Explore Rooms
A living room in 1935 (detail) - photography Jayne Lloyd
The museum's collections are presented in the context of period rooms. These are not the actual rooms of actual people. Their purpose is to show the changing styles and tastes of this urban middle class at different periods of history. They represent living rooms, known in the past as parlours, and later, drawing rooms, and show examples of the furniture, textiles and decorative styles which were current in a particular period. Clearly there were always a number of designs, colours and patterns to choose from, and these displays can only show a limited selection.
The eleven period rooms are presented chronologically, starting in 1600 and ending at the present day. Each century is introduced with a short display showing the typical town house of the period, the type of furniture made at the time and the main changes in style which affected the appearance of the English domestic interior.
Follow the left hand menu to find out more about each of the period rooms and gardens or click to explore the individual 360 views and the Virtual Tour.
