Bushey Museum and Art Gallery

Bushey Museum and Art Gallery stands in Bushey, a village in Hertfordshire. It occupies a red-brick building on Rudolph Road that was once the offices of the local council. The council moved out in 1974 after local government changes. The museum opened in 1993, run entirely by volunteers. Before its doors opened, it won first prize in the Gulbenkian Foundation Awards for museums with limited resources. The museum tells the story of Bushey through artefacts, documents, maps and artworks. Its displays focus on the village’s artistic past, especially the Monro Circle from the early 19th century. A major part of the collection centres on Sir Hubert von Herkomer and his art school that once attracted students from around the world. Works by Herkomer’s students, including Lucy Kemp-Welch and Lucy Marguerite Frobisher, are also held here. The Frobisher Studio still teaches art in the same building. Local social history is shown through maps, archaeology and objects like Lotts Bricks and Bushey Heath pottery. The Local Studies Centre lets visitors examine census records and other documents. Regular exhibitions explore Bushey’s artistic, social and business heritage. The Friends organisation has about 800 members who help with events, visits and fundraising for new acquisitions.