Willis Museum

The Willis Museum is a local history museum in the Market Place, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The building, which was formerly known as Basingstoke Town Hall, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Willis Museum
The old Town Hall, now the Willis Museum
LocationMarket Place, Basingstoke
Coordinates51°15′46″N 1°05′13″W
Built1835
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown hall with attached drinking fountain
Designated6 November 1984
Reference no.1230876
Willis Museum is located in Hampshire
Willis Museum
Shown in Hampshire

History

The building

Since the 14th century a Mote Hall was situated in Market Place, just to the east of Lloyds Bank.[2] The present building, which was designed in the neoclassical style by Lewis Wyatt,[3] was completed in 1835.[1] It was topped by a modest clock tower, which in 1887 was replaced by a far larger Jubilee Memorial clock tower. The latter was demolished 'as an allegedly unsafe structure' in 1961,[3] but the clock movement survived (and is presently on display in the museum): made for the old Mote Hall by John Atkins of Lichfield in 1760, it had been reused in the new town hall in 1832, and then reused again in 1887 (with an additional train provided by J. W. Benson to chime the quarters).[4]

The building initially had an open arcade around the lower level, which served as a corn exchange and market, but when a new corn exchange was built, just to the north, it was enclosed and repurposed as office space.[3] The rest of the building operated as a town hall and magistrates' court. Dances were sometimes held in the room upstairs.[2] In 1922 the council bought a large house called Goldings at 5 London Road to serve as its municipal offices, but continued to use the town hall as its meeting place until the council was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974.[5] The larger Basingstoke District Council (renamed Basingstoke and Deane in 1978) built itself a new headquarters incorporating a council chamber in the grounds of Goldings with the new building being completed in 1976, after which the town hall became redundant.[6]

The museum

The museum was originally housed in the old (now demolished) Mechanics' Institute building in New Road.[7] It was founded by the local clockmaker, George W. Willis, as the Basingstoke Museum in 1931.[7][8] Renamed after the founder in 1956, the Willis Museum was expanded to cover the town and surrounding area's history, from the Upper Cretaceous Age through to the development experienced during the 1960s and 1970s. It moved to the Town Hall in 1984.[2] As well as funding from visitor donations, the Willis Museum receives grant funding from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.[9]

Exhibitions

Displays covers local history, including remains of an ancient human known as "Basingstoke Man"[10] and what is rumoured to be the world’s oldest wedding cake.[11][12][13] In 2014, the museum faced criticism after some medieval coins, donated by a local treasure hunter, were removed from display.[14]

In January 2018 the museum faced criticism after specialist job roles were cut as part of a restructure of the wider Hampshire Cultural Trust service.[15]

The museum is home to the Sainsbury Gallery, which hosts temporary exhibitions. The gallery was added to the museum in 2008[16] with funding by the Linbury Trust, founded by Lord Sainsbury.[7] Previous exhibitions in the Sainsbury Gallery have included:

  • May The Toys Be With You[17]
  • Turner and the Sun[18]
  • Alice in Wonderland[18]

Jane Austen statue

Situated outside the museum is a statue of Jane Austen.[19] The life-sized bronze figure was created by sculptor Adam Roud[20] as part of a series of events marking the 200th anniversary of the writer's death. It is considered to be the first of Austen in the world.[21] The events were credited with boosting the previously falling number of visitors to the museum, though it is unknown for how long or successfully this effect will last.[22]

The location was chosen as it is speculated to be the same square Austen would have visited to go shopping or to dance at the assembly rooms nearby.[23] The statue was unveiled at a public ceremony attended by civic figures as well as Austen fans (or "Janeites") in Regency costume. Jane Austen spent the first 25 years of her life in nearby Steventon, where her father was vicar. Roud claimed that the statue represents Austen as a "daughter and a sister" as she walked through the town.[24]

References
  1. Historic England. "Town hall with attached drinking fountain (1230876)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. "Town trail info" (PDF). www.basingstoke.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. "History of the Museum Building". Friends of the Willis Museum. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. "Turret clock, and one dial, from Basingstoke town hall, Hampshire". Hampshire Cultural Trust. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  5. "Local Government Act 1972". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. Brown, Robert (19 June 2022). "Basingstoke Flashback: History of London Road buildings". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  7. "The Willis Museum". www.friendsofthewillis.org.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. "Famous People". www.bas-herit-soc.org. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  9. "Museums and galleries". www.basingstoke.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. Pattinson, Iain (3 September 2009). Lyttelton's Britain: A User's Guide to the British Isles As Heard on BBC Radio's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Random House. ISBN 9781848091733.
  11. "Is this the oldest wedding cake in the world? Picture". Daily Mirror. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  12. Quinlan, John. "Oldest cake around? Who knows? But it's still a slice of history". Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  13. "Oldest Wedding Cake: 113-year-old wedding cake sets world record". www.worldrecordacademy.com. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  14. "Medieval coins removed from display at Willis Museum". Basingstoke Gazette. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  15. "Plans to cut museum roles". Basingstoke Gazette. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  16. "Cultural award info" (PDF). documents.hants.gov.uk. 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  17. "The Force is with Basingstoke in Star Wars collection exhibition at the Willis Museum". Basingstoke Gazette. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  18. "'Turner and the Sun' opens at The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre on 5 August, 2017". The Arts Shelf. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  19. "Basingstoke unveils the first life-size bronze sculpture of Jane Austen". Maria Miller. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  20. "Jane Austen". Adam Roud Sculptor. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  21. Rahim, Zamira (19 July 2017). "'World first' statue of Jane Austen unveiled". CNN. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  22. "Rise in visitor numbers put down to Jane Austen effect". Basingstoke Observer. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  23. "Lifesize Jane Austen statue unveiled in Basingstoke town centre". Basingstoke Observer. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  24. "Jane Austen anniversary statue unveiled". BBC. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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