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Residents and visitors invited to have their say on Chesterfield Museum

26th February 2021

Residents and visitors are being invited to give their thoughts and opinions about Chesterfield Museum and share ideas of what they would like to see the museum offer in the future.

Like many museums nationwide, Chesterfield Museum – which is owned by Chesterfield Borough Council – has had to remain closed to visitors since March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Behind the scenes, the museum team have been busy extending and improving the museum’s online offer and exploring ideas for future exhibitions and events that will excite the whole family when the museum reopens its doors.

As part of this, the team at Chesterfield Museum are asking local residents and visitors to the museum to share their views on the museum in a short survey, giving them the chance to have their say about what they would like to see in the future and how visits to the museum could be improved: www.chesterfield.gov.uk/explore-chesterfield/museum/more-from-your-museum/chesterfield-museum-survey

Councillor Kate Sarvent, cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “Chesterfield Museum has been welcoming visitors for more than 26 years, telling the story of Chesterfield – from its beginnings as a Roman fort to its history as a manufacturing town boosted by the Industrial Revolution – and we want to hear your thoughts.

“We know many residents enjoy visiting the museum to learn about our local history and take part in fun events, but gathering feedback is vital in ensuring that the museum reaches a wider audience, making the whole community feel included and valued. I’d encourage as many people as possible to take part in this survey and help shape the future of our fantastic museum.”

As well as presenting fascinating temporary exhibitions about the history of the borough in the museum and unique displays in our Art Gallery, Chesterfield Museum is also proud to work closely with many local organisations from across the borough. In recent years the museum has been proud to host exhibitions organised by Chesterfield Photographic Society, Donut Creative Art Studios (DCAS), LGBT+ Derbyshire, Chesterfield Rugby Club and the Don Rivers Catchment Trust.

Residents and visitors have until Sunday 14 March to share their views.

Chesterfield Museum announces online activities this Christmas

18th December 2020

Over Christmas the team at Chesterfield Museum have traditionally put on events for the whole family and opened Revolution House to the public with seasonal flower displays to help spread some festive cheer. This is sadly not possible this year, but the museum team have put together a series of online activities to help celebrate Christmas.

Councillor Kate Sarvent, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “The museum team have worked really hard all year to create digital activities and events for the whole family, it’s fantastic that they can finish the year off with even more of these. I hope lots of people will take part and learn more about how we used to celebrate Christmas.”

Throughout the year Chesterfield Museum have teamed up with History’s Maid, who are regular visitors to the museum with their fantastic re-enactors, to create a range of videos. This Christmas they have created three brand new videos all about Christmas in different historical periods.

The first video profiles a Tudor Christmas celebration, where traditions included fasting for advent and feasting on plum porridge, pickled pigs’ feet and wassail. It also looks at the invention of the Kissing Bough, a special decoration made of mistletoe and explains the origins of Twelfth Night and the Feast of Epiphany. There is also information on how to create your very own Tudor Pomander, which are a fantastic little stocking filler.

Moving through the ages the next video will look at a Victorian Christmas and how many of our current traditions including carols, crackers, cards and decorations date back to this time. It will also reveal the true origins of Father Christmas as we know him today.

A slightly more sombre video looks at how Christmas was celebrated during World War One, with a reading of a poignant story inspired by the events of Christmas 1914 on the Western Front called ‘Waiting for a Candle’ by R J Barker.

As well as all the exciting videos there will also be some Christmas craft activities for children as well as a Christmas quiz. One of the Museum team will be doing a series of readings from ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Although Revolution House remains closed this year, there are some fantastic photos of previous Christmas’s at Revolution House and the amazing flower displays which staff and volunteers create. There is also a great guide on how to create a Christmas wreath. There will also be a sing along to carols by Holymoorside Brass Band.

The Mayor of Chesterfield, Councillor Glenys Falconer, will also be appearing in a special video this year where she will be reading ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’.

All of the activities and content will be available on the Chesterfield Museum Facebook page www.facebook.com/chesterfieldmuseum and website www.chesterfield.gov.uk/museum.

For more information about Christmas activities in Chesterfield, click here