St BARBE MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery is based at the heart of Lymington. The museum building was originally the town’s Victorian school and remained in use as a school until the early 1990s. Its original layout and facade have been retained.
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1992 -
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The Lymington Museum Trust was created.
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Within
5 years, with no pre-existing collection and limited resources, St
Barbe Museum established a national reputation and featured in The
Guardian’s Top 20 family museums. The collection now numbers 18,000
items, many of which have been acquired recently as a result of Heritage
Lottery funded outreach activities. The programme of gallery
exhibitions has brought works of local and national significance to
Lymington and draws visitors from all over the UK.
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THE MUSEUM COLLECTION
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The St Barbe family of bankers, salt producers, philanthropists.
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The collection also opens windows on events and discoveries of much wider significance, such as:
Rare Bartonian fossils, exposed in the cliffs locally and of national interest
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Only 10% of the collection can currently be displayed, with the rest stored locally. Increased and more versatile display space would allow us to tell a wealth of further local stories, including that of the school itself.
THE ART GALLERY
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Some exhibitions are inspired by the themes of the collection, while others combine the work of local artists with those of regional and nationally significant artists, making each a unique curatorial event. The significance of the exhibitions is revealed in the names of our regular lenders: Tate, V&A, British Museum, National Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum, Government Art Collection, Ashmolean Museum and Southampton City Art Gallery. The exhibitions offer a valuable opportunity to see important works of art in a local setting and have featured coastal landscapes, the Women's Land Army and the New Forest’s gypsy community.
ACTIVITIES
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By working with rural communities, including the New Forest’s largest ethnic minority, the New Forest gypsies, we were able to gather their memories, knowledge and artefacts. In this way we have developed the collection
(2000 new objects) so that it has begun to reflect more closely the geographical, economic and cultural diversity of the local area.
VISITOR INFORMATION
In 2011 New Forest District Council closed the Lymington Visitor Information Centre. By April 2012 St Barbe Museum had strengthened its volunteer team and opened an Information Point within the museum shop to provide this valuable service to local people and tourists.
The Lymington Museum Trust is an independent charitable trust, which has overseen the development of the Museum and Gallery and a partnership with Hampshire County Council. There is one full time member of staff, supported by four part-time employees. The work of the museum is aided at all levels by over 150 volunteers.
The 700 strong group of Friends reflect the value of St Barbe to our local community.
The 700 strong group of Friends reflect the value of St Barbe to our local community.