St Albans Museums is a collection of museums and historic buildings in the city of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

that is run by St Albans City and District Council. It oversees St Albans Museum + Gallery and the Verulamium Museum, and also the Hypocaust Museum at

Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city, but was realigned in medieval times to bring trad ...

, St Albans' medieval Clock Tower, and the ruins of Sopwell Priory.

St Albans Museum + Gallery

St Albans Museum + Gallery presents the history and art of St Albans. There are various galleries to explore and the exhibitions change often. It has hosted national touring exhibitions as well as locally curated exhibitions. The museum sometimes includes art exhibitions that are curated by the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

with which the museums have a partnership. The museum was founded as the Hertfordshire County Museum in 1898. Its Hatfield Road venue was closed to the public in September 2015 as part of project to regenerate the Old Town Hall as a Museum and Gallery hosting changing exhibits and exhibitions. Although the previous building had less space than the current one it still had a wonderful display of artifacts from the post Roman era, Saxon brooches, coins, carved stonework such as part of a church window frame depicting a Saxon warrior, plus Norman, later medieval and Tudor items on display. The town hall exhibits are only a fraction of what the previous museum had to offer and are now in storage. Although new and never seen before exhibits are due to make an appearance at some point. The new Museum+ Gallery opened in 2018 in the old town hall grade 11 Listed buildingin St Albans city centre.

Verulamium Museum

Verulamium Museum is situated in what was once the forum of the walled city of

,Verulamium: Boundary of settlement walls
''Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places''. Retrieved 26 November 2020. next to

Verulamium Park Verulamium Park is a park in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Set in over of parkland, Verulamium Park was purchased from the Earl of Verulam in 1929 by the then City Corporation. Today the park is owned and operated by St Albans City and District Coun ...

. The museum contains information about the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

periods of St Albans' history. The later history of the settlement is presented at the St Albans Museum + Gallery. The Verulamium Museum was established following the excavations carried out by

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Military Cross, MC Territorial Decoration, TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeolo ...

and his wife,

Tessa Wheeler Tessa Wheeler ( Verney; 27 March 1893 – 15 April 1936) was an archaeologist who made a significant contribution to excavation techniques and contributed to the setting up of major British archaeological institutions after the World War II, Se ...

, both of them renowned archaeologists, during the 1930s. It was extended in 1996–97. During the building work, an excavation of the site took place.

Gallery

File:Verulamium Museum, St Albans (16194959107).jpg, Verulamium Museum File:The_Museum_of_St_Albans_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1260551.jpg, The old Hatfield Road building, which previously housed the St Albans Museum's main collection. It has now been turned into housing. File:The reconstructed Basilica inscription, dated to 79 or 81 AD, Verulamium Museum, St Albans (16192740628).jpg, The reconstructed

Verulamium Forum inscription The Verulamium Forum Inscription (tentatively dated to AD 79, during the reign of the emperor Titus) is one of the many Roman inscriptions in Britain. It is also known as the "Basilica inscription", as it is believed to have been attached to the b ...

is preserved in Verulamium Museum.

References

External links

* 1898 establishments in England Archaeological museums in England Art museums and galleries in Hertfordshire City museums in the United Kingdom History museums in Hertfordshire History of St Albans Local museums in Hertfordshire Museums established in 1898 Museums in St Albans Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom Roman St Albans University of Hertfordshire {{UK-museum-stub

St Albans Museum + Gallery

Verulamium Museum

Gallery

See also

References

External links