Bantock House Museum and Park, is a museum of
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
life and local history, with of surrounding parkland in
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is named after Alderman Baldwin and Kitty Bantock who once lived there.
[
] It is run by
Wolverhampton City Council
City of Wolverhampton Council is the governing body of the city of Wolverhampton, England. It was previously known as Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) prior to the award of city status in 2000, and also as Wolverhampton City Co ...
's Arts and Museums service.
History
The house was built in the 1730s as New Merridale Farm. It was extended and improved during occupancy by Thomas Herrick about the beginning of the 19th century and renamed Merridale House.
The house had several tenants but in about 1864 was bought by Thomas Bantock, a canal and railway agent. His son Albert Baldwin Bantock, who was twice Mayor of Wolverhampton and also
High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire.
The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...
in 1920, further improved the property following his father's death in 1896. On his own death, without children, in 1938 he bequeathed the house and park to Wolverhampton Corporation. The house was renamed in his honour in 1940. It is a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Bantock House
Bantock House contains displays exploring the lives of the Bantock family and other locally important people. On the ground floor, there are displays about the Bantock family and the way they lived. Upstairs, the focus shifts to the men and women who shaped Wolverhampton and the industries they created with displays featuring locally-made enamels,
steel jewellery and
japanned ware
Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the ...
. The museum is unusual in that it avoids for the most part the use of traditional 'glass case' displays, and instead presents a 'more informal and imaginative setting'; visitors are, for example, encouraged to sit on any furniture they can find.
Bantock House Gardens
![Rose Garden in Bantock Park - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Rose_Garden_in_Bantock_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_247034.jpg)
The gardens that surround the house were designed by Albert Baldwin Bantock and in 1998 were restored to his original designs by Wolverhampton City Council, allowing visitors today to see the different spaces Baldwin created.
At the back of the house there is a sunken garden called the Dutch Garden. There is also a rose garden, with an array of roses with names such as Blythe Spirit, Chapeau de Napoleon and Glamis Castle, colourful flower borders in the house garden and a woodland garden which now forms part of a nature trail around the park.
Bantock Park
Bantock Park has of land and includes a play area for children, a small, 18 hole
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
, a putting green, and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
fields.
Highland cattle were bred by the Bantock family and are believed to have roamed the grounds of the park up until around the 1930s. To recreate the presence of the cows, local craftsman Neil Watt was commissioned to create a cow sculpture, which can now be seen at the front of the house.
References
External links
Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service: Bantock House and Park*
ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/360/bp/index.shtml BBC: The Black Country: 360° views: Bantock House and Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bantock House Museum And Park
Grade II listed buildings in the West Midlands (county)
Historic house museums in the West Midlands (county)
Gardens in the West Midlands (county)
Parks and open spaces in the West Midlands (county)
Local museums in the West Midlands (county)
Museums in Wolverhampton
Museums established in 1938
1938 establishments in England
Conservation areas in England