Kingston Museum celebrates 120th birthday

By Tilly O'Brien

1st Nov 2024 | Local News

Kingston Museum was opened on Monday 31 October 1904 (Image via Google Maps)
Kingston Museum was opened on Monday 31 October 1904 (Image via Google Maps)

Yesterday, 31 October, Kingston Museum marked a magnificent 120 years since it was opened to the public.

The museum, with its original collection, was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on Monday 31 October 1904 - but it was originally feared the museum would not open. 

Despite being in the plans with the public library, the library's cost meant no funding was left for the museum's development.

However, renowned industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie provided additional financial support to ensure the project was completed.

Now, the museum continues to be a thriving cultural hub and a jewel in our borough's heritage, with three permanent exhibitions: Ancient Origins, Town of Kings and Eadward Muybridge. 

The exhibition on Muybridge - a pioneering photographer who was born and died in Kingston - has a Hollywood fan in Academy Award-winning actor Gary Oldman, who became the champion for the Muybridge collection earlier this month.

Open to everyone, the space also boasts a great selection of temporary exhibitions, the free and popular digital guide on the four community-led trails (available in Hong Kong, Korean, Tamil, and Ukrainian), a Museum audio trail, videos, maps and more.

 A new exhibition, K-Woman: Celebrating Korean Female Artists, opens on Friday 22 November.

The museum also has its Quirky Kingston tours, run by local resident and Kingston Tour Guides chair Julian McCarthy, which are packed with interesting tidbits for the curious-minded.

For more information and opening times visit kingstonheritage.org.uk

     

New kingston Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: kingston jobs

Share:

Related Articles

Kingston's Ancient Market is one of the oldest markets in London (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)
Local News

New company to run Kingston's Ancient Market

The 'Wild Kingston' sculpture trail is on Kingston's Clarence Street (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)
Local News

‘Wild Kingston’ exhibition takes over Kingston

Sign-Up for our FREE Newsletter

We want to provide kingston with more and more clickbait-free local news.
To do that, we need a loyal newsletter following.
Help us survive and sign up to our FREE weekly newsletter.

Already subscribed? Thank you. Just press X or click here.
We won't pass your details on to anyone else.
By clicking the Subscribe button you agree to our Privacy Policy.