Saturday 18 June 2011

Oxburgh Hall

Today I had a quick visit to Oxburgh Hall a local National Trust Property. I have recently become a member and was keen to visit. My dad was taking part in their event 'Boys and their Toys' as an exhibitor and I was also keen to see the property since the last time I visited was three years ago when I was a volunteer.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much had actually changed within the house. Ropes were gone, atmospheric lighting, new furniture, paintings, objects and display panels. So much had changed and the house really had a great atmosphere to accompany the slight but significant changes. It's very easy to think of historic houses as very static places where not much changes, but Oxburgh Hall really showed me today how wrong that is. I only had a very quick look round and will be going back soon to take it all in properly.

What I've realised is that small changes to displays and an institution can make a big difference. You may think that when you've been somewhere once like your local museum or National Trust property then you don't need to visit again, which is NOT TRUE! The heritage and museum sector need to find a way of encouraging local people to support and visit them and after today, I think small changes may be the way forward.

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