We have many free museums and galleries a short bus ride
from Stafford House Brighton and directions to these are available from the school reception
or just have a chat with the Activity Coordinator for details. Stay warm and
dry and enjoy some local culture!
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| Booth Museum of Natural History |
The Booth Museum of Natural History was founded in 1847 by
Edward Thomas Booth who amassed a large collection of British birds in the 19th
century. He built a museum to house his collection, displaying each of the
birds in a series of dioramas. Edward Booth employed George Saville, from
Belgium via Cambridge, as his taxidermist, who was rumoured to been paid £25
per month, a huge sum in those days. Booth’s technique was to shoot the
specimens and probably while still in the field he would make a large, rather
primitive painting of the area in which the bird had been obtained. The skinned
bird along with the painting would be presented to Saville. A painting of the
bird would be made and cut out, then placed on the landscape painting, moved around
until the desired composition was achieved, and glued into place. Saville would
mount the birds and replicate Booth's painting in the form of a display case.
These cases range from two feet by three feet to six feet by six feet. Prior to
Booth’s collection, mounted birds were usually placed on simple wooden perches.
Booth’s dioramas, as well as his museum, are his major legacy to the world. The
idea of exhibiting the bird as well as its environment has been widely copied
all over of the world and perfected in large museums in the USA such as The
American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institute.
The Brighton Museum & Art Gallery can be found in the
grounds of the Pavilion, and has many interactive exhibits. The World Art
collection is one of the finest in the country with artefacts dating back two
millennia. The Fine Art collection contains some 2,000 paintings – almost as
many as the National Gallery. The Fashion gallery celebrates centuries of style
from Regency to Punk.
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| Brighton Fishing Museum |
Images of Brighton and Exploring Brighton galleries present
both the traditional and unconventional aspects of the city’s rich and
colourful history through audio, film, artefacts, local ephemera and imagery.
At the Hove Museum and Art Gallery you can step into a world of toys, cinema,
local history and fine art, it has one of the finest craft collections in the
country.
Or you could visit
the Brighton Fishing Museum which is housed along the sea front. Uncover the
history and heritage of Brighton’s fishing industry through a wealth of
photographs, remarkable artefacts and restored traditional Sussex clinker
fishing boats.
