Heritage and culture

Looking at climate change through objects on display at the Market Hall Museum.

There are 11 different themes so far that fill the museum – from ancient pebbles, to the very sandstone that the Market Hall Museum is made from. Other themes include bees (linking to the famous beehive at Market Hall on the first floor), continental drift, and historical status symbols. Our topic even pops up in Reverend Brodie’s study on the first floor of the Market Hall Museum, where the pollution of Victorian Warwick is discussed.

More themes will continue to be added throughout the Market Hall Museum in due course.

What can you see in the Museum?

• 11 small panels have been introduced amongst existing displays, along with an explanatory introductory board near the beginning of the museum.
• A film of Jon Radley, Curator of Natural Sciences talking in detail about all of the themes which climate change touches upon as evidenced within the museum. Visitors can view this 8-minute film in our cinema screen area on the ground floor.
• A number of QR codes placed adjacent to the panels that link directly to themed segments of Jon’s interview, so you can understand more as part of your museum journey.

The Climate Matters intervention is planned as a long-term addition to the displays and will be available at the Market Hall Museum for at least the next twelve months, if not longer. Additional themes and objects on display at Market Hall will be continue to be highlighted to expand this project further.

More detail

• Climate change is all about long-term changes in global temperatures and weather. In the ancient prehistoric past, these took place naturally.
• Since the Industrial Revolution, climate change has been largely due to people extracting and using coal, natural gas and oil.
• Burning these fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat within our atmosphere, causing Earth to heat up and the climate to destabilise. This has a devastating effect on wildlife, and habitats as food sources change or disappear.
• Warwickshire County Council have declared a climate emergency. This is something that Heritage Culture Warwickshire and the Market Hall Museum are seeking to highlight further through our collections.