Bedford Museum

Bedford Museum was formed in the 1960s from the collections of Bedford Modern School and Bedford Borough Council. It's social history, archaeology, natural history and ethnography collections tell the unique stories of the people and places that have shaped Bedford and its relationship with the wider world, from prehistory to the present day. Here, we tell the story of how those collections came together:

In 1884 a solicitor called Charles Prichard, donated his private collection of fossils and minerals to Bedford Modern School, where he had formerly been a pupil. In addition he provided funds for the creation of a school museum to house the collections with an annual grant of £10 for its upkeep. Although additions were made to the original collections, oddities from all over the world began to feature as fathers and Old Boys travelled and took up positions in foreign lands. As a result the Museum became somewhat disrespectfully known as the ‘Old Curiosity Shop’. As you enter the first part of the current Social History Gallery, you will find a flavour of that 'curiosity shop' has been retained.

The 1920s saw sweeping changes with the appointment of P.G. Langdon as Honorary Curator. Langdon’s aim was to reorganise the collections and establish them as a nucleus of a county museum. He acquired archaeological material including Roman and Saxon pottery and jewellery from Kempston, replaced the worst of the natural history with the J. Steele Elliot collection of Bedfordshire birds, mammals, nests and eggs and, in 1929, developed two new refurbished galleries. For the first time the displays were opened to the public on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, for an admission price of 6d. With this new high profile status the museum became recognised as one of the best school museums in England.

The next major figure to influence the Museum’s future was F.W. Kuhlicke, a local historian and heraldry specialist who was appointed Honorary Curator in 1933. He continued to develop the collections but by the 1950s the school needed more space for the expanding numbers and discussions took place with the Borough of Bedford to see whether the Borough could take on the public museum role. The opportunity arose to combine the school museum with the smaller collections held by the Borough of Bedford and in 1962 the newly established town museum opened in a former garage and showroom on the Embankment, with Kuhlicke as the first Honorary Curator.

This, however, was only a temporary arrangement while more substantial premises were sought. In the 1970s the former Higgins and Sons Castle Brewery buildings became available. Built in 1837, this red brick industrial building offered greater potential for public service, temporary exhibitions and storage for the ever increasing collections of north Bedfordshire. The first professional Curator, John Turner, was appointed in 1974 and he led the extensive refurbishment and transformation of the brewery buildings into the new town museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1981.

See also plans for redevlopement and the history of Bedford Gallery and Cecil Higgins Art Gallery.

Bedford Gallery

The gallery during the 'Treasures' exhibiton.

Bedford Gallery is the new, state-of-the art exhibiton space for Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum. It was officially opened on 1st April 2009 by Stephen Deuchar, Director of Tate Britain, and the late Frank Branston, Mayor of Bedford.

In 1837, Charles Higgins bought the lease for Castle Lane from the Duke of Bedford. The lease required Higgins to build a house on the site; between 1840 and 1841 the building we now
call Bedford Gallery was constructed. Bedford Gallery was originally designed to be used as a
clubhouse known as ‘Castle Rooms’, for supporters and members of the Whig party. Rate books from the time show that it was divided into 3 sections: a house, club rooms and a
cellar.

Bedford Gallery as it is today, over 150 years since it was first built as 'The Castle Rooms'.

From 1848, the building was used by the Bunyan Meeting as a Sunday School, for Church gatherings and for teas. This lasted until the 1880s; listings show that it was then used by the
Plymouth Brethren, a non-denominational Christian movement. In the early part of the 20th century it became a billiard hall.


For some time during World War Two, the British Broadcasting Corporation music department is believed to have used Bedford Gallery as a rehearsal and recording studio. In August 1941 the
BBC had evacuated several departments from London to Bedford; other local buildings used included the Corn Exchange and the Great Hall of Bedford School.

After the war, the building returned to use as a billiard hall and table tennis saloon, and some of our older visitors recall spending many youthful days here. In 1960, it was given over to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and renamed Bedford Gallery; from then until 1973 it was a venue for exhibitions and events.

After being closed for over 30 years, Bedford Gallery was earmarked for a £2.5m refurbishment. The project, funded by Government and Bedford Borough Council, has created a
state-of-the-art venue that will house a varied and exciting programme of temporary exhibitions, including touring exhibitions from national museums and galleries.

The versatile display methods transform the gallery for the 'Edward Bawden' exhibiton.

Forthcoming exhibitions include:
October 2009 Edward Bawden
Autumn 2010 Airship R101
January 2011 Toulouse-Lautrec

The refurbishment of Bedford Gallery forms Phase 1 of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum Development Project, which will see the creation of a flagship heritage attraction at the heart of Bedford’s Cultural Quarter.