The Museum of Lancashire is housed in a serious building. The Grade II-listed structure began life as Preston’s quarter sessions court.
Sharing a substantial party wall with the Preston House of Correction, this court processed Preston’s minor miscreants more efficiently than the earlier courthouse located inside the prison precincts.
The Sessions House directly faced the main entrance to the sprawling Horrocks Yard textile cotton works, reminding the workforce of the consequences of straying from the path of probity.
The Preston Chronicle took a dim view of the locality and its population in 1869, listing “cock fighting, badger baiting, poaching, drinking and dog worrying” as their chief leisure pursuits.
Over the decades, the building accumulated layers of industrial and traffic pollution, resulting in an unappealing and slightly foreboding appearance.
Fine presentation
In 2009 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Lancashire Museums just short of £1m to match Lancashire County Council’s capital investment of £800,000.
Working with a relatively small budget obviously influenced the way Lancashire Museums approached the project. The service chose not to appoint a main design contractor, but instead used in-house staff to commission work from established suppliers.
Lancashire Museums has three main goals for the redevelopment: to provide a family-friendly interactive destination; to create a “taster” attraction for the county of Lancashire; and to signpost visitors to Lancashire’s museums across the county.
The first of several transformations is evident on approaching the museum. The layers of ingrained carbon pollution have been completely removed from the stonework, instantly making the museum more visually appealing.
The redevelopment has transformed the museum’s main hall, almost entirely for the better.
What was a poorly lit and oppressive space is now a crisp, bright and welcoming environment. The new museum cafe, which shares the space with the Gateway to Lancashire gallery, was busy during my visit.
Investment has clearly been concentrated in key areas rather than being thinly spread across the whole museum. Most of the money has gone into the sections interpreting the Lancashire Gateway Theme, Lancashire Archaeology, and the Law and Order gallery housed in the balcony above the museum’s main hall.
The chance to enjoy the best of Lancashire’s archaeology collections on display in a coherent interpretation scheme is a huge benefit of the project. The collections are immaculately presented but the display scheme adopts a more conventional approach to object classification than I would have liked.
As a non-archaeologist, I wanted to learn more about the everyday use and social significance the objects. The inclusion of a kiosk with a live link to the Portable Antiquities Scheme website will help to keep visitors up to date with recent finds.
The Lancashire Timeline area provides an essential framework for understanding the content across the whole of the museum, a function often overlooked in many recent museum displays.
Clever use of cool-blue lighting lures visitors into the space underneath the main hall balcony. The mark of an imaginative designer is evident in the submerging of coffin-lid fragments from Cockersands Abbey under the floor surface of the gallery.
There are also glimpses of humour in the quotations satirising archaeologists’ use of the term “ritual” to cover gaps in their understanding. The space works beautifully as a welcoming environment and I would have stayed longer had time allowed.
George Formby
The Lancashire at Play gallery is housed in what was the storeroom for court documents, including criminal records. Despite the absence of any Des O’Connor albums, the gallery is a smorgasbord of theatrical props, music hall playbills and rock ephemera.
Highlights include a banjolele owned by comedy icon George Formby and LS Lowry’s seaside study, Lytham St Annes. The cleverly designed On with the Show! audiovisual creates a nostalgic mini-cinema, playing clips from Mancunian Film Studio’s productions including Boots, Boots!, starring Formby.
Photographs by Top of the Pops in-house photographer Harry Goodwin emphasise the popular culture credentials of the county.
It is fairly obvious that less of the redevelopment budget has been spent in this area than in others. But this has not marred the overall effect thanks to the richness of the collections combined with a suitably flamboyant design treatment.
The museum gets serious again when it comes to addressing Lancashire Law and Order. The restrained and classic design appropriately reflects the subject matter.
The space achieves a successful balance between creating an imposing atmosphere and encouraging the spirit of enquiry through interactives such as Criminal Portraits. Younger visitors can engage in dressing-up activities and mock trials.
Arched windows, which formerly overlooked Preston’s House of Correction, have been transformed into display cases housing the Lancashire Constabulary collection.
Trench scene
The Lancashire at Work gallery attempts the near impossible in addressing the complexity of Lancashire’s past and present in a small space.
This is surprisingly successful, partly through the use of larger exhibits such as a typical Lancashire cotton loom, which is oiled regularly to ensure an authentic mill odour.
The gallery juxtaposes objects such as an aeroplane propeller made by Avro with state-of-the-art bicycle components made by Hope Industries. However, some visitors might find this gallery slightly overwhelming.
The museum concentrates its military history coverage in an immersive world war one western front trench scene, set in 1915. Visitors are led through a section of trench and encounter set-piece displays and more formal showcases discreetly blended into the overall scheme.
While not breaking any interpretative or narrative ground, the scene is definitely bigger and better than before. The labyrinthine circulation route and ear-splitting sound effects create an involving and memorable sensory experience for visitors.
Overall, one of the main challenges facing the project team was deciding where to begin the story.
There was also the need to explain the museum’s location. To help them make decisions, the curators carried out a lengthy story-sifting process to establish key themes. While there are some omissions, the new displays pack in a satisfying amount of content that is suitable for a range of audiences.
Each display zone has a very distinct identity, employing an excellent variety of interactives. The only disadvantage of this diversity is that I needed time to adapt to the differing styles in each area. Time and visitor evaluation will establish if this is a problem.
Environmental improvements mean that the museum is now a pleasant place to visit. The redevelopment has also managed to preserve the surviving features and atmosphere of the original building. All this should mean more return visits. Those coming back shouldn’t be disappointed.
John McGoldrick is the curator of railways at the National Railway Museum in York
Sharing a substantial party wall with the Preston House of Correction, this court processed Preston’s minor miscreants more efficiently than the earlier courthouse located inside the prison precincts.
The Sessions House directly faced the main entrance to the sprawling Horrocks Yard textile cotton works, reminding the workforce of the consequences of straying from the path of probity.
The Preston Chronicle took a dim view of the locality and its population in 1869, listing “cock fighting, badger baiting, poaching, drinking and dog worrying” as their chief leisure pursuits.
Over the decades, the building accumulated layers of industrial and traffic pollution, resulting in an unappealing and slightly foreboding appearance.
Fine presentation
In 2009 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Lancashire Museums just short of £1m to match Lancashire County Council’s capital investment of £800,000.
Working with a relatively small budget obviously influenced the way Lancashire Museums approached the project. The service chose not to appoint a main design contractor, but instead used in-house staff to commission work from established suppliers.
Lancashire Museums has three main goals for the redevelopment: to provide a family-friendly interactive destination; to create a “taster” attraction for the county of Lancashire; and to signpost visitors to Lancashire’s museums across the county.
The first of several transformations is evident on approaching the museum. The layers of ingrained carbon pollution have been completely removed from the stonework, instantly making the museum more visually appealing.
The redevelopment has transformed the museum’s main hall, almost entirely for the better.
What was a poorly lit and oppressive space is now a crisp, bright and welcoming environment. The new museum cafe, which shares the space with the Gateway to Lancashire gallery, was busy during my visit.
Investment has clearly been concentrated in key areas rather than being thinly spread across the whole museum. Most of the money has gone into the sections interpreting the Lancashire Gateway Theme, Lancashire Archaeology, and the Law and Order gallery housed in the balcony above the museum’s main hall.
The chance to enjoy the best of Lancashire’s archaeology collections on display in a coherent interpretation scheme is a huge benefit of the project. The collections are immaculately presented but the display scheme adopts a more conventional approach to object classification than I would have liked.
As a non-archaeologist, I wanted to learn more about the everyday use and social significance the objects. The inclusion of a kiosk with a live link to the Portable Antiquities Scheme website will help to keep visitors up to date with recent finds.
The Lancashire Timeline area provides an essential framework for understanding the content across the whole of the museum, a function often overlooked in many recent museum displays.
Clever use of cool-blue lighting lures visitors into the space underneath the main hall balcony. The mark of an imaginative designer is evident in the submerging of coffin-lid fragments from Cockersands Abbey under the floor surface of the gallery.
There are also glimpses of humour in the quotations satirising archaeologists’ use of the term “ritual” to cover gaps in their understanding. The space works beautifully as a welcoming environment and I would have stayed longer had time allowed.
George Formby
The Lancashire at Play gallery is housed in what was the storeroom for court documents, including criminal records. Despite the absence of any Des O’Connor albums, the gallery is a smorgasbord of theatrical props, music hall playbills and rock ephemera.
Highlights include a banjolele owned by comedy icon George Formby and LS Lowry’s seaside study, Lytham St Annes. The cleverly designed On with the Show! audiovisual creates a nostalgic mini-cinema, playing clips from Mancunian Film Studio’s productions including Boots, Boots!, starring Formby.
Photographs by Top of the Pops in-house photographer Harry Goodwin emphasise the popular culture credentials of the county.
It is fairly obvious that less of the redevelopment budget has been spent in this area than in others. But this has not marred the overall effect thanks to the richness of the collections combined with a suitably flamboyant design treatment.
The museum gets serious again when it comes to addressing Lancashire Law and Order. The restrained and classic design appropriately reflects the subject matter.
The space achieves a successful balance between creating an imposing atmosphere and encouraging the spirit of enquiry through interactives such as Criminal Portraits. Younger visitors can engage in dressing-up activities and mock trials.
Arched windows, which formerly overlooked Preston’s House of Correction, have been transformed into display cases housing the Lancashire Constabulary collection.
Trench scene
The Lancashire at Work gallery attempts the near impossible in addressing the complexity of Lancashire’s past and present in a small space.
This is surprisingly successful, partly through the use of larger exhibits such as a typical Lancashire cotton loom, which is oiled regularly to ensure an authentic mill odour.
The gallery juxtaposes objects such as an aeroplane propeller made by Avro with state-of-the-art bicycle components made by Hope Industries. However, some visitors might find this gallery slightly overwhelming.
The museum concentrates its military history coverage in an immersive world war one western front trench scene, set in 1915. Visitors are led through a section of trench and encounter set-piece displays and more formal showcases discreetly blended into the overall scheme.
While not breaking any interpretative or narrative ground, the scene is definitely bigger and better than before. The labyrinthine circulation route and ear-splitting sound effects create an involving and memorable sensory experience for visitors.
Overall, one of the main challenges facing the project team was deciding where to begin the story.
There was also the need to explain the museum’s location. To help them make decisions, the curators carried out a lengthy story-sifting process to establish key themes. While there are some omissions, the new displays pack in a satisfying amount of content that is suitable for a range of audiences.
Each display zone has a very distinct identity, employing an excellent variety of interactives. The only disadvantage of this diversity is that I needed time to adapt to the differing styles in each area. Time and visitor evaluation will establish if this is a problem.
Environmental improvements mean that the museum is now a pleasant place to visit. The redevelopment has also managed to preserve the surviving features and atmosphere of the original building. All this should mean more return visits. Those coming back shouldn’t be disappointed.
John McGoldrick is the curator of railways at the National Railway Museum in York
Project data
- Cost £1,730,600
- Funders Heritage Lottery Fund £919,400; Lancashire County Council £806,700; Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment; Lancashire Infantry Museum £2,000 (in-kind support); Friends of the Museum of Lancashire £1,500; Fusiliers Museum Trust £1,000
- Main contractor Conlon Construction
- Gallery interactives software Resolution DV
- World war one trench Paragon
- Stone renovation Stone Edge
- Conservation Lancashire Conservation Studios
