life & times of sheffield revealed in new museum exhibition

The new additions to the Sheffield Life & Times gallery, which will be unveiled today at the city’s Weston Park Museum, mark the first phase in a major redevelopment of the museum taking place throughout 2016.

Visitors to Weston Park Museum will discover a brand new display chronicling Sheffield’s sporting stories, all the way from cricket in the 1800s right through to the Sheffield Roller Girls team competing in the city today.

A true Sheffield icon, the original 1960s Cole Brothers sign will also find a new home on the gallery wall as part of a detailed exploration of shopping in Sheffield.

The museum will also be flying the flag for protest in the city with a new display of 20th century posters, representing causes from CND to Anti-Apartheid.

New timeline cases will feature a fascinating range of objects that illustrate different moments in the city’s history, including popular Victorian fashions, the famous Sheffield gangs of the 1920s and the home life of city residents in the 1950s.

A new 3D map will feature some of the city’s key historical sites, including a hut which formed part of Redmires Camp - where soldiers prepared to do battle in the First World War - and the remains of Tricketts Farm, which was destroyed in the flood of 1864.

Visitors will also be able to explore more objects from the collection through a brand new interactive digital map, featuring maps from the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s, all the way up to present day.

In addition to the new displays drawn from the city’s Social History collection, regular visitors will still be able enjoy their old favourite Sheffield Life & Times exhibits, including the butcher’s shop, the Park Hill kitchen and the Victorian yard.

Clara Morgan, curator of social history at the museum said: “Sheffield’s Social History collection, which is cared for by Museums Sheffield, is a unique chronicle of the life of city and the many people that have lived here.

“By introducing new flexible displays at Weston Park we can now share much more of the collection, and tell even more of the remarkable stories that have shaped the city and help make it the city we know today.”

Museum Sheffield is the charity which runs the city’s Millennium Gallery, Graves Gallery and Weston Park Museum, and cares for the collections of art, human history and natural sciences.

Clara added: “The new displays are part of a £1million transformation of Weston Park Museum, made possible thanks to a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, support from a range of trusts and foundations, and the incredible generosity of visitors to the museum.

“In addition to the new displays in Sheffield Life & Times, visitors can also look forward to a completely new archaeology gallery, Beneath Your Feet, opening at the end of the summer, as well as new addition to the What on Earth gallery and a brand new art gallery, Picturing Sheffield, both making their debut in the autumn.”

To mark the completion of the redevelopment programme, and the 10th anniversary of the Weston Park reopening in 2006, Museums Sheffield will be hosting an all-ages interactive birthday party for the museum on Saturday October 22.

The new exhibition will be open to the public 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sundays.

Entry to the museum is free. Visit www.museums-sheffield.org.uk for further details, visit the museum’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Museums.Sheffield or follow @museumsheffield on Twitter.