NewsMuseums & Heritage
Gifted to the English city 80 years ago, Coventry's medieval Charterhouse will finally open to the public
After a £4.3m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and years of restoration, the historic priory is set to open this summer
NewsGhent altarpiece
Restored Ghent Altarpiece returns to Saint Bavo's Cathedral with a temperature-controlled case and AR headsets
Medieval masterpiece by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck is being unveiled today after a three-year treatment
NewsAuctions
Victorian watercolours by trailblazing British feminist and social justice campaigner come up for auction
Ewbank Auctions in England has estimated the amateur paintings by Josephine Butler at around £250 each
NewsTechnology
Pushing the envelope: new technology reads 300-year-old letter without opening it
X-rays and computer algorithms preserve the complicated technique of letterlocking, which turn writing paper into envelope
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Local researchers work to uncover story behind mysterious mural in English church
Residents of a Surrey village are piecing together the history of the colourful and detailed paintings done by a local woman more than 100 years ago
NewsMuseums
National Gallery in London and Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin reach 'collegiate' agreement over disputed art collection
After long-running row over the bequest of 19th-century collector Hugh Lane, new deal adds two paintings to rotating loan and greater collaboration between the two museums
NewsArchaeology
The mullet wasn't just an 80s thing, as this newly unearthed Iron Age figure suggests
Celtic deity from Cambridgeshire sports impeccable hair that is slightly longer at the back
NewsStonehenge
Was Stonehenge originally built in Wales? A new study says so
Parts of the world famous monument may have been taken from a stone circle of identical diameter around 250kms away, researchers claim
NewsConservation
Thanks to a £3m gift, the National Trust could finally uncover a secret portrait of Mary Queen of Scots
Conservation boost from a US charity comes after the heritage organisation faced a £200m revenue collapse due to the pandemic
NewsConservation & Preservation
Volunteers plan to return ‘Albert Hall of the North’ to its glory days
After years of neglect, ornate Victorian auditorium in northern seaside town of Morecambe is being saved
PreviewExhibitions
Buckingham Palace masterpieces hop next door for exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery
While the royal residence is under repair, some of the Royal Collection’s most famous paintings have been relocated and displayed in a more convenient setting
NewsMemorials
In honour of Armistice Day, more than 100 English war memorials listed as sites of historical importance
Monuments commemorating the First and Second World Wars—mostly built in small towns and villages—are added to Historic England's list of protected places
NewsMuseums & Heritage
An invitation to sponsor a tile: keeping a roof over Jane Austen’s village home
Donations have poured in from all over the globe since the museum appealed for aid
NewsHeritage
Brighton's Madeira Terrace, a unique Liverpool cemetery and a 17th-century public library among English heritage sites at risk
Entries on Historic England Heritage at Risk list, published today, have risen to 5,097
NewsArchaeology
Remains of 'tall and robust' Anglo Saxon warrior found by amateur detectorist in UK
The 'Marlow Warlord' was buried with his weapons and luxuries for 1,400 years
NewsHeritage
Medieval Carlisle building gets new lease of life after perilous engineering project
The Grade I listed Fratry is now connected to the Carlisle cathedral via a new light-flooded sandstone cafe
NewsExhibitions
Largest hoard of Bronze Age objects found in London—containing mysteries of city's ancient residents—goes on show
The Havering Hoard, which will be exhibited at the Museum of London, Docklands, was discovered two years ago and has never before been shown in its entirety
NewsAuctions
Shipwrecked, disinherited, imprisoned, accused of being a Gunpowder Plotter: Tudor adventurer’s portrait hits the block
Portrait thought to be of Thomas Arundell is to be auctioned at Woolley & Wallis this week
NewsPublic sculpture
Essex’s unlikely sculpture town is set for a renaissance
Built in the wake of the Second World War, Harlow maintains a remarkable collection with pieces by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Rodin
NewsArtists
Barbara Hepworth's studio in St Ives gains Grade II listing
Former dance hall was bequeathed to the Tate by the sculptor's family
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Shutdown tests mettle of UK's last major bell foundry
Taylor’s in Loughborough faces uphill struggle in fundraising drive to restore decaying buildings and create new museum
NewsWilliam Shakespeare
The best may be yet to come for Shakespeare monument in Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's £30,000 appeal aims to restore ambitious sculpture of the Bard in grounds of his former home
NewsWilliam Shakespeare
Oldest Shakespeare library in the world releases glamorous images from its archive for the Bard's birthday
Shakespeare Memorial Library in Birmingham has dug out stills from A Midsummer Night’s Dream starring Olivia de Havilland and Mickey Rooney
Newscoronavirus
Galway City of Culture programme abandoned
The board of the festival has cancelled its contract with arts production company Artichoke, which was organising the ambitious schedule of outdoor events and public art
Newscoronavirus
This video is spectacular: light show in Irish mountains goes online after coronavirus cancellation
Part of the Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme, Finnish artist Kari Kola's Savage Beauty installation will not be accessible to the public
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Relics in Kent church are remains of 1,400-year old Anglo Saxon princess, carbon dating suggests
If confirmed, Eanswythe's bones are the earliest identified remains of an English saint
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A dusts off Louis Vuitton trunk of American beauty for handbags exhibition
New conservation brings society hostess Emilie Grigsby's travelling case into limelight after decades in storage
NewsMuseums
Sent packing: V&A mission to empty 250,000 objects from Blythe House is on target
West London storage centre will be empty by late 2022 following move to state-of-the-art collection centre in Olympic Park
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Brighton Pavilion gets its glitter back as fanciful treasures return on long-term loan from the Queen
More of the startling objects collected by George IV will return from Buckingham Palace in early 2020
NewsArt market
Portrait commissioned by Charles Dickens, unseen for a century, goes on sale at Sotheby's London
The artist William Powell Frith 'almost collapsed' at the honour of being commissioned by the famous writer to paint his heroine Kate Nickleby
NewsRestoration
Fresh meat: painting restoration reveals that hunk of beef thought to be cooked was actually raw
The 17th-century work features in a newly opened exhibition on art and food at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge
NewsConservation & Preservation
Derelict iron flaxmill is brought back to life in Shrewsbury
Building was considered an audacious architectural experiment when it was built in 1797
NewsConservation & Preservation
Castle opening crowns £150m revival of Bishop Auckland
Millionaire Jonathan Ruffer’s ambitious regeneration of a small former mining town in northern England reveals 1,000 years of history and art
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Southampton's new art space takes over tower of 700-year-old city gateway
Exhibition venue and heritage attraction inside Grade I-listed monument God's House Tower is called GHT
PreviewExhibitions
Ashmolean Museum show unearths doomed Pompeii's culinary life
The exhibition in Oxford, which contains loans that have never before left Italy, includes a (possible) Roman version of a chamber pot
NewsRestoration
A rich tapestry of English life unfurls in Oxford with restoration of 400-year-old woven maps
Three huge silk and wool works depicting England’s Midland counties have been painstakingly preserved by the Bodleian Library and the National Trust
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New chief executive takes the reins at the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art
Steven Parissien is not horsing around as he trots us through the forthcoming programme at the Newmarket museum
ReviewConservation & Preservation
Quarries, quarrels and a lesbian affair: the life of sculptor Mary Spencer Watson
The Dorset farmhouse in which she lived with her father, the portrait painter George Spencer Watson, has been recently restored by the Landmark Trust
NewsFilms
Victorians in pictures: British Film Institute digitises archive of over 500 early silent films
Conservation experts carefully cleaned the fragile and flammable nitrate film so each frame could be individually scanned
NewsOpenings
Newly restored Hillsborough Castle brims with clues to its past at the heart of Irish politics
Georgian mansion, the Queen’s official residence in Northern Ireland, has reopened to the public
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Battered London tomb of the great French tightrope walker Blondin restored
The 19th-century daredevil is most famous for crossing Niagara Falls 17 times—once with a stove on which he cooked an omelette
NewsDiscoveries
Anthony Caro's drawings corrected by Henry Moore to go on show for first time
Exhibition at East Gallery of Norwich University of the Arts aims to demonstrate the relationship between the two artists
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New £20m Windermere Jetty Museum launches restored steamboats on the lake
Historic vessels set sail again from wet dock at the heart of the Lake District boating museum
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Greenwich's Painted Hall reopens with day beds for visitors to admire 'England's Sistine Chapel'
Two-year restoration of James Thornhill's dizzying Baroque interior was the largest open-access conservation project in Europe
NewsOpenings
Lost features of John Soane’s dream country home Pitzhanger Manor restored
Architects, conservation experts and paint archaeologists have collaborated on £12m project to reopen west London house
PreviewExhibitions
Grandmaster flash of the Mediterranean—Joaquín Sorolla comes to London's National Gallery
The enormously productive painter wielded the fastest of brushes on often huge canvases, suffusing them with Spanish sun and colour
NewsAttribution
'Canaletto' that was downgraded to £150 now identified as by Michele Marieschi
Painting, which hung on the wall of a Suffolk church, will be sold at Tefaf this year
NewsRestitution
Spanish art dealer returns carved stones from a Nabatean temple to Jordan
Helped by an Oxford academic, Diego López de Aragón raised the alarm after acquiring the pieces from the estate of a Spanish diplomat and collector
NewsFashion
Princess Margaret’s delicate Dior dress conserved for Victoria and Albert Museum show
Stains on the lavishly decorated gown—made for royal's 21st birthday—show that it had gone to some good parties
News
Churchill's 'strongest link' in the Battle of Britain: new museum tells story of Biggin Hill airfield
Bitter campaign against the new museum, comparing design to concentration camp structure, almost derailed the project
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Charles Dickens’s great expectations about his attire
The esteemed 19th-century author was also a renowned dandy whose passion for fashion increased with his fame and fortune
NewsHeritage
How pioneering climate-change science dated one of Britain's oldest houses
Landmark Trust's restoration finds that oak timber used to build Welsh house was felled in the winters of 1418-19 and 1420-21
NewsAuctions
How a Roman sarcophagus—going on sale this week—was emptied for a pug
Skeleton of young man was evicted to make way for the body of the first Duke of Buckingham and Chandos's pet dog
NewsConservation & Preservation
Restoration of rare English Medieval altarpiece reveals a history of serial vandalism
The Battel Hall retable, which survived the fury of 16th-century iconoclasts, bears later scars of graffiti and "witchmarks" against evil spirits