Museums Sheffield: Weston Park

History Lab is a place for budding sleuths to help us find answers to some of the intriguing questions history has thrown our way.

Just why did someone bury a hoard of coins under Fargate? Can you guess what the mystery objects dug up in Sheffield were used for? You can see the amazing Benty Grange saxon helmet here and dress up as a Victorian servant.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/history-lab

About Art takes a different approach to displaying art in a gallery.

You'll still find wonderful paintings from Sheffield's collection here, but you'll also discover more about where artists find their inspiration, the materials they use, and how to read things like colour and symbolism when looking at art.

Works on display in the gallery include Godfrey Kneller's Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin(1693) and L S Lowry's Meeting Point (1965).

About Art is also the home of recent addition Selkie the Seal, carved from beautiful alabaster. Don't forget to create your own artwork and hang it in the gallery before you leave.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/about-art

Sheffield Life & Times tells the story of the city from the point of view of the people who have lived here.

From the weird and wonderful neolithic stone carvings of the peak district, through to the troubled days of the miner's strike and Sheffield's regeneration, this gallery shows what makes this city special.

You'll discover the natural resources which helped turn Sheffield into the 'Steel City', the slums of Victorian Sheffield, the city's radical political past, and the impact of post-war planning and immigration. Alongside real life displays such as Burton's butcher's shop and relics from the Sheffield Flood of 1864 you'll find paintings of Sheffield from the city's collection and a host of interactives.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/sheffield-life-and-times

Before Weston Park closed for restoration, visitors were asked to vote for their favourite object. Snowy the polar bear won. Children from local schools helped design a special place in the new museum for Snowy. Arctic World is a result of their ideas. It answers the questions the children asked about life in the North American Arctic. Say hello to Snowy, meet the polar bear cubs, and have a go at building your own mini igloo.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/arctic-world

What on Earth! is an interactive introduction to the natural world and a showcase for Sheffield's amazing natural history collections.

In Close to Home, you can see and hear the animals that can be found living on the moors, in the woods or even in your own home. Explore the Weird and Wonderful area where you can design your own creatures, or pay a visit to the museum's very own beehive and ant colony.

Take a stroll through the ancient lands exhibit, but watch out for the hyenas, giant millipedes and sharks! In the Power of Nature section, find out how wind and water turns boulders into mud and why dung beetles are stronger than elephants.

From spring 2014 What on Earth! will be home to a new display exploring the ecosystem of Greno Wood, an ancient woodland in the north of the city. Natural Connections has been developed in partnership with Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust to explore the links between the diverse species which live in Greno Wood.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/what-on-earth!

In 2012 the Treasures gallery underwent a major redisplay and now showcases some of the remarkable highlights of the Sheffield's World Cultures collection, exploring their links with the city and its people.

The gallery illustrates the diversity of Sheffield’s cultural heritage, showcasing objects that have travelled many thousands of miles to the region. The exhibits on display have been developed by a group of young people who, along with local communities, have worked with Museums Sheffield to share the stories of these objects and look at how they found their way into the city’s collections.

In the Treasures gallery displays visitors can see:

• A crocodile skull bought back to the city from India in the late 1800s. Sheffield’s Fred Webster was attacked by the Crocodile, but escaped with his life when the crocodile was shot. When the contents of the crocodile’s stomach were examined, several items of jewellery were discovered suggesting a previous human victim.

• A knife made in Sheffield in 1835 by Joseph Elliot. Elliot had businesses all over Europe and the Americas and sold the knife to the Sioux people of North America, who crafted its deer hide sheath. The knife was later discovered by Sheffield collector, John Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, the 2nd Baron of Wharncliffe, who brought it back to the city.

• A set of ornate 19th century Japanese dolls given as a gift to local industrialist Sir Arthur Balfour. The conservation and display of the dolls was made possible thanks to the generosity of Museums Sheffield’s supporters.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/treasures

Museums Sheffield has partnered with Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust to create a new permanent display at Weston Park museum.

Using Greno Wood in north Sheffield as an example, Natural Connections explores the links between the diverse species which living teh city's green spaces. Visitors can discover who eats who in a giant food web, featuring specimens from the museum’s collections, and also have the chance to take a closer look at some of the Wood's mini-beasts through an interactive microscope. The display also feature a new animation highlighting the importance of working to protect the wood’s wildlife habitats.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/current/natural-connections

Joe Scarborough’s ambitious city panorama chronicles some of Sheffield’s iconic landmarks throughout the decades. Spanning an incredible 30 feet, the work took six years to complete and celebrates many familiar city sites, from the Tinsley Towers to the Town Hall.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Website

http://museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/coming-soon/joe-scarborough-sheffield-through-the-ages

This exhibition, on loan from the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a treat for adults and children alike.

If you love to play with dolls at home then you'll love these 12 beautiful dolls' houses, all from different eras. Characters and scenes are made up within the home to tell you the story of each room. You'll get to peer in on marriages, parties, politics and even crime.

Interactive exhibits mean you can listen to the dolls and hear the stories of the people who live and work in these beautiful homes. With everything from country mansions to newly built council houses, visitors will get a taste of what life was like for everyone for the last 300 years.

Museums Sheffield will celebrate the launch of the exhibition with a free, fun-packed day of family activities on Saturday 5 August, 11am-4pm. On the day visitors can enjoy a range of creative sessions inspired by life in miniature, as well as face painting, music and more.

Suitable for

• Any age

Where

Museums Sheffield: Weston Park
Weston Park Museum, Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TP

Website

http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/weston-park/exhibitions/coming-soon/small-stories-at-home-in-a-dolls-house