Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service

E-Bulletin Register today and get up to the minute news on exhibitions and events in Norfolk Museums

Two New Galleries now open at Norwich Castle

The Arts of Living Gallery traces 600 years of style and design, from medieval carvings to psychedelic 1960s dresses. Admire beautiful jewellery, ceramics, glass, silverware and textiles from Norwich.

Treasure, Trade and the Exotic showcases wonderful objects from countries like India, Japan, China, Tibet and Africa – many of which were brought to the UK by Norfolk collectors.

Coming Soon...

CAN.09 No Visible Means of Escape: Contemporary Art and Imprisonment
Norwich Castle: Saturday 18 July – Sunday 4 October

An exploration of control, punishment and surveillance, inspired by Norwich Castle’s long history as a prison. On show as part of CAN09 - a celebration of Contemporary Art in Norwich. Find out more.

Strangers' Hall - Now open four days a week


Enjoy longer opening hours at Strangers' Hall, which is now open every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Gardens Month at Strangers' Hall

Come and see the garden in full splendour this July and participate in one of many garden events. Find out more.



Mammal Gallery Re-Display

During Summer 2009 the Mammal Gallery at Norwich Castle is being completely re-displayed. As part of this work, the gallery is now closed to the public. We apologise for this inconvenience, but hope that the exciting new gallery will be more than worth the wait.

The refurbished gallery will feature all your old favourites alongside fascinating specimens previously in storage (such as the extinct Great Auk). The magnificent Polar Bear will be getting a brand new icy home, the Fountaine-Neimy collection of rare and beautiful butterflies will once again be on display and the Red Kangaroo’s bizarre history as a famous boxer will be revealed. If you need to see a particular specimen while the gallery is closed, please contact Tony Irwin, Curator of Natural History on 01603 493642 or click here to email.


Bird Gallery Closure

As part of a programme of pest control for the Natural History and Social History collections, the Bird Gallery at Norwich Castle is closed for the next few months. This is to enable specimens to be removed from cases and frozen to kill Museum Beetle and other pests.

The freezing programme is also the initial process in a major redisplay of the Mammal Gallery. The clean (pest-free!) birds will be back on display later in the summer. If anyone needs to see a particular specimen while the gallery is closed, please contact Tony Irwin, Curator of Natural History on 01603 493642 or click here to email. To find out more about our pest management programme click here


Lynn Museum & Seahenge

The Lynn Museum has re-opened to the public after a £1.2million Heritage Lottery funded re-development. The stunning centrepiece of the new displays is Seahenge, the 4,000 year old timbers uncovered on the beach at Holme. Click here to learn more



The Bridewell Re-development Project

The Bridewell has just been awarded a £1 million grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund to help improve access to the building and to refresh some of its displays. As part of the re-development project we'd like to know what you love about the museum and what can be improved. Please help by completing our Online Survey - it only takes ten minutes.



Children who visit museums get better grades at school

That’s a fact uncovered by ground breaking research. Engage. Learn. Achieve. is a study from the University of Leicester. The key findings make a powerful case for the benefits of secondary schools visiting a museum or archive: 60% of pupils in this study achieved a higher mark for their assessed piece of work after a museum (or archive) visit when compared to previous assignment marks. Read more...

The NMAS website offers almost 500 pages of information. It aims to tell you about: Exhibitions and events are coming up around the county Museums and study centres and how to plan a visit to them What's on offer The range and content of our collections Norfolk Knowledge: a miscellany of information, loosely based around the county of Norfolk and the stories behind the collections About the work of the Archaeology and Environment Division The NMAS itself, its policies and strategies If you cannot find information, try entering a keyword or two in the 'Search' box above.

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