Harborough Museum set to re-open after being shut for over five months

Harborough Museum in Market Harborough is to re-open on Wednesday (September 9) after being shut for over five months.

The popular museum, based at the Symington Building on Adam and Eve Street, will welcome back visitors after it was closed when the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in late March.

Other heritage sites across Leicestershire and run by the county council are also re-opening this week following the long spring and summer coronavirus closures.

They include the award-winning Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, 1620s House & Garden at Donington-le-Heath and Melton Carnegie.

Cllr Richard Blunt, the county council’s cabinet member for heritage, leisure and arts, said: “We’re delighted that we are now able to re-open our heritage sites.

“We are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to enjoy them.”

He added: “Our priority is to ensure that the attractions are safe for visitors and staff.

“What remains the same is that we want people to come along and have an enjoyable time with us – as well as staying safe."

Visitors to all the sites will need to pre-book a timed slot.

Harborough Museum celebrates Market Harborough’s long history as a centre of trade and industry in the heart of the Welland Valley at the crossroads between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

The world-renowned Hallaton Treasure is showcased in the museum.

Found in 2000 by metal detectorist Ken Wallace and the Hallaton Fieldwork Group, the Treasure Gallery boasts over 2,500 glittering coins, mysterious offerings and a beautiful and unique 1st century Roman cavalry helmet.

Displays focus on both historic and recent communities which have shaped the story of Market Harborough and surrounding area through the themes of:

· The communities that have made Harborough

· Childhood

· Manufacturing, trade and commerce

· Religion and belief

· Health and wellbeing

· Places of entertainment

· Conflict and war

· Food and farming

· Local villages and parishes

· A recreation of Mr Falkner’s early 20th century boot and shoe workshop.

Market Harborough Historical Society’s outstanding collection of curiosities has dedicated displays - including Ancient Egyptian pottery, a mastodon tooth and the evocative drummer boy’s jacket of the Market Harborough Volunteers dating back to 1806.

Alongside Lutterworth Museum, Hallaton Museum and the BoilerHouse at Foxton Locks and museums in neighbouring Kettering, Desborough and Northampton, Harborough Museum collects, preserves, displays and makes accessible objects, pictures, ephemera and recorded memories of the area.

For more details of opening days and times and to book a slot online, please visit: http://www.harboroughmuseum.org.uk/