New Galleries Now Open!

A week ago today, on Saturday 13th July, we opened our three new galleries to the public for the first time as we reach the culmination of our £5.1m National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project: Past Forward. We have spent the past two years restoring the beautiful Grade I listed building in which we reside; creating a more accessible visitor experience, new venue hire and education spaces, and redisplaying the galleries with stories and objects from Salisbury and its community’s history. The museum team have worked with local community groups, museum research groups and schools to co-curate our displays, with old favourites such as the Salisbury Giant and Hobnob, and our fascinating drainage collection, along side the 1912 Scout Car on display for the first time, to a brand new Natural History Gallery featuring geology and taxidermy that has been in storage up until now. There is so much for visitors to see!

We celebrated on Saturday with a free entry day, welcoming over 2000 visitors, and at 2pm Ken Smith, one of our volunteers, placed the last object on display to officially open the galleries. The final object was a backpack belonging to Ken’s father when he was being held as a prisoner of war in World War Two. The backpack remained with Ken’s father throughout his life, and is now part of the museum’s collection, so that Jim Smith’s story is not forgotten. The backpack is only part of Jim’s story here in Salisbury; on returning home from the war, Jim started a family and went on to open a junk shop overlooking the Greencroft, remembered by many still today. He also wrote and illustrated the popular children’s book series ‘The Frog Band Adventures’, including titles such as ‘Alphonse and the Stonehenge Mystery’.

See this object and many more extraordinary everyday items and stories in our new galleries!