Ravensholt Town Museum: First Floor Galleries

Welcome

Ravensholt Town Museum tells the story of the town from prehistoric times to the present day. The ground floor holds the shop and the temporary exhibitions, while the permanent collections are on the first floor. This guide describes the first floor, which was rearranged last year.

Reaching the first floor

The main staircase from the ground floor brings you up to the Stair Landing in the south-east corner of the first floor, and this is the way in to the galleries. Visitors who cannot use the stairs should take the Lift, which arrives in the south-west corner. Between the two, along the south side, is the photography gallery, which shows how the high street and the harbour have changed over the past 150 years.

The middle of the floor

Directly north of the Stair Landing is the tea room, which serves cakes, sandwiches and hot drinks until half an hour before closing. Next to the tea room, in the centre of the floor, is the education room, where school groups have their talks and where children's craft sessions are held during the holidays. The Map Room, on the western side, displays maps of the town and surrounding villages going back to 1610.

The north side

The Roman Gallery is in the middle of the north side and contains coins, pottery and a mosaic floor found under the old market hall. To its west, in the north-west corner, is the costume gallery, with clothes worn by local people over three centuries. To the east of the Roman Gallery, in the north-east corner, is the clock room, where around eighty clocks made in Ravensholt are on display; visitors are advised that many of them strike at the same time on the hour.

Visiting information

The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Entry is free, although donations are welcome. Bags larger than a small rucksack must be left in the lockers on the ground floor, and photography is allowed in all galleries except the costume gallery, where flash may damage the fabrics.