Bolton Museum

As work on the new Egyptology gallery at Manchester’s Bolton Museum progresses, new designs for the £3.8 million project have been released.

Bolton Library and Museum Services are working with museum exhibition designers, Leach Studio, to create a bespoke gallery entitled Bolton’s Egypt.

Conceptual designs have been revised following feedback from the public and partners and the latest artist’s impressions of how the gallery will look have now been released.

Visiting the museum

Bolton’s Egypt, which is set to open in 2018, will be divided into sections depicting the history and importance of the borough’s Egyptology collection. These include: the Portico; Rotunda; Land & People; and Beliefs.

In addition, there will be a section devoted to the Chadwick Museum, the town’s first museum – depicted as a doll’s house set in parkland - and how Bolton came to acquire such an extensive Egyptology collection.

Local mill owner’s daughter, Annie Barlow, was a member of the Egypt Exploration Fund in the 19th Century and helped to raise funds for excavations in Egypt. In return for her contributions, the early museum was given a number of artefacts, which will now be displays at Bolton Museum.

Also, central to the new gallery will be a full-sized recreation of the tomb of Thutmose III. Visitors heading to museum ahead of the new opening can see the new designs more closely via a display situated in the foyer and on the museum’s social media.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Resources, Cllr Ebrahim Adia, said: “This project is the most significant development the museum has seen in many years and it is a privilege to be a part of it.

“It’s very exciting to see the designs develop and change in order to reflect the museum’s collection, and I can’t wait to see the finished gallery.”

Admission to the museum is free.

For more information, visit www.boltonlams.co.uk. 

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