St Albans Museum + Gallery and Verulamium Museum to reopen on Monday 17 May as lockdown eases
St Albans Museum + Gallery will reopen to the public from Monday 17 May. Under the new government guidelines, the museum, café, and gift shop will be able to reopen each day from 11am – 5pm.
Verulamium Museum will also reopen on Monday 17 May and will be open Monday – Friday 10am – 4.30pm and Saturdays 11am – 4.30pm.
Both sites will reopen with COVID-secure measures in place as per government guidelines. This includes the need for all visitors to check-in on the NHS COVID-19 app when they arrive on site and to wear face coverings whilst indoors.
St Albans Museum + Gallery will reopen with some exciting new changes with three brand new exhibitions on display.
Behind the Mask, an exhibition in partnership with Trestle Theatre Company, opens in the Keepers Galleries, celebrating 40 years of this innovative organisation.
Lockdown Life, displayed in the magnificent Assembly Room at St Albans Museum + Gallery until 4 June, will share the creative, compassionate, and innovative ways the people of St Albans have responded to the challenges of living in lockdown.
And lastly, photographer Nic Madge’s Pandemic Portraits will be also be displayed as a short film in the Timeline Gallery of St Albans Museum + Gallery. Presented as diptychs, this moving collection documents the impact of the pandemic on residents’ lives.
In the Weston Gallery, the interactive exhibition exploring the magical world of automata continues until 27 June. Perfect for a family day out, Caberet Mechanical Marvels presents a collection of whimsical mechanical pieces, ready to delight the young and the young-at-heart.
To avoid disappointment, visitors for this exhibition are encouraged to book ahead via the museum website.
Those looking to visit Verulamium Museum are also encouraged to pre-book.
Tickets for both venues will be available from Wednesday 12 May.
Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Heritage and Public Realm said:
I am so glad to see our museums reopening fully for visitors once again. It has been a difficult lockdown for so many and although there have been many digital outputs, there is nothing quite like experiencing heritage and culture in person.
The team at St Albans Museums have worked hard to put together new exhibitions and to revamp much-loved displays across both sites. This is a moment of great joy and I hope everyone is as excited as I am to visit the museums once more.
- Visit www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/visit to plan a visit
- Images:
- St Albans Museum + Gallery and Verulamium Museum
- Painted rocks community project as part of Lockdown Life
- Barecats automata from Cabaret Mechanical Marvels
- Hi-res images available on request
- St Albans Museum + Gallery is free to visitors and will reopen on Monday 17 May and will be open every day 11am – 5pm
- Verulamium Museum is a charged for museum, but St Albans residents can enter for free. The museum will reopen on Monday 17 May and will be open Monday – Friday 10am – 4.30pm and Saturdays 11am – 4.30pm
Councillor Contact:
Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Heritage and Public Realm
Email: cllr.a.rowlands@stalbans.gov.uk; Tel: 07761 232064
Media contact:
Farhana Begum, Museums Business Manager, St Albans Museums
Email: farhana.begum@stalbans.gov.uk, Tel: 01727 814638
About Verulamium Museum
Built on the site of one of the largest Roman cities in Britain, Verulamium Museum tells the story of life in Britain over 2,000 years ago. From immersive recreated Roman rooms and intricate large-scale mosaics to jewellery, coins and homeware, the museum displays archaeological finds discovered during the excavations carried out by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler in the 1930s. As well as impressive mosaics, Verulamium Museum displays recent discoveries such as the Sandridge Hoard, a collection of 159 Roman gold coins.
About St Albans Museum + Gallery
St Albans Museum + Gallery is the newest addition to the collection of cultural heritage sites managed by St Albans Museums. It joins Verulamium Museum, the Hypocaust, the medieval Clock Tower, Sopwell Ruins and the thousands of objects in the City’s collection in being cared for and shared with the world. Set to be a world-class centre for arts and culture at the heart of one of Britain’s most historic cities, St Albans Museum + Gallery is free to all visitors. It showcases over 2,000 years of priceless heritage and hosts cutting-edge art exhibitions, sharing local, national and world treasures with all.