Emsworth Museum reopens with new exhibition and display cabinets

The museum now has a new display cabinet for its main room, matching another cabinet purchased in 2019.

One cabinet contains, among other items, the uniform jacket worn by Kleiber Desgris, the French Naval Officer based in the Bir Hakheim barracks in North Emsworth in the last years of the Second World War.

The other, newer cabinet contains an Edwardian wedding dress worn by a member of the Lewis family in 1908, along with some memorabilia gifted by the family. The dress has been placed on a specially purchased mannequin using techniques devised by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Another new display illustrates how many goods and services were available in Emsworth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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The first exhibition in the David Rudkin Room is entitled ‘What did we do in the Winter?’ and illustrates some of the projects undertaken during the winter and spring lockdown, including pictures of Sarah Howard’s meticulous conservation needlework on the Edwardian wedding dress and the creation of the newly located PG Wodehouse study area. This exhibition is on until June 27.

Covid precautions such as face masks, social distancing and hand sanitisation will apply until government restrictions change.

Emsworth Museum is open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays from 10.30am to 4.30pm and on Sundays from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. Admission is free and a stairlift is available.

For more information about Emsworth Maritime and Historical Trust, the museum, or the items mentioned above, email [email protected] or visit the website at emsworthmuseum.org.uk.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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