Wardown House Museum & Gallery opens to the public

Wardown House Museum has officially re-opened to the public, following a HLF-supported redevelopment.

The Grade II listed house in Luton has been refurbished to provide an insight into a wealthy home in the Victorian period.

A number of rooms that were previously inaccessible to the public, including the bathroom, dressing room and ladies bedroom, along with the billiard room, library and morning room, have been restored with new exhibits that allow visitors to follow an interactive trail around the museum.

A new café area has also been created, while accessibility has been improved throughout the building, with new lift access to the first floor.

The building has also been repaired and restored while research into the building’s historic decoration, including its detailed terracotta portico, has been completed to inform future conservation work.

Karen Perkins, Director of Arts and Museums at Luton Culture, said: “This project has been a real labour of love for everyone involved, from the project management team, our curators, Museum Makers volunteers, the builders, and all the other teams.

“They have all contributed to the transformation of this building into a beautiful museum and public space that everyone can be proud of. The Latin inscription on the side of the house translates as Spacious House Receiving Friends and it really sums up what we feel about the new museum.”

Built in the late 1860s as a family home, the building opened as a museum and gallery in the 1930s and is one of around 100 listed buildings in the borough.