Museum of Richmond



The Museum of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is located in Richmond's Old Town Hall, close to Richmond Bridge. It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 October 1988.

An independent museum and a registered charity, it is supported by Richmond upon Thames Borough Council. Dr Nicola Mann, who heads the Department of Communications & The Arts at Richmond American University London, chairs the board of trustees; John Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford is deputy chair. Gary Enstone is the museum's Curator and Executive Officer.

The museum's permanent displays, from medieval times to the present day, relate to the history of Richmond, Kew, Petersham and Ham which, until local government boundary changes in 1965, formed the Municipal Borough of Richmond (Surrey). Its temporary exhibitions, education activities and resources, and a programme of events (including events for families and children) cover the whole of the modern borough. The museum's highlights include: 16th-century glass from Richmond Palace; a model of Richmond Palace; and a painting, The Terrace and View from Richmond Hill, Surrey by Dutch draughtsman and painter Leonard Knyff (1650–1722), which is part of the Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection.

The museum organises a programme of talks. Admission to the museum, which is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, is free.

History
The museum was created in 1983 by local residents led by local historian John Cloake (who was the museum's first chairman). Its first curator (from 1987 to 1989) was Kate Thaxton.

Exhibitions
The museum's current exhibition, Artificial Silk: From Kew to the World, opened on 20 June 2023. It will be succeeded, in July 2024, by Wish you Were Here: From Horace Walpole to Ted Lasso.

The museum's previous exhibitions include:

2020s

 * 2022–23 Richmond Remembers: 100 Years of the Poppy Factory
 * 2021–22 OT50 – Fifty Years of The Orange Tree Theatre. Extracts from oral histories that accompanied the exhibition are available online.
 * 2021 The King's Observatory: Richmond's Science Story, about the history of the King's Observatory in Old Deer Park. An extended version of the exhibition is available online.
 * 2020–21 Queen's Road: 500 Years of History, about Queen's Road, Richmond, a historic road that runs from Sheen Road to the top of Richmond Hill. As physical access to the museum was affected by government restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a digital version was also produced. The online version is still available.

2010s

 * 2019–20 Celebrating 800 years of St. Mary Magdalene at the heart of Richmond,  about Richmond's historic parish church
 * 2018–19 Museum of Richmond 30th anniversary exhibition: 30 years, 30 people, 30 objects
 * 2018 Archaeology: Richmond's Prehistory
 * 2017–18 Poverty
 * 2017 Old Palace Lane: Medieval to Modern Richmond
 * 2016–17  The Royal Star & Garter: 100 Years of Care, marking the centenary of the founding, in Richmond, of the first Star and Garter Home
 * 2015–16 The Battle of Britain 75 years on – Richmond Remembers the Second World War
 * 2014–15 1914–1918 Richmond at Home and at War: Local stories and their international links, Richmond's experience of the First World War
 * 2014 Encountering the Unchartered and back – Three explorers: Ball, Vancouver and Burton, telling the story of explorers Henry Lidgbird Ball, George Vancouver and Richard Burton and their connections with Richmond
 * 2013 Living and Dying in 19th Century Richmond, exploring the lives of some of Richmond's 19th-century residents
 * 2012–13 The Building of a Borough, showcasing building plans held in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’ Local Studies Collection
 * 2012 Royal Minstrels to Rock and Roll: 500 years of music-making in Richmond
 * 2012 ''Happy and Glorious: popular Royal celebration and commemoration in Richmond
 * 2010–11 Richmond Theatre: Through the Stages
 * 2010 How the Vote Was Won: Art, Theatre and Women's Suffrage

2000s

 * 2009–10 Richmond – From Page to Screen
 * 2009 From Henry VII to Henry VIII, marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry VII at Richmond Palace and the accession to the throne of his son Henry VIII
 * 2007 The Two Richmonds – A Celebration of their Twinning, marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and the twinning relationship of Richmond, Surrey and Richmond, Virginia
 * 2007 Trading in Human Lives: The Richmond Connection, on Richmond and the slave trade
 * 2006–07 Men Remade: Paul Drury’s War in Richmond, featuring the work of the 20th-century artist and printmaker Paul Drury
 * 2006 A Rich Heritage, featuring items from the borough's Local Studies Collection
 * 2005–06 Turner-Upon-Thames, focusing on the period when the artist J. M. W. Turner lived in Isleworth and in Twickenham
 * 2005 Barnes & Mortlake Past, celebrating 50 years of the founding of Barnes and Mortlake History Society
 * 2004–05 Britflicks-on-Thames: Film Studios of the Borough and Beyond
 * 2004 The Sensational Miss Braddon, about the author Mary Braddon who lived and died in Richmond and is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret
 * 2003 Without Exception, a selection of original prints by Thomas Rowlandson of "The English Dance of Death" (1815–1816)
 * 2003 The Virgin Queen in Richmond, marking the 400th anniversary of the death, at Richmond Palace, of Elizabeth I
 * 2002 The Fight To Save The View, marking the 100th anniversary of the Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act which has protected the view from Richmond Hill
 * 2002 Stage by Stage: Richmond's Theatrical Heritage, looking at theatres in Richmond since the Elizabethan era
 * 2001–02 Richmond's River: Pictures of and inspired by the Thames in Richmond
 * 2000 From Canvas to Camera: George Hilditch 1803–1857

1990s

 * 1998–99  Arthur Hughes: The Last Pre-Raphaelite, about the Pre-Raphaelite artist Arthur Hughes, who died at his house on Kew Green in 1915 and is buried in Richmond Cemetery
 * 1997–98 Richmond Women Face to Face, famous women who lived in Richmond
 * 1997 The Henry Doulton Legacy: 120 Years of Royal Doulton
 * 1997 The Best Years of Our Lives? Going to school in Richmond – reminiscences of Richmond school days
 * 1996–97  Spencer Gore in Richmond, about the artist Spencer Gore who lived in Richmond and died there in 1914
 * 1995–96 Past & Present: The Changing Face of Richmond
 * 1995 Going Shopping!
 * 1995 The Artist's Inspiration: Views of Richmond upon Thames
 * 1994–95 The Factory of Remembrance: The Poppy & the Royal British Legion Poppy Factory
 * 1994 Father & Son: The Art of Roland & Bernard Batchelor
 * 1994 'Simplest Country Gentlefolk': The Royal Family at Kew 1727–1841
 * 1993–94 Prospects About Richmond: mid-18th century drawings and prints by Augustin Heckel
 * 1993 Richmond at War: The Civilian Experience 1939–45
 * 1992 Mr K: The legend of Edmund Kean
 * 1992 Farewell Ice-Rink, marking the closure that year of Richmond Ice Rink
 * 1991–92 Mr Rowlandson's Richmond: Thomas Rowlandson's Drawings of Richmond-upon-Thames
 * 1991 The Richmond Royal Horse Show, an event held regularly in Richmond from 1892 to 1967
 * 1991 Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press in Richmond

1980s

 * 1989 Pissarro in Richmond, about Camille Pissarro and other artistic members of his family who lived in Kew and Richmond

Publications
The museum's publications include:
 * Robinson, Derek (2019) The Richmond Vicars: the ministers of St Mary Magdalene and their role in the community, 106pp. ISBN 978-0951-854921
 * Robinson, Derek; Fowler, Simon (2017) Old Palace Lane: Medieval to Modern Richmond, 44pp. Published jointly with the Richmond Local History Society. ISBN 978-0955071799. A second edition (48pp; ISBN 978-1912-314027) was published in 2020.
 * Boyes, Valerie (ed.) (2014) Encountering the Uncharted and Back – three explorers: Ball, Vancouver and Burton, 24pp.
 * Boyes, Valerie (with contributions from Govett, John) (2013) Living and Dying in 19th Century Richmond, 25pp.
 * Boyes, Valerie (with contributions from Cloake, John and Paytress, Mark) (2012) Royal Minstrels to Rock and Roll: 500 years of music-making in Richmond, 28pp.
 * Boyes, Valerie (ed.) (2009) Richmond on Page and Screen, 36pp.
 * Moses, John; Cloake, John (2007) The Two Richmonds: a celebration of their twinning, the American connection, 14pp. OCLC 143627273
 * Boyes, Valerie (2007) Trading in Human Lives: The Richmond Connection, 28pp.
 * Moses, John (2005) Turner-upon-Thames, 13pp.
 * Roberts, Leonard; Wildman, Stephen (1999) Arthur Hughes: The Last Pre-Raphaelite, 48pp. ISBN 978-1851-493173
 * Gore, Frederick (1996) Spencer Gore in Richmond: an exhibition at the Museum of Richmond 10 September 1996 to 25 January 1997, 44pp. ISBN 0951-854917
 * Museum of Richmond (1994) Simplest Country Gentlefolk: Royal Family at Kew, 1727–1841, 36pp. ISBN 978-0951-854914
 * Jeffree, Richard (1991) Mr Rowlandson's Richmond: Thomas Rowlandson's Drawings of Richmond-upon-Thames, 89pp. ISBN 0951-854909

Patrons
Princess Alexandra is the museum's royal patron. Its other patrons are: author and broadcaster Anita Anand; broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough; businesswoman Ann Chapman-Daniel, Richmond hotelier Greville Dare; actor, novelist, screenwriter and film director Julian Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford); Lady Annabel Goldsmith;  and broadcaster, writer and politician Lord Watson of Richmond.