The Curtis Museum in

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

, is a

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small ...

museum in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

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 ...

. The museum was founded in 1865 by Dr William Curtis (1803–1881). In 2014, ownership of the museum was transferred to the Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of a larger transfer of museums from

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

and

Winchester City Council The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status. The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...

Displays

It contains a wide range of artefacts and displays including: * Prehistoric tools *

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bowls and other material, including a cup found at

Selborne Selborne is a village in Hampshire, England, south of Alton, and just within the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park. The village receives visitors because of its links with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White, a pioneer of birdw ...

*The Anglo-Saxon Alton buckle *Artefacts from the

Battle of Alton The Battle of Alton (also Storm of Alton), of the First English Civil War, took place on 13 December 1643 in the town of Alton, Hampshire, England. There, Parliamentary forces serving under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise a ...

(1643), a battle in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

*The " Jane Austen Trail" *The tale of Sweet Fanny Adams, who was murdered locally in 1867 *Hop picking and brewing

Closure threat

In 2010, both the Curtis Museum and the Allen Gallery were under threat of closure, following their receipt of an email to that effect from the Museum & Arts Service."Save The Alton Museums"
21 September 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2011. The Museum and Gallery were taken over by the Hampshire Museums and Galleries Trust, which ran both buildings with the help of volunteers, on behalf of Hampshire County Council. As of May 2014, management was transferred back to Hampshire County Council.

References

External links

Curtis Museum

Allen Gallery
1865 establishments in England Museums in Hampshire Biographical museums in Hampshire Local museums in Hampshire Museums established in 1865 Alton, Hampshire {{UK-museum-stub