Petersfield Museum in Hampshire is throwing open its doors to visitors again on Wednesday 9th June after a major £4 million redevelopment. The project to convert the former police station and courthouse into a museum was supported through its development stage with a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund.
Subsequently awarded £1,704,900 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside grants from a wide range of funders and donors, the buildings, exhibitions and programmes have been transformed, and an exciting new outdoor space created in the courtyard.
The new museum features:
- A film featuring Museum Patron Daniel Day Lewis reading the poetry of Edward Thomas creates a sense of history and place about Petersfield’s location in the South Downs National Park
- New galleries charting life in rural England from the Palaeolithic era to the modern day
- The original courtroom and police cells that form part of the site of the Museum
- The Edward Thomas Study Centre, created in partnership with the Edward Thomas Fellowship
Dan McWilliam, Museum Director said: “What started as a small collection of objects in a single room just over 22 years ago, is now a great example of a modern museum that reflects the history and stories of its local communities.”
