Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. Northampton Museum and Art Gallery is a public museum in Northampton, England.
The museum is owned and run by Northampton Borough Council and claims to house the largest collection of shoes in the world, with over 12,000 pairs. The town's museum was established in 1865, but moved to the current site in 1884, where it shared its space with the town's library.
After the library moved in 1910, the museum took over the whole building. In 2012, the museum was refurbished for better access.
The museum closed in February 2017 to allow work to start on a major expansion project; the new museum is expected to re-open in early 2020. The museum has been collecting footwear since the 1870s and now boasts the largest collection of shoes in the world, which was designated as being of international importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 1997.
The ground floor is given over to the display of some of the museum's 12,000 pairs of shoes, spanning the period from the Ancient Egyptians to the present day. There are also two galleries dedicated to footwear: Life & Sole focuses on the history of shoemaking and contains a re-creation of an old shoe factory; Followers of Fashion concentrates on the history of fashions in footwear throughout the centuries. Some of the paintings on display reflect the museum's focus on footwear, such as the 17th-19th century Dutch and Flemish works
The museum is owned and run by Northampton Borough Council and claims to house the largest collection of shoes in the world, with over 12,000 pairs. The town's museum was established in 1865, but moved to the current site in 1884, where it shared its space with the town's library.
After the library moved in 1910, the museum took over the whole building. In 2012, the museum was refurbished for better access.
The museum closed in February 2017 to allow work to start on a major expansion project; the new museum is expected to re-open in early 2020. The museum has been collecting footwear since the 1870s and now boasts the largest collection of shoes in the world, which was designated as being of international importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 1997.
The ground floor is given over to the display of some of the museum's 12,000 pairs of shoes, spanning the period from the Ancient Egyptians to the present day. There are also two galleries dedicated to footwear: Life & Sole focuses on the history of shoemaking and contains a re-creation of an old shoe factory; Followers of Fashion concentrates on the history of fashions in footwear throughout the centuries. Some of the paintings on display reflect the museum's focus on footwear, such as the 17th-19th century Dutch and Flemish works
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