Exhibitions, artefacts, and educational resources have been made available to explore online for free by St Albans Museums.
While both Verulamium Museum and St Albans Museum + Gallery remain closed to the public, the museums service has transformed physical exhibitions into digital displays to be explored from the comfort of residents’ own homes.
St Albans Museums has uploaded thousands of collections images, created new online exhibitions, and produced educational resources and virtual tours for visitors to explore and use during lockdown for free.
Fascinating exhibitions such as Handley Page: A brief history of the Radlett Aerodrome are now available online on the museum service’s website, accompanied by fun and educational family activities.
Councillor Anthony Rowlands, portfolio holder for community, leisure and sport, said: “I am thrilled to see the museums team sharing the wonderful artefacts in the city’s care and bringing to life these captivating stories from our past.
“In challenging times, people often turn to the arts and I’m pleased to see our museums providing this service to the community.
“I encourage everyone to visit www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/explore to take part.”
Virtual visitors can also take online tours of Verulamium Museum, exploring each gallery and immersive recreated rooms.
There are multiple trails and free activity sheets to do for families looking to learn about Roman life.
In addition to the activities and now-digital exhibitions, an impressive 51,689 objects have been uploaded to the museum’s online collections website.
From beautiful watercolour paintings to historic Roman jewellery and mosaics, the city’s collections can now be viewed like never before.
Online visitors are encouraged to explore the curated ‘highlights’ for themed online galleries or to search by colour, keyword or artform.
Built on the site of one of the largest Roman cities in Britain, Verulamium Museum tells the story of life in Britain over 2,000 years ago.
From recreated Roman rooms and intricate large-scale mosaics to jewellery, coins and homeware, the museum displays archaeological finds discovered during the excavations carried out by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler in the 1930s.
As well as impressive mosaics, Verulamium Museum displays recent discoveries such as the Sandridge Hoard, a collection of 159 Roman gold coins.
Further evidence of Roman Britain can be discovered in Verulamium Park.
Directly outside the museum lies the Roman Hypocaust, with the Roman Theatre and the Roman city walls a short walk away.
St Albans Museum + Gallery is the newest addition to the collection of cultural heritage sites managed by St Albans Museums.
It showcases over 2,000 years of priceless heritage and hosts cutting-edge art exhibitions, sharing local, national and world treasures.
Visit www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/explore to explore online exhibitions, view artefacts from the collections and download free activities and resources.
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