Manor House Museum
Manor House Museum
Sheep Street
Kettering
Northamptonshire
NN16 0AN
England
Website
museumandgallery@kettering.gov.uk
Telephone
01536 534219
Fax
01536 534370
Temporary exhibitions and regular activities make the Manor House Museum a lively and vibrant place to visit. Come along to explore Kettering's history and find out what makes the town unique. Covering the history of the Borough, the Museum is packed with fascinating objects including archaeology, natural history, geology, and costume.
Children's craft activities take place during the school holidays and historical themed lunchtime talks take place regularly at the neighbouring Alfred East Art Gallery.
Our education service for schools, community groups and others, delivers sessions that involve children in hands-on and active learning, covering many different areas of the curriculum.
The museum shop is well-known for its excellent range of educational and fun gift items related to the themes of the museum and more. It's the perfect place to buy a unique treat.
Venue Type:
Museum, Historic house or home, Garden, parklands or rural site
The museum collects only those items, which were made or used within the geographical area of Kettering Borough for its permanent collections. The current size of the collections is thought to total circa 20,000 artefacts.
Access to the Collections:
The Museum collections are not all on display at the same time. There are far too many items to fit in the building!
Some of the Museum’s collections can be accessed for research purposes on request. Please contact the Museum and Gallery for further details. At least one month's notice is required for this request.
Collection details
Agriculture, Archaeology, Archives, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Industry, Land Transport, Natural Sciences, Science and Technology, Social History, Sport, Toys and Hobbies, Weapons and War, World Cultures, Fine Art, Law and Order, Music, Performing Arts, Photography, Literature, Medicine, Film and Media, Decorative and Applied Art, Architecture, Design, Inland Waterways, Trade and Commerce, Religion, Personalities
Key artists and exhibits
- Victorian costumes,'Robinson car',Samian Ware,Roman Lead Font,Numismatics,Civil War armour, Anglo-Saxon Cremation Urns
Manor House Museum Permanent Displays
- 1 January 2000 — 31 January 2020 *on now
Find out what makes Kettering unique! Covering the history of the borough, the Museum’s permanent displays are packed with fascinating objects and information. Topics include the Boot and Shoe Industry, agriculture, geology, costume, natural history, coins and medals.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
An exhibition of works from the Past to the Present - John Avery Taylor MA (RCA)
- 23 November 2013 — 11 January 2014 *on now
Alfred East Art Gallery
John was born and brought up in Kettering before moving to Liverpool when he found his niche in art. John was able to follow his interest in music hall theatre in the medium of performance art and also worked in film, directing and working on his own and other people’s film and video productions.
Now retired, John uses his skills to paint and draw and showcases his work at various local exhibitions. It has been his lifelong ambition to show his work in his home town at The Alfred East Art Gallery and he will try to show the wide variety of his different artistic oeuvres at this retrospective exhibition.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
'Little Works of Art' 100 years of Greeting Cards
- 30 November 2013 — 22 February 2014 *on now
Thousands of greeting cards are sent every day in Britain. This charming exhibition explores the history of greeting cards and postcards and how the sending of cards became rooted in our culture. Around 300 Christmas, New Year and Easter cards as well as Birthday and Valentine cards, dating from the 1850s to the 1950s, are featured. Amongst them are examples by many of the most significant publishers throughout the century as well as cards sent and received by residents local to Kettering Borough. Cards by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Marcus Ward, Thomas De La Rue, Robert Canton, Faulkner & Co and Ernest Nister are amongst those showcased.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
Community Corner - KCU
- 1 — 31 December 2013 *on now
KCU have been delivering free education courses in Kettering for 30 years.
Many of our courses are academic but we also provide recreational skills including art, sewing, jewellery and felt making.
Our course details for next term starting in January can be found on our website at http://www.kcultd.org.uk/ or in our course leaflet available from either of our charity shops in town.
Why not make KCU your NEW YEAR RESOLUTION!
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1519/community_corner
Community Corner - St Judes Community Project & Kettering Foodbank
- 1 — 31 January 2014
St Judes Community Project offers our local community a foodbank that helps those in food poverty caused by a crisis. There is also a drop-in centre where support is provided for the homeless, rough sleepers and those in temporary accommodation.
Further information is available at http://www.stjudeskettering.org.uk/
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1519/community_corner
Jamie Boots
- 18 January — 1 March 2014
Originally from New Zealand , Jamie is a self-taught artist whose work is produced in graphite pencil. The finest detail is achieved by etching fur or skin texture into the paper and then working over the top of it with darker tones of pencil.A large number of photographs are taken with up to ten pictures being used to create the composition of the drawing whilst also trying to capture the individual character of the animal to be drawn.Jamie also produces one off wood carvings made out of plywood which have a very tactile appearance
Jamie first exhibited his work in 2004 and has won a number of awards for his artwork.In a very short period of time a hobby became a profession and with a limited number of originals being available each year his drawings have become highly collectable.Many of Jamie’s pictures are available as Limited Edition prints in galleries throughout the UK .
Jamie has done a one week residency at Nature in Art in Gloucester for the past five years. Jamie has also demonstrated at Patchings Art Festival Nottingham and at Art in Action in near Oxford.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
Community Corner - Wicksteed Park: Past, Present and Future!
- 1 — 28 February 2014
As the work to restore the main lake at Wicksteed gets well underway, this display looks back over the park’s pioneering history. Items and photographs from our archives will be seen in public for the first time.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1519/community_corner
'Image & Imagination' by John Roger Hatton NDD
- 15 February — 15 March 2014
Roger's work is an interpretation of the landscape, observed in daily travel from home to the studio in East Northamptonshire, regular visits to the East Neuk, Fife, Scotland and to the Big Sur coast near Monterey, Southern California. The work is mainly water based media, newer works are tending towards Impressionism or full abstraction, experimenting with colour, light and texture sourced from sketches, reference photographs or images glimpsed on his travels and conveyed to paper or canvas directly from the mind, inviting the viewer to use their own imagination in interpreting the work.
Roger trained at Northwich College, Cheshire and Leicester College of Art, graduating in Graphic Design, Typography and Photography, and more recently at West Dean College, Sussex and is currently studying abstracting landscape with the Royal Watercolour Society in London where his work was exhibited in 2013.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
Caring for Treasures
- 23 January 2014 2:30-4pm
Have you got a treasured object at home that you would like to know how to best look after?
Our Museum Officer may be able to help.
To find out more about how to care for your treasured possessions and ensure that they are preserved for generations to come, why not drop into one of our opinion surgeries:
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1192/surgeries/2
Family History Surgeries
- 10 December 2013 2:30-4pm
- 14 January 2014 2:30-4pm
- 11 February 2014 2:30-4pm
Looking for help getting started with your family tree and want to learn more about available records and how to use them?
Perhaps you need advice on where to go next or you've hit a brick wall in discovering more about a family tree member?
Drop in to see Andrea Pettingale, local historian and professional genealogist at one of her new regular surgeries:
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1192/surgeries/3
'Scottish Art' by Sue Edwards
- 10 January 2014 1-2pm
‘Friday 10 January 2014, 1-2pm
From enigmatic Jacobite artworks to the Glasgow Boys and Scottish Colourists, ending with Jack Vettriano and others. Join Sue Edwards as she delves into the exquisite art of Scotland .
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£5 per person, £3.50 concessions
Website
Archaeological Finds Surgery
- 15 January 2014 2:30-4pm
- 19 February 2014 2:30-4pm
If you have found something that you would like to know more about, please bring it along to one of these free sessions at the Manor House Museum, run by Northamptonshire’s Finds Liaison Officer- Julie Cassidy.
Suitable for
- Any age
Website
'Alice Hawkins: A Suffragette in the family' by Peter Barrett
- 16 January 2014 7:30-9pm
Alice Hawkins: A Suffragette in the family’ – by Peter Barrett
Thursday 16 January, 7.30pm
Peter Barrett’s foray into his family’s history revealed his great-grandmother, Alice, founded the Leicester branch of the WSPU in 1907 with the help of the Pankhurst sisters. She also went on to be imprisoned five times in her fight for the vote. A shoe machinist by trade, Alice campaigned in East Northamptonshire and visited Kettering on many occasions. This talk reveals the story of the Suffrage Movement in Leicester and the surrounding areas, led by Alice Hawkins.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Tickets: £3 per person, free to Friends Members. Available on the door, no advance booking required.
Website
'Landmarks - Parish Churches in Northamptonshire' by Derek Blunt
- 7 February 2014 1-2pm
Friday 7th February 2014, 1-2pm
Derek Blunt, on his return visit to the Alfred East Art Gallery, talks about the Parish Churches that abound in Northamptonshire which he has visited and drawn in pen and ink over the years. This talk complements his book ‘Landmarks’ and draws upon the history of these buildings.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£5 per person, £3.50 concessions
Website
‘The influence of the artist on contemporary stained glass’ by Paul Sharpling
- 20 February 2014 7:30-9pm
Thursday 20 February, 7.30pm
This talk will demonstrate the development of stained glass windows between the mid nineteenth century and the present day. The emphasis will be on modern windows between the mid 1980s to the present day with special reference to artists working in the Midlands.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Tickets: £3 per person, free to Friends Members. Available on the door, no advance booking required
Website
Community Corner
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1519/community_corner
The Community Corner at Manor House Museum is a rotating community showcase, providing the opportunity for local community groups, societies and networks to present dedicated displays about their work, or specific events.
If you are a local group, society or network interested in compiling a display for the Community Corner, or wish to find out more, please contact the Museum Officer on: 01536 535 609 or at eleanorbaumber@kettering.gov.uk
How to obtain
Please contact the Museum Officer on: 01536 535 609 or at eleanorbaumber@kettering.gov.uk. Display dimensions are downloadable on our website.
Manor House Museum Shop
http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/839/museums_and_galleries-shops/1193/manor_house_museum_shop/2
The museum shop is well-known for its excellent range of educational and fun gift items related to the themes of the museum and much more. It's the perfect place to buy a unique treat.
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