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POWELL-COTTON MUSEUM, BIRCHINGTON


One of the UK’s most fascinating visitor attractions, if you’re looking for a family day out or a quiet stroll in beautiful surroundings. Quex Park in Birchington is home


to the Powell-Cotton Museum and the Powell-Cotton family’s extraordinary collection of natural history, ethnography and decorative arts. Quex House invites you to sample the lives of the family in this exquisite Regency-style home and to step back into its beautiful 15-acre Victorian garden. The


MAIDSTONE MUSEUM, ST FAITH’S STREET Three in one


This little treasure trove is filled with fine art and historical artefacts of international importance. Founded in 1858 by Dr Thomas Charles, who bequeathed his art and antiquities to Maidstone, the museum is set in the charming Elizabethan manor house of Chillington in the centre of town. With over 600,000 artefacts,


Maidstone Museum has one of the largest collections in Kent, and is thought to be one of the best in the South East. The most auspicious include


the ancient Egypt collection, and the body of Ta-Kesh – one of the only mummies held by a museum outside London. Also well worth a visit are those covering archaeology, costume, culture, local history and Japanese art; there’s even a section on dinosaurs, including a life-size model that roars at you as you pass! The museum’s Bentlif Art Gallery — a modern architectural addition to the building in 2010 — has an extensive collection of watercolours and oil paintings. Also on the premises is the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regimental Museum, documenting the regiment’s history and its predecessors since the mid-18th century. As well as its permanent collections, the museum hosts touring collections, workshops, talks and group visits, ensuring there is always something new and exciting to discover.


Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm Sunday noon-4pm (April 1-October 31) Admission Free www.museum.maidstone.gov.uk


Powell- Cotton Museum at Quex Park was established in 1896 by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton (1866- 1940) to house his collection of natural history specimens and cultural objects brought back from Asia and Africa. A pioneer in the use of the diorama


to display mounted animals, the museum’s display is unique in the UK, stunning for its size, quality and imagery. Further galleries contain Asian


weaponry, ceramics and jade and ivory from Europe, China and Japan, assembled by six generations of the family. In the afternoon, during the summer season, several rooms in Quex House are also open to the public.


Guide dogs and hearing dogs are


welcome in the museum, house and gardens.


www.quexpark.co.uk


Mid Kent Living 21


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