In Our Element

Artists Roy Hubbard & Roy Shoesmith have been working in the creative and heritage environment for many years. They have worked alongside staff at Towneley Hall to reflect and respond to the Hall as a building with its historic spaces and also the collections which are housed within the Museum.

Natural history illustrator Roy Hubbard is in his element when working out of doors. Observing and collecting natural material is a compulsion and recording his  finds  via watercolour drawing and painting are integral.

Alongside the prints and illustrations are Roy Shoesmith’s photography works, which he describes as Gathered Fragments, Stolen Moments. The images in this collection, indeed most of those Shoesmith has ever taken, are made on walks but walks not taken for the sole purpose of photography. Shoesmith describes walking as something to free the mind and encourage exploration of curious possibilities or improbable connections.

Although both artists work within their own distinct mediums, their passion for nature and the happenstance of the outdoor environment is very evident. Only through reflection of Roy Hubbard’s personal archive did they realise they had exhibited simultaneously at Towneley Hall in 1992, but at that time, they had never met. Both artists later worked together at Pendle Arts Gallery building up a creative rapport ever since.

This unique exhibition utilises spaces around the Hall displaying artworks in the historic room settings of the House Keeper’s, Chapel, Wild About Burnley Room, and Family Dining Room.

A programme of major repairs to Towneley Hall will take place from October 2022 and will be completed in early 2025. Find out how the repair works will affect public access to the building and its appearance.

A reduced entry fee of £2.75 per adult is in place due to conservation building works taking place at Towneley Hall.

All areas of the Hall will be open to the public with the exception of the Regency Rooms, Medieval Long Gallery and Great Hall. Visitors will still be able to see the Victorian Kitchen and the stunning Art Gallery. The eclectic collections including an Egyptian Mummy, the Whalley Abbey Vestments, Lancashire-oak made furniture, Pilkington’s Pottery and the Towneley Bear are also still fully accessible.

Towneley Hall repairs plan