BEDFORD MUSEUM
|
BEDFORD MUSEUM |
|
|||||||
| Home | ||||||||
Bedford
Gallery Renaissance
Two historic buildings in the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum complex
are to be refurbished thanks to a £2.5 million award by the Department
for Communities and Local Government.
This will bring the Bedford Gallery and Hexagon building back into public use
as part of the overall Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum facilities
at the heart of the new Cultural Quarter on Castle Lane. Additional spaces for
exhibitions, events and corporate hospitality will be created, and storage conditions
for the wonderful collections of the Art Gallery and Museum will be improved.
Bedford Gallery, which has not been used for over 35 years, will be brought
back to life with high-quality spaces that will enable Bedford to host touring
exhibitions from national galleries and major family blockbuster exhibitions
like Dinosaurs, Batman and Dr Who.
Bedford
Gallery – a brief history
Bedford Gallery is located behind the main art gallery and museum buildings
on Castle Lane. Currently unused, it was built in 1841 and was formerly known
as the ‘Castle Rooms’. It originally functioned as a Whig Club and had a long
association with the Bunyan Meeting.
In the twentieth century it became a Billiard Hall and then between 1951 and
1973 was used as an art gallery for major temporary exhibitions, mainly on loan
from the Victoria and Albert Museum. For some time during WW2, the BBC is believed
to have used the Gallery as a sound studio for the likes of Glenn Miller.
The Hexagon building dates from the early 1800s and is associated with the militia.
It later became St Agnes Lower School and was then integrated with the Higgins
House and now forms part of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery.
Produced by IT Unit
Bedford Borough Council
