Museum to host special heritage events

WARRINGTON Museum and Art Gallery is hosting two special events over the coming weeks as part of a nationwide heritage festival.
Heritage Open Days sees a variety of societies and organisations welcome the public to its historic buildings and venues, and Warrington has organised a variety of events to mark the occasion.
The museum’s first event, a fascinating talk on Warrington Herstories, takes place tomorrow (Thursday) and expands on the exhibition of the same name.
This year marks the centenary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918 which gave some women the right to vote and in this talk Philip Jeffs, archives and heritage officer, and collections assistant Hannah White will look at the lives of some of Warrington’s most remarkable women.
Hannah explained how research for a previous exhibition on the suffrage movement provided inspiration for Warrington Herstories.
She said: “One thing we noticed while researching the exhibition was that in the usual sources of information, women were rarely present.
“With this in mind, we thought we would even out the scales and in effect open up these hidden histories so the extraordinary lives of Warrington’s women could be enjoyed by others.”
Thanks to a grant from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund, the following Thursday, September 13, a talk by university professor Caroline Dakers will focus on another key figure in Warrington’s history – artist Sir Luke Fildes.
Today the name “Woodland House” in Holland Park, London is associated with celebrities such as Robbie Williams and Michael Winner but few know the house was originally commissioned by the successful Warrington artist.
Professor Dakers, will describe this luxurious London home and compare it to others in the Holland Park area.
She will also discuss its use as an artist’s studio and a family home, using private photographs from the collections of Fildes’ descendants.
Both events start at 2.30pm and are free, but booking is required.
Another highlight in this year’s heritage festival diary is The Museum of Freemasonry open day – the only registered charity of its kind north of Birmingham –providing a look at rare and interesting objects including a small collection of Masonic items from the Lady Lever Art Gallery.
Elsewhere in Warrington town centre the Museum of Policing in Cheshire is holding an open day, Halliwell Jones Stadium is celebrating the heritage of Warrington Wolves, and Cairo Street Chapel, the earliest dissenting chapel in Warrington, will be opening its doors.