Overview
The Women's Hat Industry collection features over 600 hats in an extensive collection (the hats are in storage and can be viewed by prior arrangements with the museum). There are also extensive displays of decorative arts, including Saxon jewellery.
There are also exhibits of costumes, straw-plaiting, fine arts, and several Victorian room settings, as well as medieval guild books.
The first floor galleries were refurbished and opened as the Luton Life displays in February 2003. This was partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The museum displays explore stories of Luton people over the past 150 years. The galleries contain several listening posts where visitors are able to listen to local people telling their stories and describing key events. Additionally there are also several interactive displays as well as computer screens with historic photographs of Luton.
The ground floor displays include the Living Landscape gallery which displays local archaeology and natural history, including the Shillington Roman coin hoard and an Iron Age mirror, finds from Waulud's Bank are also on display.
The Lace Gallery displays some of the museum’s extensive collection of locally produced lace work.
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment gallery, produced by the Imperial War Museum, explains the history of the local regiment.
The museum holds around three to four temporary exhibitions each year in the temporary exhibition gallery on the ground floor.
Read more about this topic: Wardown Park Museum