Local Area - Museums and Art Galleries

Within about a half hour’s drive from Harrold there is an amazing wealth of entertainment and cultural events and facilities.  The local area boasts more than twenty local museums and art galleries. Some of these preserve, not only local, but national heritage, such as those found at Bletchley Park and at The Bunyan Museum.

Abington Museum, Abington Park, Northampton

Military and social history display, dating from 1500 onwards, in a manor house  set in Northampton’s finest park.  The house was once the home of Shakespeare’s granddaughter.

Tel: 01604 838110

Bletchley Park, The Mansion, Bletchley

Home of the codebreakers, Bletchley Park is a place of exceptional historical importance. It played a major role in WWII, producing intelligence which had a profound influence on the conflict.

Tel: 01908 640404

Cowper and Newton Museum, Market Place, Olney

The home and garden of the poet William Cowper, including the summer-house where he met his neighbour, the preacher and former slave trader John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace.

Tel: 01234 711516

Elstow Moot Hall, Elstow, Bedford

Elstow Moot Hall is a picturesque 15th century building of brick and timber which now houses a museum of 17th century life with a focus on the life and career of John Bunyan.

Tel: 01234 266889

John Bunyan Museum, Mill Street, Bedford

The Bunyan Meeting House was founded in 1650 during the time of Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate. Today it includes a museum presenting the life, times and works of John Bunyan.
Tel: 01234 270303

Kettering Heritage Quarter, Sheep St., Kettering

Explore Kettering’s history at the Manor House Museum. Temporary exhibitions, regular activities, and a ‘hands-on’ approach to history, make this a lively and vibrant place to visit.

Tel: 01536 534381

Alfred East Gallery, Sheep Street Kettering

Kettering has its own centrally-located art gallery, housing a rich collection of paintings, ranging from 19th-century works to 21st century works, by contemporary artists.

Tel: 01536 410533

Bromham Mill, Bridge End, Bromham

There has been a mill on the site of Bromham Mill since before the Domesday survey in 1086.  The Mill once again grinds flour and visitors can once again watch flour milling at close quarters.

Tel: 01234 824330

Earls Barton Museum of Local Life, Station Road, Earls Barton

The museum contains permanent exhibitions of a shoe worker’s cottage at the turn of the century, a lace case and corner shop. There is also an exhibition of Earls Barton footwear manufacture.

Tel: 01604 811735

The Higgins Bedford, Castle Lane, Bedford

The Higgins Bedford unites on one site three previous cultural venues : Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford Museum and Bedford Gallery.  The buildings themselves date back 200 years and have their own rich history.

Tel: 01234 718618

Military Intelligence Museum, Chicksands, Bedfordshire

The Military Intelligence Museum displays key elements of the history of British Military Intelligence from the Boer War forwards.  The central Collection in the Museum is the Intelligence Corps Collection.

Tel: 01462 752896