Harris Museum

Last updated

Harris Museum
Harris Museum ( Preston ) ( Web).jpg
The Harris building
Location map United Kingdom Preston central.svg
Red pog.svg
Harris Museum
Location in Preston city centre
Established1893;131 years ago (1893)
LocationMarket Square, Preston, England
Coordinates 53°45′33″N2°41′54″W / 53.75911°N 2.69825°W / 53.75911; -2.69825
Type Art Gallery and Public Library
Website www.theharris.org.uk
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameHarris Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery
Designated12 June 1950
Reference no. 1207306

The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. [1] Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum.

Contents

History

In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local taxation, and the town of Preston wanted a grand museum and library for its inhabitants. From 1850, local people held fund-raising events; and in 1877 Edmund Robert Harris, a Preston lawyer, left in his will £300,000 to establish a trust and support a public library, museum and art gallery with Preston Corporation. [2]

In 1879, the first Preston lending library was set up in the Town Hall basement, while a public museum was set up on Cross Street, opening 1 May 1880. Success led the council to erect a new building for both. Work started on the museum in 1882 during the Preston Guild, and it officially opened in 1893. [2]

Design

The building was designed by a local architect, James Hibbert, who chose a Neo-Classical style. For the 1880s, this was in some ways contrary to the Gothic Revival style which was popular at the time and features in numerous contemporary buildings in Preston, including the old Town Hall which stood on the western side of the Harris. [3]

Exterior

The building's exterior reflects Hibbert's vision of a neo-classicism through "“simplicity, symmetry of plan, truthfulness of expression and refinement of detail”. Unlike other public buildings designed in this style (such as the British Museum in London and the Konzerthaus in Berlin), Hibbert's design does not feature steps leading up from the Flag Market but instead has ground-level entrances on each side of the building. [3]

A pediment dominates the front of the building and features a sculpture based upon Raphael's painting The School of Athens . Interpreting Hibbert's design fell to London sculptor Edwin Roscoe Mullins and features the central figure of the Ancient Athenian general Pericles, surrounded by twelve other men arranged symmetrically to either side. The sculpture is considered Mullins' principal work. [4] Beneath the pediment is the inscription To Literature, Arts and Science. There are further inscriptions along the sides, including "on Earth there is nothing great but man : in man there is nothing great but mind." On the lantern tower a quotation in Ancient Greek from Pericles' Funeral Oration. [3]

Supporting the pediment are six Ionic fluted columns leading down to a raised portico overlooking the Flag Market. [1]

Interior

The building's interior is dominated by a central hall rising over 120 feet from the ground floor to the ceiling of the lantern tower. As well as the ground floor, there are three upper floors with balconies opening up onto the central hall, and collection halls and exhibition spaces on each floor. [3]

The interior design features classical influences from Ancient Greece, Assyria and Egypt, including columns and mosaic floors, and copies of Classical and Renaissance sculpture representing the “whole range and history of the world’s greatest achievements in art”. Only the Greek and Assyrian friezes on the upper floors and the copy of Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise on the ground floor remain of the original sculptures. [3]

Collections

The Harris collections cover fine art, decorative art, costume, textiles and history including collections on archaeology and local history. The museum has a permanent history gallery called Discover Preston which covers Preston's history but also includes a Discovery Room featuring the wider collections. Highlights of the Discovery Room include a display of the complete skeleton discovered in 1970, of the 13,500-year-old Poulton Elk, a skeleton of an Ice Age elk with two embedded man-made barbed points, the earliest relic of human occupation of Lancashire. [5]

The fine art collection includes over 800 oil paintings featuring work by Richard Ansdell, George Frederick Watts, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud, Ivon Hitchens and Graham Sutherland as well as local artists Anthony Devis and Reginald Aspinwall. [6] The decorative art collection includes collections of British ceramics and glass, and are displayed in the Ceramics and Glass Gallery. In addition there is a contemporary art programme of national and international artists, touring shows and in-house exhibitions. [7]

A Foucault pendulum hangs in the central foyer, through all the floors, over a butterfly-shaped plate marked with the hours of the day. As a result of the rotation of the Earth, this functions as a decorative and reasonably-accurate clock. The building is also decorated with a number of plaster casts of classical friezes throughout the central atrium and a 19th-century copy of the Baptistery doors from Florence is located on the ground floor. These were part of the original design scheme by the architect James Hibbert. [8]

Library

The building also houses Preston City's Public Library, [9] which is run by Lancashire County Council. The first librarian of the Harris Free Public Library was a William Bramwell who retired in 1916 aged eighty-one. The Harris library holds important book collections including the Shepherd Collection donated to Preston by Dr Richard Shepherd in 1761, with additions funded by the Shepherd bequest, [10] local studies material, nineteenth-century journals, rare books and art books. Also the Spencer collection of illustrated children's books and chapbooks. [11] At the time of the opening of the Harris, William Bramwell was also the librarian of the Dr Shepherd Library which found a home at the Harris having been located in various buildings and institutions across the town. [12]

Renovation Project

Following a successful bid for support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, in October 2020 plans were submitted for a £10.7M renovation and restoration project called #HarrisYourPlace with the aim "to establish the Harris as the UK’s first blended museum, art gallery and library". The project is said to include "much-needed conservation works" on the roof, stonework and basement to help address the building's "long-standing damp problem". It will also reveal some of the Harris’ original architectural details which have been hidden by previous building works, including reopening an original entrance way to improve accessibility. A new lift and toilet on the ground floor will improve the building's accessibility to disabled visitors, and a new staircase will replace the existing fire exit stairs. [13]

These proposed works are in addition to a £150K Children's Place scheme scheduled to open in 2024, which will redevelop the children's library space and improve facilities for school groups and families. [14]

Appearances in media and products

The Harris features in the Preston version of Monopoly, launched in October 2020. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery</span> Museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Gallery of Ontario</span> Art museum in Toronto, Ontario

The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West. The building complex takes up 45,000 square metres (480,000 sq ft) of physical space, making it one of the largest art museums in North America and the second-largest art museum in Toronto, after the Royal Ontario Museum. In addition to exhibition spaces, the museum also houses an artist-in-residence office and studio, dining facilities, event spaces, gift shop, library and archives, theatre and lecture hall, research centre, and a workshop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barber Institute of Fine Arts</span> Art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council House, Birmingham</span> Municipal building in Birmingham, West Midlands, England

Birmingham City Council House in Birmingham, England, is the home of Birmingham City Council, and thus the seat of local government for the city. It provides office accommodation for both employed council officers, including the Chief Executive, and elected council members, plus the council chamber, Lord Mayor's Suite, committee rooms and a large and ornate banqueting suite, complete with minstrel's gallery. The first-floor's exterior balcony is used by visiting dignitaries and victorious sports teams, to address crowds assembled below. The Council House, which has its own postcode, B1 1BB, is located in Victoria Square in the city centre and is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Museum of Art</span> Art museum in Cleveland, Ohio

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 61,000 works of art from around the world. The museum provides free general admission to the public. With a $755 million endowment, it is the fourth-wealthiest art museum in the United States. With about 770,000 visitors annually (2018), it is one of the most visited art museums in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salford Museum and Art Gallery</span> Art gallery and museum in Salford, England, United Kingdom

Salford Museum and Art Gallery, in Peel Park, Salford, Greater Manchester, opened to the public in November 1850 as the Royal Museum and Public Library. The gallery and museum are devoted to the history of Salford and Victorian art and architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Building, University of Liverpool</span> Grade II listed architectural structure in Liverpool, United kingdom

The Victoria Building of the University of Liverpool, is on the corner of Brownlow Hill and Ashton Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1892. It was the first purpose-built building for what was to become the University of Liverpool, with accommodation for administration, teaching, common rooms and a library. The building was the inspiration for the term "red brick university" which was coined by Professor Edgar Allison Peers. In 2008 it was converted into the Victoria Gallery & Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany Institute of History & Art</span> Museum in Albany, New York

The Albany Institute of History & Art (AIHA) is a museum in Albany, New York, United States, "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region". It is located on Washington Avenue in downtown Albany. Founded in 1791, it is among the oldest museums in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Institute of Chicago Building</span>

The Art Institute of Chicago Building houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is part of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The building is located in Grant Park on the east side of Michigan Avenue, and marks the third address for the Art Institute. The main building was built for the joint purpose of providing an additional facility for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and subsequently the Art Institute. The core of the current complex, located opposite Adams Street, officially opened to the public on December 8, 1893, and was renamed the Allerton Building in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Art Gallery</span> Art gallery in The Headrow, Leeds

Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance". Its collection also includes 19th-century and earlier art works. It is a grade II listed building owned and administered by Leeds City Council, linked on the West to Leeds Central Library and on the East via a bridge to the Henry Moore Institute with which it shares some sculptures. A Henry Moore sculpture, Reclining Woman: Elbow (1981), stands in front of the entrance. The entrance hall contains Leeds' oldest civic sculpture, a 1712 marble statue of Queen Anne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Storey</span> Historic site

The Storey, formerly the Storey Institute, is a multi-purpose building located at the corner of Meeting House Lane and Castle Hill in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Its main part is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, with its back entrance being listed separately, also at Grade II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirschsprung Collection</span> Art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Hirschsprung Collection is an art museum located on Stockholmsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large collection of Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century. The emphasis is on the Danish Golden Age, from 1800 to 1850, but also the Skagen Painters and other representatives of the Modern Breakthrough are well represented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Cenotaph</span> War memorial in Lancashire, England

The Preston Cenotaph stands in Market Square, Preston, Lancashire, England, and is a monument to soldiers from Preston who perished in World War I and II. Unveiled on 13 June 1926, the memorial was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott with sculptural work by Henry Alfred Pegram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sessions House, Preston</span> Courthouse in Lancashire, England

The Sessions House is a courthouse in Harris Street, Preston, Lancashire, England. The courthouse, which continues to be used for judicial purposes as well as being used as administrative offices for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Robert Harris</span>

Edmund Robert Harris was a British lawyer from Preston, Lancashire who was the principal benefactor of the Harris Museum, Harris Institute or Art School, Harris Technical School and the Harris Orphanage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carey Baptist Church, Preston</span> Church in Lancashire, England

Carey Baptist Church, is a Baptist church in Preston, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is affiliated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

James Hibbert was an English architect who practised in Preston, Lancashire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishergate Baptist Church</span> Church in Lancashire, England

Fishergate Baptist Church in Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire, England was an active Baptist church for more than 150 years, but is now redundant. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Since 2018 it has housed a French-themed bistro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atkinson Art Gallery and Library</span> Historic site in Merseyside, England

The Atkinson is a building on the east side of Lord Street extending round the corner into Eastbank Street, Southport, Sefton, Merseyside, England. The building is a combination of two former buildings, the original Atkinson Art Gallery and Library that opened in 1878, and the adjacent Manchester and Liverpool District Bank that was built in 1879. These were combined in 1923–24 and the interiors have been integrated. The original building is in Neoclassical style, and the former bank is in Renaissance style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spennymoor Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Spennymoor, County Durham, England

Spennymoor Town Hall is a municipal building in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. The town hall is the meeting place of Spennymoor Town Council.

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Harris Public Library, Museum and art gallery (1207306)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Harris Museum History". Visit Preston. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Architecture of the Harris Building". The Harris. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Edwin Roscoe Mullins (1848-1907)". Bob Speel. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  5. ↑ Harris Museum: The Poulton Elk.
  6. ↑ Reginald Aspinwall's Paintings, BBC Your Paintings, accessed April 2013
  7. ↑ "Harris Museum Exhibition". Preston Grasshoppers. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  8. ↑ "Harris Museum". Visit North West. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to the Library and Information Service web siteBack - Preston Harris Home Page". Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
  10. ↑ "Lancashire Lantern: Lancashire Life And Times E-Resource Network". Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  11. ↑ A Catalogue of the Spencer Collection of Early Children's Books and Chapbooks, Presented to the Harris Public Library, Preston, By Mr. J. H. Spencer, 1967
  12. ↑ Convey, John (1993).The Harris Free Public Library and Museum, Preston 1893-1993, p.37, Lancashire County Books, Preston. ISBN   9781871236309
  13. ↑ Phil Cunnington (28 October 2020). "Bosses submit £10m plans to transform Preston's Harris Museum". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. ↑ Abigail Donoghue (11 October 2020). "New £150,000 children's space being created in The Harris". Blog Preston. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Anthony Gilmour (19 October 2020). "The BIG Preston Edition Monopoly Game Launch Is Happening On Thursday". Preston Hub. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.