The Waterworks Museum Hereford
The Waterworks Museum was opened in 1974. The museum is one of Herefordshire’s leading visitor attractions. It is wholly run by volunteers. It is, ‘A working museum which makes the story of drinking water spring to life.’
Based in a Grade II* listed building, the Museum is home to the UK’s oldest in-situ working triple-expansion steam engine and it has one of the widest ranges of working pumping engines in the UK. This includes exhibits in The Tangye House, Leominster’s Victorian pumping station and the Rotherwas Engine House, displaying a permanent exhibition of artefacts saved from dereliction from a World War II bunker. The collection is interpreted by a combination of displays, historic artefacts and ephemera related to potable water.
Visitors to the Waterworks Museum can see historic beam, steam, gas, oil, diesel and combustion engines, many of which are among the last working example of their kind. The collection primarily relates to drinking water supply in Herefordshire, the Marches and Wales, but also includes items from other parts of the UK. In addition, building on its collection of hot-air engines, the Waterworks Museum has gained a reputation as a repository and centre of knowledge for the operation of machines that provided power for municipal schemes before internal combustion engines. This collection is considered one of the best in the UK. There is also a unique Heritage Water park for with full size working interactive artefacts.
Visit their website: www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk
Leominster Museum
Leominster Museum
Leominster Museum was founded almost fifty years ago, to tell the story of this ancient market town in Herefordshire & its surrounding villages. It is housed in a converted mid-19th century Mission Hall, with outbuildings and additions at the back. Its collection includes a prehistoric burial, an important group of early 19thC watercolour paintings by local artist John Scarlett Davis RA, hundreds of objects relating to the agricultural, industrial, and domestic life of the town in the last 200 years, as well as a complete horse driven cider mill & cider press. It is open six days a week from Easter Saturday to the end of October, and stages a new temporary exhibition almost every year. It is wholly volunteer run. It does not charge entrance fees, and relies for its income on donations, a Friends scheme, sale of merchandise, and grants from an assortment of bodies.
The Museum, whose accreditation with Arts Council England (ACE) was renewed most recently in October 2017, is constantly seeking ways to engage with a wider audience. In 2014, it received an Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant for ‘Rifles & Spades’, a First World War commemoration project; and from 2015 to 2017, it was one of the six participating museums in the national Creative Museums project. One of the most popular items in its collection features on the Museum Crush website. It has a number of exciting plans for the future, including the expansion and redevelopment of its current buildings.
Visit their website: www.leominstermuseum.org.uk
Follow on
Facebook: @leominstermuseum
Twitter: @leomuseum
Herefordshire Museums
Herefordshire Museums
The Black and White House Museum
The Black and White House Museum is a beautifully conserved 17th Century house furnished in period style situated in High Town in Hereford.
A fascinating hands on museum giving an insight into daily life in Jacobean times and into the history of the city of Hereford.
They have a variety of volunteering roles available, from meeting and greeting their visitors, acting as stewards in the rooms and generally helping to keep everything in the museum running smoothly, providing a great visitor experience. There are also opportunities to get involved in events or showing particular exhibits. Your ideas to make the most of visitors’ experience of the museum will always be welcome.
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a spectacular Victorian gothic building on Broad Street in Hereford, has been exhibiting historical artefacts and works of art, many connected with the local area since 1874. The museum is full of fascinating local history with hands-on elements for all the family.
The art gallery hosts regularly changing exhibitions of contemporary art, historic art and themed object displays from the museum collections.
The volunteering roles are focussed around meeting and greeting visitors to the museum and gallery and answering any questions they may have.
There are also opportunities to get involved in events and workshops and your ideas will always be welcome.
Visit their website here
