The Mo Sheringham Museum

Last updated

Sheringham Museum
The Mo, Sheringham 1825200.jpg
The main entrance to the museum, on the East Beach promenade in Sheringham.
The Mo Sheringham Museum
Established1987, moved and upgraded in April 2010, further enlarged in 2017
Location Sheringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
TypeLocal History and fine art and antiquities
Collection sizeFeatures an historic fleet of lifeboats and fishing boats, local photographic collections, other artworks, geology, social history and regularly-changed exhibitions
Website Sheringham museum

Sheringham Museum at the Mo is a museum in the town of Sheringham, Norfolk, England. [1] The current museum opened in April 2010 and rehoused the former collection originally held in converted fishermen's cottages behind the main street.

Contents

History

Sheringham has a recorded history going back over a thousand years, but there is also evidence of Roman and Viking settlement in the area. The town's name is thought to derive from a Viking village ('Scira's Home'). The original museum was located in converted fishermen's cottages and washhouses in the heart of the town, and was obviously unable to accommodate a growing collection which included three of the town's restored lifeboats.

Solving the space problem - The Mo

The Mo was originally a house named after Morag, born 1881, daughter of Sir Thomas Digby Pigott a member of the Upcher family. Richard Frederick Hayward, M.C., K.C., a maritime lawyer and farmer, was the last owner. The military requisitioned the property in 1940 and although initially intended as a defensive stronghold against invading forces, it was principally used to train troops in house to house fighting. Badly damaged, it was pulled down in 1946 and the site was then used as an open-air bandstand and children’s playground. Anglian Water acquired the site in 1996 from North Norfolk District Council in order to build a multimillion-pound sewerage scheme for the town, in return they built an ‘amenity building’ on the top of a massive storm and overflow tank, and although this new building was leased to the District Council it remained empty until 2009 when NNDC and Anglian Water allowed the lease to be transferred to Sheringham Museum Trust.

In April 2010, the museum reopened in a new facility located in "The Mo". [2] Displays focus on the town's social history, its fishing industry and its development as a holiday resort. The museum also houses the Sheringham Shoal Windfarm Visitor Centre. [3]

The Museum is an independent enterprise, staffed by Sheringham volunteers and employing a professional manager. It opens for approximately ten months each year (annual opening and closing dates vary a little) and mounts a number of temporary exhibitions each year. Apart from its notable collection of Sheringham lifeboats (now numbering four, with a fifth in a separate property) it is now the coordination point for Maritime Heritage East and established by the Art Fund as the leader of the Gansey Heritage Network.



See also

Related Research Articles

Sheringham Seaside town in Norfolk, England

Sheringham is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom. The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for "The sea enriches and the pine adorns".

Sheringham Park

Sheringham Park is a landscape park and gardens near the town of Sheringham, Norfolk, England. The park surrounds Sheringham Hall, lying mostly to its south. The hall is privately occupied, but Sheringham Park is in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors.

Cromer Coastal town in Norfolk, England

Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is 23 miles north of Norwich, 116 miles north-northeast of London and four miles east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is on Holt Road in the town, and Norfolk County Council, based in Norwich. The civil parish has an area of 4.66 km2 and at the 2011 census had a population of 7,683.

Hindringham Human settlement in England

Hindringham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) north east of the town of Fakenham, 16.4 miles (26.4 km) west of Cromer and 122 miles (196 km) north of London. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

Upper Sheringham Human settlement in England

Upper Sheringham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 26.8 miles (43.1 km) north-north-west of Norwich, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Cromer and 132 miles (212 km) north-north-east of London. The village is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from the town of Sheringham. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. Nearby road connections are the A149 King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth road to the north of the village and the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road just to the south. The parish of Upper Sheringham in the 2001 census, a population of 214, reducing slightly to 209 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk.

Beeston Beck (Norfolk) Minor watercourse in the north of the county of Norfolk, England

Beeston Beck is a minor watercourse in the north of the county of Norfolk, England.

Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm

Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is a Round 2 wind farm in North Sea off the coast of Norfolk. A lease for use of the sea bed was obtained in 2004 by Scira Offshore Energy, the development gained offshore planning consent in 2008, and was constructed 2009–2011, being officially opened in 2012.

Sheringham Lifeboat Station Lifeboat station on the East coast of England

Sheringham Lifeboat Station is an RNLI operated lifeboat station located in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk. Since 1992, the station has been inshore operations only - currently with an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable - offshore lifeboats are to the east at Cromer and the west at Wells-next-the-sea.

<i>Augusta</i> (lifeboat)

The Augusta was a private lifeboat which was stationed in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk She was launched on 14 November 1838 and stayed on station for 56 years until she was retired from service in 1894 after an inspection declared her to be unseaworthy.

RNLB <i>J C Madge</i> (ON 536)

RNLB J C Madge was a Liverpool-class, non-self righting lifeboat stationed at Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk from December 1904 until June 1936 during which time she was launched on service 34 times and saved 58 lives. J C Madge was replaced by Forester’s Centenary (ON 786).

Holyhead Maritime Museum Maritime museum in Holyhead, North Wales

The Holyhead Maritime Museum is a maritime museum located in Holyhead, North Wales.

RNLB <i>Foresters Centenary</i> (ON 786)

RNLB Foresters Centenary is a retired Liverpool-class lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), stationed in the English coastal town of Sheringham in the county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The lifeboat was on station for 25 years between 1936 and 1961 when she was sold. She has been restored to her original condition and is exhibited in Sheringham Museum.

RNLB <i>William Bennett</i> (ON 11)

RNLB William Bennett was the second RNLI lifeboat to be stationed at the English seaside town of Sheringham in the county of Norfolk. She served the North Norfolk coast from 1886 until 1904. Her time at Sheringham was notorious for the difficulties she had during launch and retrieval to the lifeboat station which at this time was awkwardly placed in the centre of town.

RNLB <i>Duncan</i>

RNLB Duncan was the first RNLI lifeboat placed on station in the English coastal town of Sheringham in the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom. The arrival of this lifeboat also coincided with the construction of the first RNLI lifeboat station. The station and boat worked in conjunction with the already established private Fishermans lifeboat station also in the town.

Henry Ramey Upcher

Henry Ramey Upcher was the second private lifeboat to be stationed in the English town of Sheringham in the county of Norfolk. She was launched on 4 September 1894 and stayed on station for 41 years until she was slowly retired from duty and by 1935 had ceased rescue work completely. The lifeboat is now on permanent display in her own museum housed in her converted original boat shed.

Skagen Town and Regional Museum

Skagen Town and Regional Museum is a private museum in Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark.

Sheringham Hall Historic house in Sheringham, England

Sheringham Hall is a Grade II* listed building which stands in the grounds of Sheringham Park which is in the care of the National Trust. The house is close to the village of Upper Sheringham in the English County of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The hall was built on the instructions of Abbot and Charlotte Upcher who engaged the architect and landscape designer Humphry Repton and his son John Adey Repton to build the house and to present designs for the surrounding parklands. Humphry worked on the landscape and John designed the hall. The house is privately owned is not open to the public but can be viewed from the surrounding parkland.

Lowestoft Maritime Museum Maritime museum in Whapload Road, Lowestoft

Lowestoft Maritime Museum is a private museum in the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England that is dedicated to local and national maritime history. Its exhibits include maritime artefacts including medals awarded to Royal Navy and RNLI personnel, marine art, the fishing industry in Lowestoft and the town's involvement with the Royal Navy in World War II, shipwrights and coopers tools, an extensive collection of ship models in various scales, the workshop of Christopher Cockerell, the inventor of the hovercraft, and a small display dedicated to Thomas Crisp, a local man who posthumously won the Victoria Cross during World War I. Britain's most easterly museum, it is run by enthusiasts and volunteers and is open to the public from late April to late October each year. The museum was the Suffolk Museum of the Year in 2012 and a finalist in 2014. There is an admission charge.

The SS Commodore was a British-registered collier. She was built at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1870 and served with three companies. She was driven into shallow waters off Sheringham, Norfolk on 7 November 1896. Local fishermen tried to render assistance but were driven off by gale force winds. After the Commodore was driven onto rocks she sent a distress signal and the Sheringham lifeboat Henry Ramey Upcher took off all 14 crew and 3 stranded fishermen. The wreck was blown up in 1906 as a hazard to the Sheringham fishing fleet. The remains were exposed by storms in September 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "The Mo, Sheringham Museum". Culture 24. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  2. ↑ Weeks, Jane (December 2010). "The Mo: Sheringham Museum, Norfolk". Museums Journal . 110 (12): 54–55.
  3. ↑ Sheringham Shoal Windfarm Visitor Centre Retrieved 8 July 2011

Coordinates: 52°56′43″N1°12′48″E / 52.9452°N 1.2134°E / 52.9452; 1.2134

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.