Things To Do:
Museums and Galleries
After first being proposed and mooted in 1843, the Richmond Museum was finally brought into being in 1983 with the collective effort of the local community, under the direction of John Cloake, a local historian. It can be found on the second floor of the Old Town Hall, at Richmond
Established as a testament and archive of the rich history of the town, the museum chronicles the Richmond Borough before its current incarnation. This covers the pre-1965 period, when the Municipal Borough of Richmond comprised of Richmond
. The foundation of the collection came from the Borough collection, then stored at Orleans House but has grown considerably over the years. It should also be noted that, through a wide-ranging education service and special exhibitions, the museum embraces the whole area of the present Borough.
The Old Town Hall was built in the 1890's on land donated, for use by the Richmond Council, by Sir John Whittaker Ellis - a former Lord Mayor of London and the first Mayor for the new Borough of Richmond - and was opened in 1893 by the Duke of York. After the formation of the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames
, a new Civic Centre was built in Twickenham
, and the Old Town Hall was used for a time by the Social Services Department.
It was refurbished in the 1980's for use by the Library Service and now houses the major information services for the Borough - the Reference Library, the Local Studies Collection and Richmond Information Centre. Also, as well as being the site of the Riverside Museum, the Richmond Gallery
is also located within the Old Town Hall.
Copyright (c) of images used belongs to the Museum of Richmond.