In the early 1800s, Arthur Wellesley, then Viscount Wellington, asked his shoemaker to make boots in this style because they were easier to wear with trousers. After his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 …
The social history of the hamlets and villages around the Cornish resort of Perranporth is preserved in this volunteer-run museum, complete with recreated kitchen. And no kitchen is complete without food models …
Despite being a rarity now, most chapels in Wales in the late 1800s and early-mid-1900s had a set of ‘chapel china’ that was used for every day catering but also for special occasions, celebrations and festivities …
Submarine museums tend to focus on the insides – the cramped conditions, life on board, the mystery of long hours in the deep seas and the loneliness of the submariner. Not so at this museum, where the outside of the X51 submarine …
Stephen Poyntz Denning (1795–1864) started life as a beggar and was apprenticed for seven years colouring prints. By 1821 he had become Keeper of Dulwich Picture Gallery, a job he for over 40 years. What a fulfilled life …
No matter how hard you crane your neck through the departure lounge window, it can be tough to get a decent view of your plane. So go for a walk on its wings in an aviation museum, instead …
Does hanging a load of portraits together on an art gallery wall invite visitors to engage more with the paintings, or to look less? There’s an argument that says by placing so many collection items together …
I’ll bet you never knew those things you put your face in for a photo opportunity had a name. Well now you do. Sproftacchel. Some might sniff at them as naff interpretation, but anything that gets people
Do you experience a painting differently if you can also literally smell the work as you look at it? Now you can try it out for yourself, at home, as part of a digital-meets-olfactory art gallery experience …
Buried in a peat bog for the best part of a thousand years, this in tact slab of butter is perhaps as surprising as the very idea that a museum of butter even exists. But it does, and perhaps there’s no better place for it than Cork …
Not only is this cabbage carved from jadeite and not only is it a treasure of the museum, now it’s also the star of a tv show. Palace of Serendipity is a new 10-part series in Taiwan, each episode inspired by a museum object …
“A scaly gauntlet now with joints of steel, Must glove this hand” Henry IV Part 2
During the Tudor period, full armour was used less and less …
Although it looks like two materials, this pot was crafted from a single lump of gold-silver-copper alloy. The artist then worked the surface to create the look of silver and gold. Where the two meet is the important part. It symbolises the balance that’s a key part of Chimú thinking …
In the early 1900s, the WSPU encouraged their members to hold informal meetings in their parlours and sitting rooms to raise funds for the organisation. This bowl …
In 1852, marine biologist and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse made his first serious attempt to create a marine aquarium. It was instantly popular, both as a scientific means of looking at the sea, but also as an incongruous and fashionable …
There’s an assumption by some that heritage interpretation needs to stay in museum or gallery display spaces, close to the heritage that’s being interpreted. But don’t forget other areas visitors go to, like the coffee shop …
Welsh daffodils to mark a happy St David’s Day. Or is it? There’s something of the melancholy about these daffodils. Rather than being painted in their perky prime, this arrangement is on the wane …
This is just one work from one the newest art galleries in Europe, due to open in the Spring (pandemic permitting). Over the last 40 years, Helga de Alvear has collected one of Spain’s most significant …
The film The Dig is trending on Netflix right now. The movie tells the story of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk during the last few days of peace in 1939. While it focusses on the discovery of the ship …
Have you ever kept a keepsake from an old relationship? Maybe a photo, maybe a jumper you just couldn’t face giving back. Or perhaps 4,213 cigarette butts that your partner has smoked? That’s what the main character in the novel The Museum of Innocence did when he hoarded the remains …
Inviting visitors to stare into the terrifying jaws of a giant fossil shark is certainly a powerful way to start the visitor experience at The Deep. You’re entering the deep, dark waters of the oceans. But you’re also delving into the past …
The partition of Poland in the early 1800s meant Polish Jews became citizens of three different countries – Austria, Prussia and Russia. In the museum, visitors are invited to sit at a table and imagine choosing which country …
Peering into the windows of this house is to glimpse nine little slices of daily life. From the items in the ground floor shop windows to the people going to about their business, so much is captured here in just one moment …
In February 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel outlined the UK’s new points-based immigration system, categorising those who earned less than £25,000 as ‘low-skilled’ or ‘unskilled’. Yet, as soon as Covid hit …
Only a couple of decades ago, the UK commemorated 25 years of successful membership of the European Union with a celebratory coin (1998). All the symbols of pride are there – the 12 stars of the EU flag …
