A local tourist guidebook describes Melton Mowbray as “a quintessential English market town” built on the traditions of farming and foxhunting, and famous for its pork pies and Stilton cheese.
There has been a market there for more than 1,000 years, providing a rich source of material for its local museum, which recently unveiled a £1.1m revamp.
The history of Melton Mowbray is well told in its displays, but where it really succeeds is in demonstrating the continuing history of the town. Although much has changed in rural Britain, towns such as Melton Mowbray remain important focal points for rural communities to shop, socialise and do business.
The new exhibitions at Melton Carnegie Museum cleverly balance a celebration of what has gone before with a challenge to visitors to think about the issues facing the countryside today and tomorrow.
The importance of Melton Mowbray as a market town is emphasised at the start of the exhibitions. By way of introduction, some of its principal trades that are described, including a reconstructed chemist’s shop, Stilton cheese workshop and a butcher’s shop display highlighting the town’s famous pork pies.
Pies were made initially as a by-product of cheese-making and were popular with huntsmen. The recurring foxhunting theme is reinforced with material about the town’s boot- and saddle-making trades.
At the heart of the museum is its new Town and Rural Life gallery. The exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to see how life in the countryside has changed, but also to contemplate some of the challenges still facing rural people.
Its thematic approach divides the story into five areas, each offering a combination of objects, images and artwork, sound and graphics. There is also a study area that has internet access and a small library of books on local topics.
Each thematic display offers visitors access to relevant parts of the museum’s core collection in addition to chronological displays elsewhere. For example, natural history material is featured in an area asking visitors whether the countryside is a “Place to Protect”, with a quote from broadcaster David Attenborough about the value of the natural world featured on a panel.
Much use is made of digital picture frames showing historic and modern images in each section along with thought-provoking “Stop Press” panels. These provide contemporary quotes from local and national media on relevant topics.
In the “Place to Protect” section, an extract from the Independent newspaper reports on government plans to cut funding to wildlife charities. Elsewhere in the exhibition, material from the Leicester Mercury covers the hunting ban.
In an attempt to tackle the thorny topic of “belonging”, the museum has used the example of the decline of the traditional village pub as an illustration of just how much life in the country has changed.
Audio samples provide the voices of local people and among the pub signs and pictures, visitors can have a game of dominoes while sitting at a pub table in the gallery.
Close by, the question of development in the country is debated, challenging visitors to look past the traditional image of rural life and see it more as
a continuing process of change.
A showcase tries to illustrate this concept, highlighting changes in rural land use by including artefacts such as an 11,000-year-old arrowhead used by hunter-gatherers, items of medieval pottery and Victorian lamps.
Although objects are used to populate the thematic elements of the exhibition, the majority of real objects are displayed in a showcase running almost the entire length of the gallery.
This striking case is crammed with items from the museum’s social history collections. It features farming implements, toys and games, kitchen and domestic equipment and costume, including an example of the ubiquitous green-padded jacket worn by country people and a pair of designer Wellington boots.
Exiting the gallery, visitors go through a display that includes a traditional red telephone box. In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood spy movie, as I walked past the box, the telephone began to ring.
Having felt compelled to pick up the receiver, I was slightly disappointed to hear a message asking me to take part in a quiz about the box itself. Nevertheless, it is a simple device for visitors with an overactive imagination like me.
Melton’s role as the foxhunting capital of England for more than 150 years is felt throughout the exhibition but the museum does not flinch from tackling the topic head on in a separate display close to the Town and Country exhibition.
A collection of hats, boots, whips and horns, along with books, trophies and souvenirs illustrate the huge economic and social impact of hunting on the town, which was a magnet for royalty and the rich and famous who flocked there for many years to hunt. There is also a whole showcase crammed with material from anti-hunt campaigners including placards, leaflets and a smashed video camera.
Visitors are left to make up their own minds about how they feel about hunting with a graphic giving reasons for and against, supplied by hunters and opponents, and the chance to take part in a vote.
Although this opportunity was welcome, it would have been helpful to know how other visitors had voted. While it is good to see a balanced approach, it was rather low-key and maybe some oral history or video would have improved the interpretation of what is still a controversial subject.
When so many local-authority funded museums find themselves under threat from budget cuts, it is good to be able to praise a revamped museum that could be used an exemplar to any local or national politicians who are dubious about the value of such institutions.
Despite its modest size, Melton Carnegie Museum exemplifies all that is good about local museums. Its displays are thoughtful, well interpreted and contemporary in the best sense, covering Melton Mowbray’s past, present and future.
Tim Bryan is the head of collections at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon
There has been a market there for more than 1,000 years, providing a rich source of material for its local museum, which recently unveiled a £1.1m revamp.
The history of Melton Mowbray is well told in its displays, but where it really succeeds is in demonstrating the continuing history of the town. Although much has changed in rural Britain, towns such as Melton Mowbray remain important focal points for rural communities to shop, socialise and do business.
The new exhibitions at Melton Carnegie Museum cleverly balance a celebration of what has gone before with a challenge to visitors to think about the issues facing the countryside today and tomorrow.
The importance of Melton Mowbray as a market town is emphasised at the start of the exhibitions. By way of introduction, some of its principal trades that are described, including a reconstructed chemist’s shop, Stilton cheese workshop and a butcher’s shop display highlighting the town’s famous pork pies.
Pies were made initially as a by-product of cheese-making and were popular with huntsmen. The recurring foxhunting theme is reinforced with material about the town’s boot- and saddle-making trades.
At the heart of the museum is its new Town and Rural Life gallery. The exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to see how life in the countryside has changed, but also to contemplate some of the challenges still facing rural people.
Its thematic approach divides the story into five areas, each offering a combination of objects, images and artwork, sound and graphics. There is also a study area that has internet access and a small library of books on local topics.
Each thematic display offers visitors access to relevant parts of the museum’s core collection in addition to chronological displays elsewhere. For example, natural history material is featured in an area asking visitors whether the countryside is a “Place to Protect”, with a quote from broadcaster David Attenborough about the value of the natural world featured on a panel.
Much use is made of digital picture frames showing historic and modern images in each section along with thought-provoking “Stop Press” panels. These provide contemporary quotes from local and national media on relevant topics.
In the “Place to Protect” section, an extract from the Independent newspaper reports on government plans to cut funding to wildlife charities. Elsewhere in the exhibition, material from the Leicester Mercury covers the hunting ban.
In an attempt to tackle the thorny topic of “belonging”, the museum has used the example of the decline of the traditional village pub as an illustration of just how much life in the country has changed.
Audio samples provide the voices of local people and among the pub signs and pictures, visitors can have a game of dominoes while sitting at a pub table in the gallery.
Close by, the question of development in the country is debated, challenging visitors to look past the traditional image of rural life and see it more as
a continuing process of change.
A showcase tries to illustrate this concept, highlighting changes in rural land use by including artefacts such as an 11,000-year-old arrowhead used by hunter-gatherers, items of medieval pottery and Victorian lamps.
Although objects are used to populate the thematic elements of the exhibition, the majority of real objects are displayed in a showcase running almost the entire length of the gallery.
This striking case is crammed with items from the museum’s social history collections. It features farming implements, toys and games, kitchen and domestic equipment and costume, including an example of the ubiquitous green-padded jacket worn by country people and a pair of designer Wellington boots.
Exiting the gallery, visitors go through a display that includes a traditional red telephone box. In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood spy movie, as I walked past the box, the telephone began to ring.
Having felt compelled to pick up the receiver, I was slightly disappointed to hear a message asking me to take part in a quiz about the box itself. Nevertheless, it is a simple device for visitors with an overactive imagination like me.
Melton’s role as the foxhunting capital of England for more than 150 years is felt throughout the exhibition but the museum does not flinch from tackling the topic head on in a separate display close to the Town and Country exhibition.
A collection of hats, boots, whips and horns, along with books, trophies and souvenirs illustrate the huge economic and social impact of hunting on the town, which was a magnet for royalty and the rich and famous who flocked there for many years to hunt. There is also a whole showcase crammed with material from anti-hunt campaigners including placards, leaflets and a smashed video camera.
Visitors are left to make up their own minds about how they feel about hunting with a graphic giving reasons for and against, supplied by hunters and opponents, and the chance to take part in a vote.
Although this opportunity was welcome, it would have been helpful to know how other visitors had voted. While it is good to see a balanced approach, it was rather low-key and maybe some oral history or video would have improved the interpretation of what is still a controversial subject.
When so many local-authority funded museums find themselves under threat from budget cuts, it is good to be able to praise a revamped museum that could be used an exemplar to any local or national politicians who are dubious about the value of such institutions.
Despite its modest size, Melton Carnegie Museum exemplifies all that is good about local museums. Its displays are thoughtful, well interpreted and contemporary in the best sense, covering Melton Mowbray’s past, present and future.
Tim Bryan is the head of collections at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon
Project data
- Cost £1.1m
- Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund £969,000; Leicestershire County Council
- Building contractor Interserve
- Design and build interpretation (main contractor) Mark II
- Interpretative design Objectives
- Sub-contractor, graphic design Surface 3
- Interactive floor OMI
- Audio Audio Posts
