200 Years of Collecting: Whitby Museum exhibition to mark bicentenary is open

Guests were invited to a launch of 200 Years of Collecting, which celebrates the museum’s extensive collection, and a new film, Department of Miscellaneous Curiosities, was shown, documenting the museum’s rich history and telling the story of the town’s Literary and Philosophical Society.

Lady Normanby cut a celebratory cake to mark the occasion.

The film is directed and produced by Anne Dodsworth, who produced the popular films for the Tindale exhibition at the museum last year and has also worked on prime-time programmes such as The South Bank Show and The Bill.

Filming of Department of Miscellaneous Curiosities took place in The Old Town Hall in Whitby where the founding meeting took place on January 17, 1823, of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, and subsequently the Whitby Museum.

The exhibition itself tells the story of the development of the museum through the display of many of the artefacts collected over the years.