Wardown House Museum and Gallery, formerly Wardown Park Museum and, before that, the Luton Museum & Art Gallery, in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, is housed in a large

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

mansion in

Wardown Park Wardown Park is situated on the River Lee (England), River Lea in Luton. The park has various sporting facilities, is home to the Wardown Park Museum and contains formal gardens. The park is located between ''Old Bedford Road'' and the A6 road ( ...

on the outskirts of the town centre. The museum collection focuses on the traditional crafts of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, notably

lace-making Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted or ...

and

hat-making Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...

. There are samples of

Bedfordshire lace Bedfordshire lace is a style of bobbin lace originating from Bedfordshire in the 19th century, and made in the English Midlands lacemaking area. It was worked as a continuous width on a lace pillow, bolster pillow. It is a guipure style of lace. ...

from as early as the 17th century.

History

Robert How built the first property within the park, called Bramingham Shott, which is the current home to the museum. In the early 1870s the estate was taken over by local solicitor, Frank Chapman-Scargill, he rebuilt much of the earlier house in 1879 for a total cost of £10,000. Scargill left Luton in 1893 and the house and property was acquired by lime burner Benjamin John Harfield Forder, who renamed the estate Wardown, after the hill (War Down) behind his family home at

Buriton Buriton () is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is located 2 miles (3.3 km) south of Petersfield. History About a mile north-west of Buriton was the extensive manor of West Mapledurham, f ...

, Hampshire. In 1903, Forder and his partners, Halley Stewart and

Sir Malcolm Stewart Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart, 1st Baronet (9 May 1872 – 27 February 1951), was an English industrialist and philanthropist. He incorporated the London Brick Company in the 1920s, which was at the time reputed to be the largest brick-making c ...

, who later acquired the

London Brick Company The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading United Kingdom, British manufacturer of bricks. History The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterbo ...

, decided to sell the house and park, and placed the property up for sale. The property was bought by Luton Council in 1904. Over the next few years extensive improvements were implemented, many new trees were planted, as well as new footpaths and bridges being constructed. The layout of the park today is very much as it was in this period. A bowling green was built in 1905. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Wardown House was pressed into service as a hospital, firstly by the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, and then the

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

s of the British Red Cross Society. Mrs Nora Durler and Mrs Mary Green were the Joint Commandants. The Luton Museum was transferred to the house in 1931.

Description

The museum has a collection of circa 700 hats and pieces of headwear. The

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World W ...

gallery, produced by the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

, explains the history of the local regiment. The first floor galleries were refurbished and opened as the Luton Life displays in February 2003. This was partly funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. The museum displays explore stories of Luton people over the past 150 years. The ground floor displays include the Living Landscape gallery which displays local archaeology and natural history, including the Shillington Roman coin hoard and an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

mirror.

The Wenlock Jug

The jug is a rare surviving example of an English bronze jug from the 15th century, with great significance for the study of bronze working in medieval England. It was nearly sold to New York's

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

for £750,000 but was export-stopped in October 2005 by culture minister,

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy FRSA (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held vario ...

, based on a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Instead it was bought by Luton Museums Service for 300 times its normal annual acquisitions budget to equal the offer of the Metropolitan. On 14 May 2012 it was reported that the jug had been stolen following a break in at the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton. It was recovered after being found in a lock-up garage in Epsom on 24 September 2012.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Museums in Bedfordshire Art museums and galleries in Bedfordshire Regimental museums in England Textile museums in the United Kingdom Fashion museums in the United Kingdom Local museums in Bedfordshire Museums established in 1930 1930 establishments in England Culture in Luton Listed buildings in Luton Grade II listed buildings in Bedfordshire