Curtis Museum

01/12/2019

We are open today for Alton’s Yuletide Festival! Pop in and pick up some great Christmas presents, or enter our raffle to win this Christmas hamper.

29/11/2019

Unfortunately the Curtis Museum will be closing early at 2.30 this afternoon. We apologise for any inconvenience. We will be open as usual tomorrow.

28/11/2019

This fascinating talk is on tonight at the Allen Gallery. For anyone interested in the history of Alton, this is not to be missed!

Tonight at the Allen Gallery! Please call in to reserve your ticket

22/11/2019

Alton Town Council

Introducing our Alpine Marmot...as yet unnamed! Watch this space for a naming and selfie competition, although the town hall staff have nicknamed him ‘Marmite’ for now 😂

19/11/2019

Hampshire in Old Photographs

The dispatch room at Crowley Brewery which was located on Turk Street, Alton, Hampshire. Taken in around 1890.
P1972.665.5

13/11/2019

Tickets still available for this fascinating talk at the Allen Gallery

Did you know Alton’s Camera Club has been going for 60 years? Pop along to this fascinating talk to find out more about the Club’s history

12/11/2019

Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery

We are open as usual! The Allen Gallery is having some maintenance work done over the next few weeks, but despite the scaffolding we are still open for visitors

30/10/2019

Don’t forget to pop along to the Curtis Museum tomorrow for half term Halloween fun!

24/10/2019

Don’t forget to pop along to the Allen Gallery tomorrow morning to find out more about volunteering with us!

15/10/2019

Cardinal Newman declared a saint by the Pope

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-50032640
Did you know newly declared Saint John Henry Newman has a connection to Alton? We have a display about him in the Museum at the moment, including a letter written by the man himself.

John Henry Newman is the first English person born since the 17th Century to be canonised.

10/10/2019

Are you interested in volunteering? Pop along to the Allen Gallery on 25th October to find out more about becoming part of our brilliant team

09/10/2019

A massive thank you to the Alton Beer Festival for their kind donation of £200 towards our Childhood Gallery Project. We will be purchasing a wooden train set and cars for visitors to play with using this donation.

02/10/2019

Thank you to everyone who donated and helped spread the word about this project!

You are amazing! The #BuckleyBear campaign has reached it's £2,000 target. Thank you to all our supporters who shared our story, visited the Curtis Museum and Allen Gallery and donated. Please do continue to follow #BuckleyBear and join him on his journey to his new home.

26/09/2019

Family Favourites Awards 2019 | Day Out With The Kids

https://awards.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/vote-2019
You only have until 30th September to vote for us! Please click the link below and vote for the Curtis Museum, it only takes a few moments and every vote counts. Thank you!

Awards crowning the best family attractions, run by the biggest platform for family days out in the UK. Recognising the best days out for kids in 2019.

19/09/2019

We were thrilled to receive Gold at this year’s Alton in Bloom event! Thanks to all our volunteers who maintain our beautiful window boxes, and the Friends of the Curtis Museum & Allen Gallery for finding them again this year

18/09/2019

Please help us reach our target!

Our Childhood Gallery at the Curtis Museum needs your support to raise the final £500 for our #BuckleyBear campaign. Here are some comments from our local community: "This could be a great, safe space for young families to play together", "It brings back memories", "It was fabulous but I think you should move the car below so I can see it" . hants.co/2LJIfoQ

14/09/2019

Family Favourites Awards 2019 | Day Out With The Kids

https://awards.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/vote-2019/
Don’t forget to vote for us before the 30th September! We are up against some really well known attractions in the London & South East category, so every vote really counts!

Awards crowning the best family attractions, run by the biggest platform for family days out in the UK. Recognising the best days out for kids in 2019.

02/09/2019

Fantastic news! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far.

Wow! A huge thank you to our amazing supporters! £1,500 raised so far for our #BuckleyBear campaign. Please spread the word and help us raise the final £500. Thank you! https://bit.ly/2LYg4mc

28/08/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

#BuckleyBear is thrilled to hear that Curtis Museum is a finalist in the Day Out With the Kids 2019 Family Favourites Awards! The Childhood Gallery at Curtis Museum provides the perfect space for families to learn and play but is in need of some repair. Help us to continue providing free family activities for all by donating today. Thank you. https://bit.ly/2LYg4mc

27/08/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

We are absolutely delighted to be nominated for this award! If you would like to vote for the Curtis Museum, please follow the link below.

We're thrilled to announce that Curtis Museum and Milestones Museum are both finalists in the Day Out With the Kids 2019 Family Favourites Awards!

After a record number of nominations, Curtis Museum is a finalist in the Best Free Family Day Out category and Milestones in the Best Educational Day Out category in London & South East.

Voting is open NOW until Monday 30 September and we'd love your help - visit the Day Out With the Kids website to cast your vote!

25/08/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

This #BankHoliday, help us give a child the chance to be inspired culture. #BuckleyBear needs to raise £2,000 for the redevelopment of the Childhood Gallery at the Curtis Museum. Every penny donated will impact hundreds of families living in East Hampshire. https://bit.ly/2LYg4mc

25/08/2019

Memories of Alton, Hampshire.

Good morning, I hope you are having a good weekend so far?

Today's offering is a postcard: Crown Hill, Alton c1925

The picture has been taken by someone standing at the bottom of Crown hill (opposite Alton Home Hardware) looking towards the Curtis Museum.

Whilst there have been some changes the view is almost exactly the same today.

What can you see?

Have a a great day..........

21/08/2019

There’s still time to donate towards our Childhood Gallery project!

Did you know that #BuckleyBear is fondly named after the Alton Buckle, the finest piece of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship found in Hampshire? The Curtis Museum in Alton explores 100 million years of the region’s past and the Childhood Gallery helps introduce and connect families to their local history. Help us give Buckley a new home at the Childhood Gallery, and donate today. https://bit.ly/2LYg4mc

20/08/2019

Allen Gallery

For any local artisits looking to exhibit, please click on the link below.

https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/open-exhibition-callout-submissions
The Allen Gallery Open Exhibition callout for submissions is now live!
This year, all applications need to be made using our online form. Please follow the link to our website, which includes our terms and conditions and a link to the entry form.

The closing date for entries is 15 September.

Good luck!

14/08/2019

Help us to transform our Childhood Gallery and make it a really great space for local families. Follow the link below and please donate!

Did you know that donating just £3 to our #BuckleyBear campaign can help a child in Hampshire engage with culture? £3 could provide art materials for free family workshops, £5 could buy a child’s favourite Storytime book and £20 could buy a wooden train set allowing a grandparent to reminisce with their grandchildren. No matter the size of the donation, every penny will impact the lives of 100s of families across Hampshire https://hants.co/2LJIfoQ

13/08/2019

Hampshire in Old Photographs

Hop pickers sitting on hops loaded onto a horse drawn wagon outside the kiln at Will Hall Farm, Alton, Hampshire. Taken between 1890 and 1899.
P1996.123

10/08/2019

Our Anglo-Saxon Festival is today! Pop along and meet Weorod who are braving the weather outside, before sheltering in the museum and seeing some of our archaeological finds and costume from Hampshire Wardrobe!

08/08/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

Donating to the Childhood Gallery fundraising project is easy - just press the donate button below and follow the instructions. Even just a small amount will help us to reach our target. Please share!

Staff and volunteers have been sharing fond memories of their favourite toys with #BuckleyBear. He would love to hear about your favourite childhood toys too! And don’t forget to donate to help Buckley inspire children across Hampshire. You can find more information here: https://bit.ly/2LYg4mc

08/08/2019

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far - please keep supporting the Childhood Gallery fundraising campaign so we can improve what we offer for visitors, especially families.

The Childhood Gallery Curtis Museum showcases a small sample of the 5,000 items in our toy collection, including #BuckleyBear. Spanning three centuries, our collection inspires a lifetime love of history from an early age. We need your support to raise £2,000 so that we can redevelop the Childhood Gallery and continue to inspire families across #Hampshire. https://hants.co/2LJIfoQ

07/08/2019

WEOROD

Just three sleeps to go until the Alton Anglo-Saxon Festival at The Curtis Museum. Be sure to come along for a fun family Saturday at one of our fabulous local museums. Weorod will provide the usual eclectic mix of replica artefacts, ancient technologies and timed presentations and the team at the museum are promising themed family activities too - should be a great day! ;)

If you are thinking about getting involved with Weorod it's a great opportunity to come along, see what we do for yourself and meet the team - and during your visit we highly recommend taking the time to visit one of the finest artefacts from Anglo-Saxon Hampshire yet discovered - The Alton Buckle in the Museum collection ;)

Thanks to Broccwen for the image from last years event ;)

31/07/2019

Our fundraising campaign to refurbish the Childhood Gallery has started. Please help us to raise our target of £2000! You can do this online following the link below

Our Childhood Gallery at the Curtis Museum needs some TLC so that children of all ages can continue to learn about Alton’s fascinating local history. Your support is vital to help us continue opening doors for everyone to be inspired by culture (and to give Buckley Bear a new home). Small change makes big changes. #BuckleyBear

29/07/2019

We are really looking forward to welcoming Weorod once again for Anglo-Saxon Day!

Less than two weeks to go now until the Alton Anglo-Saxon Festival at The Curtis Museum - It's always a great family day out in the War Memorial Gardens alongside the Museum. Best make a note in the diary! ;)

Please feel free to share the poster - Thank you! ;)

27/07/2019

Please help support our refurbishment of the Childhood Gallery at the Curtis Museum. Details about how to donate in the link below!

Can you help #BuckleyBear? The Curtis Museum's Childhood Gallery needs some TLC before Buckley Bear and his friends can settle into their new home. We need to raise £2,000 to re-develop our Childhood Gallery, creating a new and exciting space for families. Find out more and how you can help on our website. https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/support-us/childhood-gallery-campaign

25/07/2019

Dolls House Day | Hampshire Cultural Trust

https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/dolls-house-day-0
Just two more days before our annual Dolls House Day!

The Curtis Museum are opening their doors again to dolls houses large and small to view and play with!

20/07/2019

Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery

The weather is against us but the musicians are still playing! Pop along to the Allen Gallery for music in our Gallery space until 3pm

10/07/2019

This week, 8 of our volunteers took part in object handling training. They learnt all about how to handle museum objects safely in this informative and enjoyable session. Thanks to Claire and Ruth from HCT's Collections team for running it.

22/06/2019

Come along to the Alton Community Fayre in the Public Gardens and find out about volunteering with us! We are here until 3pm

10/06/2019

Joe Low photographer

William Curtis as a name in Alton exists in considerable abundance. One (1770-1849) was surgeon apothecary to Jane Austen. Another (1803-1881) was Alton's Curtis Museum founder. Yet another (1746-1799) was a botanist and entomologist who became known as one of the greatest naturalists of the 18th century, and there is currently an exhibition entitled 'dear Nature's child' celebrating this William Curtis's work. I took this photograph recently at the private view held at the Allen Gallery, Alton. The exhibition runs until 20th July. As well as the exhibition, there is also an Physic Garden to view, which features herbs grown that could have been used to cure the people of Alton at that time.

08/06/2019

Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery

Due to a technical problem with one of our shutters, we are currently closed. We hope this will be fixed as soon as possible. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

05/06/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

The Allen Gallery is hosting this excellent exhibition by artist Paula Paton throughout June.

Now on until 29 June at the Allen Gallery: FLUIDITY: AN EXHIBITION BY PAULA PATON. Paula Paton is a fine artist trained and graduated from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa. Her use of bold colours and dramatic expressions show her influences from that region and her love for nature. Free entry.

04/06/2019

Hampshire Cultural Trust

⭐️Helen, Allen Gallery, Alton.
Helen has been volunteering at the gallery for three years. After she left the Cabinet Office, she was keen to do something different and preferably outdoors. As she enjoys gardening at home, helping with the gallery garden was the ideal opportunity. She feels inspired by the garden and enjoys working with her fellow gardeners and developing new ideas at the gallery - they're currently working on adding plants identified by the botanist William Curtis in his journals.

01/06/2019

Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery

https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/dear-natures-child-william-curtis-fascinating-story-one-greatest-naturalists-18th-century
Our fantastic new exhibition about the botanist William Curtis opens today! The Gallery Garden is also looking beautiful, so it is a perfect time to visit both. We are open until 4.30pm.

29/05/2019

Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery

https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/family-make-and-take-hand-puppets
Pop along to the Allen Gallery this Thursday and make a hand puppet! Just drop in, no need to book

23/05/2019

Half Term Activities | Hampshire Cultural Trust

📚 Story telling, 🏺 object handling, 🐸 pond dipping and much more! Pack your half term with great fun, in and out of doors, for all the family wherever you are around Hampshire.

Take a trip to our museums, arts centres and galleries across Hampshire for great family days out, to find out more about our history and heritage, discover world-class art or enjoy some of the very best in music, theatre and comedy that the county has to offer.

17/05/2019

Allen Gallery

Don’t miss the Grand Plant Sale at the Allen Gallery tomorrow!

https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/grand-plant-sale
Pick up a bargain at the Grand Plant Sale tomorrow!