‘Museum On Tour’ moves to House of Fraser - The Box, Plymouth

By: Jo Clarke
Added: 07 December 2017

Shoppers and visitors to one of Plymouth’s flagship stores will get the chance to experience the ‘Museum On Tour’ programme from 9 December.

Objects, images, film footage and what’s on information will be displayed in selected areas on floors 4 and 5 of House of Fraser, Royal Parade and will remain on show throughout 2018.

The ‘Museum On Tour’ programme includes exhibitions, events, partnership projects and community initiatives. It’s running in a range of offsite venues while the City Museum and Art Gallery’s building is closed for the development of The Box.

In a rare move for a department store, House of Fraser will host a display about The Box and ‘Museum On Tour’ programme, complete with film clips from the South West Film and Television Archive on floor 4.

On floor 5 visitors will be able to view the ‘Plymouth - From Destruction to Construction’ exhibition, which explores the devastation caused by the Blitz and the radical new plan that was developed to rebuild it afterwards.

The exhibition, which was previously on display at the Council House, has been given a revamp in line with its move to House of Fraser, and now includes information about the store itself.

Trading as E Dingle & Co Ltd, the store was burnt to the ground on the night of 21 March 1941. Construction work on a new building began in late 1949. On 1 September 1951 it became the first new department store to open in the UK for 13 years.

Councillor Glenn Jordan, cabinet member for culture said: “House of Fraser have been fantastic to work with so far and moving our Blitz exhibition and other displays to the store is a chance to develop yet another partnership.

“It’s been an honour to host exhibitions in the Council House - one of Plymouth’s most important civic buildings - in 2017, but House of Fraser is one of the city’s most important commercial buildings. Its history as the first department store to open in the country after the Second World War makes it a very fitting place for us to display an exhibition about the way Plymouth was reconstructed after such devastation.”

Darren Overton, store manager for House of Fraser said: “Retail is evolving and we are really committed to providing our customers with new experiences which complement traditional shopping.

“Our building has a great heritage and it’s one that the ’Plymouth - From Destruction to Construction’ exhibition is very relevant to. We’re excited about this and the other displays we’ll be hosting during 2018 as part of the ’Museum On Tour’ programme, and really pleased to be able to work with the Museum and Art Gallery staff while their own building undergoes such a huge transformation.” 

‘Plymouth - From Destruction to Construction’ can be viewed free of charge on floor 5 from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday (9.30am on Tuesdays).

The Box and ‘Museum On Tour’ display can be viewed during normal store hours on floor 4, next to the Buy and Collect area.

For more information about the Museum On Tour programme visit the what's on section of www.plymhearts.org