PETERSFIELD MUSEUM OPEN AFTER 48 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Petersfield Museum has thrown open its doors to visitors again after a £4 million makeover.

The project to convert the former Victorian police station and courthouse into a museum was supported through its development stage with a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund.

The new-look museum features:

•          A film with museum patron Daniel Day-Lewis reading the poetry of Edward Thomas inspired by the natural beauty of the South Downs countryside around his Steep home, near Petersfield.

•          New galleries charting life in rural England from the Palaeolithic era to the modern-day

•          The original courtroom and police cells that form part of the site of the Museum

•          The Edward Thomas Study Centre, created in partnership with the Edward Thomas Fellowship.

Starting in a single room just over 22 years ago, the museum tells the story of the local area over 10,000 years.

The redevelopment was completed with the help of a £1.7m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

For more details, visit www.petersfieldmuseum.co.uk