000 as part of the Millennium celebration.
The museum also had a large collection of research materials. You could look at these by making an appointment. This collection included many old photographs. It also had information files about local people, places, and events in Stamford.
Why the Museum Closed
In June 2010, it was announced that the Stamford Museum would close. This decision was made because of budget cuts by the Lincolnshire County Council. Many local people did not want the museum to close. Despite their efforts, the museum closed its doors on June 30, 2011.
Some of the items that were once in the museum have found a new home. You can now see some of the former exhibits in the "Discover Stamford" area at the town's library.
Since 2015, the old museum building has been leased by the Wildcats Theatre School.
