Newarke Houses Museum in Leicester

Last August, I visited the Newarke Houses Museum in Leicester. It is one of the museums managed by the city and includes the museum of Royal Leicestershire Regiment as well as other collections important to Leicester's history and unique culture. The museum is occupied in two buildings: a 14th century chantry house and 17th century Skeffington House. The houses were used during the Civil War but sold in 1908. Skeffington House was a school for boys, and the chantry house a private residence. They were both acquired for the museum in 1953 to coincide with the queen's coronation. The museum is in the middle of De Montfort University in Leicester.

At the back of the museum is a pleasant courtyard of gardens, and it dates from Victorian times with exotic trees and other plants. The end of the garden walls has gun loops cut in by Cromwell's troops during the 1645 Civil War. The front of the buildings contain box hedging in geometric medieval patterns.

In front of the museum is the Magazine Gateway, a listed building dating from 1400 and part of the original castle. It formed the gatehouse, and a wall enclosed the religious Newarke precinct of the city. The wall has been mainly destroyed, so the remaining piece is the gatehouse. It was originally used as lodging, a prison, and a regimental museum. It was closed, but I had a look around it. 

One of the rooms of the museum was left to its original design with wood panels and fireplace. This room also contains a nice collection of very old and original stained glass on display.

The museum includes other collections. Daniel Lambert was an 18th century resident of the city who weighed over 50 stone and was famous for his weight, and there is a collection of his possessions. There was a collection of toys from the Tudor period and collections of industry related to Leicester (clothing) and another collection and information about those who moved to Leicester from all over the world.  

A large collection of items relating to both world wars are also included in the collections, including a replica trench. This reminded me of the one at the Imperial War Museum before it was changed during a recent upgrade.

There is also a 1950's street scene with a number of example shops that visitors could peek into.

I didn't explore the Royal Leicestershire Regiment museum in too much detail, but there was a lot there.

There were also a couple of videos and interactive elements on some of the collections and about Leicester life in general.