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Hertford Museum Hertford |
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At the end of February, 2014, I visited the Hertford Museum for the first time since it was refurbished in 2010. It is a good example of a small town museum It contains a good local collection with displays well laid out to be attractive to children. Like many such museums, situated in a old town house, its space is limited but it makes good use of what is available. The ground floor includes a shop - in which I found some interesting books and a display area which includes many of the curio type items which would have been in the museum when it first opened in 1903. There was also an exhibition room - which was being refitted between exhibitions on my visit, and a lecture room which was being used by school children. |
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The Museum is in a 17th century timber-framed house which was refronted in the 18th century. Before becoming a museum in 1903 the ground floor had been opened out as a shop. It contains a good local collection with displays well laid out to be attractive to children. |
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This shows the rear of Hertford Museum, taken from beside the Jacobean Knot Garden |
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| This old shop sign, dated 1798, originally marked the shop of Nunn, the locksmith, of 18 Fore Street, Hertford. It is now on the corner of the Hertford Museum. | Hertford at War Display. To the left are exhibits relating to the First World War. Second World War exhibits are to the right. Select larger image for more detail. | |
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As I had come to Hertford for a meeting of the Herts At
War project I decided to see what information they had on the
First World War, There was a large display case (above)
containing local items relating to both the First and Second
World Wars, with well labelled items.
(Click on image to get the Geograph picture - and select
more sizes
and the biggest image and you will be able to view the
exhibits.)
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The Hertfordshire Regiment display includes a number of sets of
medals, such as this one. Lieutenant-Colonel E. C. M. Phillips,
Commanding officer of the Hertfordshire Regiment 1917 |
An interesting display of material relating to the history of the Hertfordshire Regiment. Select larger image for better view. | |
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Next to the Display of War memorabilia there was cabinet there was a cabinet containing exhibits relating to the Hertfordshire Regiment. The draws underneath open to reveal further goodies, such as the medals of Lieutenant-Colonel E. C. M. Phillips and others. Most of the other displays on the first floor were very relevant to understanding how people in the town lived in the past, what they wore and what they did - and clearly the educational aspects of the museum are well covered. |
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| The small area at the back of Hertford Museum has been planted with a modern reproduction of a Jacobean Knot Garden | This 1s a conglomerate made up of water-worn pebbles in a hard matrix, found in small quantities in Hertfordshire. | ||
On leaving the Museum I stopped in the shop to look at what books they had for sale. There were quite a lot that I would like to have brought for my private library but frugally decided to limit my purchases to four modestly priced booklets which will help me to document future updates of the Hertford pages of this web site.
I didn't stop to look at the Photo kiosk which allows visitors to see some of the 12,000 images in the library's collection. There is also an extensive library of books on old Hertford and it it planned to allow public access by appointment. Finally I should mention the excellent web site, www.hertfordmuseum.org, which includes opening times, details of the special exhibitions and events, and a panoramic tour that gives you a good idea of what you can expect to see. |
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| March 2014 | Page created |
