River and Rowing Museum
Encyclopedia
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is located on a site at Mill Meadows
Mill Meadows
Mill Meadows is part of the flood plain of the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is an area of natural beauty close to the town centre of Henley. Marsh Lock and Rod Eyot are also close by and the River and Rowing Museum, established in 1998, is located there...
by the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, the international sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
of rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
and the local town of Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
.
History
The impetus for the museum largely came from David Lunn-RockliffeDavid Lunn-Rockliffe
David Lunn-Rockliffe was a British businessman, rowing supporter, and co-founder of the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, England....
, formerly Executive Secretary of the Amateur Rowing Association
Amateur Rowing Association
British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association , is the governing body in England for the sport of rowing. It is also responsible for the development and organisation of international rowing teams representing Great Britain...
.
The building was designed by the modernist architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Sir David Chipperfield
David Chipperfield
Sir David Alan Chipperfield CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA is a British architect, born in London. He has offices in London, Berlin and Milan, and a representative office in Shanghai...
and has won awards for the building itself, including the Royal Fine Art Commission Building of the Year award in 1999. It was also UK National Heritage Museum of the Year in 1999.
It was officially opened in November 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. Major benefactors include The Arbib Foundation run by local businessmen Sir Martyn Arbib and Urs Schwarzenbach
Urs Schwarzenbach
Urs Schwarzenbach is a Swiss-born financier based in the United Kingdom.Schwarzenbach set up Interexchange, the largest foreign exchange dealership in Switzerland. Through its success he has bought well over £300m of property in the UK, in Australia, a palace in Morocco, £17m of assets in the...
.
In 2004, a Wind in the Willows attraction for families was installed. This is a walk-through recreation using models, sets and an audio-guide of all the E.H. Shepard illustrations from the Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films....
book.
In 2006, the museum completed an extensive refurbishment of its Rowing Gallery, thanks to the generosity of Urs Schwarzenbach. Now known as the Schwarzenbach International Rowing Gallery it tells the story of rowing from its beginnings in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
to the modern Olympics. Thematically arranged the gallery includes sections devoted to the Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
v Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
Boat Race, World & Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
rowing, professional rowing in the 19th and early 20th centuries, boat building, coaching and nutrition. The museum now displays a unique collection of video clips.
One of the highlights for visitors to the Schwarzenbach International Rowing Gallery is an interactive exhibit In the Cox's Seat that allows visitors to sit in a rowing boat and experience a race at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
Temporary exhibitions have included work by the Thames-based painter Chris Gollon
Chris Gollon
Chris Gollon is a British painter.Gollon was born in London, England. He still lives near London, working in his studio in Surrey. He regularly exhibits in London at IAP Fine Art....
, the local 20th century artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
John Piper
John Piper (artist)
John Egerton Christmas Piper, CH was a 20th-century English painter and printmaker. For much of his life he lived at Fawley Bottom in Buckinghamshire, near Henley-on-Thames.-Life:...
, one of his collaborators, the potter
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
Geoffrey Eastop
Geoffrey Eastop
Geoffrey Eastop is an English potter.Eastop was born in London, where he studied at Goldsmiths' College. He also studied at the Academie Ranson, Paris....
, the local painter Nick Schlee
Nick Schlee
Nick Schlee is a British artist. He mainly produces landscape paintings.-Life and work:Schlee was born in Weybridge, Surrey. In 1947, he won Gold and Silver medals for under 18s from the Royal Drawing Society. He matriculated at University College, Oxford in 1952. In 1955, he studied part-time at...
, and the local furniture maker Philip Koomen
Philip Koomen
Philip Koomen FRSA is a British furniture designer and maker.Koomen studied Furniture Design and Technology and Wood Science at High Wycombe College of Art and Technology , a leading centre for furniture design. He makes bespoke furniture using wood that he largely selects himself...
. In 2006, there was an exhibition by John Piper's grandson, Luke Piper
Luke Piper
Luke Piper is an English landscape painter, especially in watercolours.Luke Piper is the son of the painter Edward Piper. He is also the eldest grandson of another artist, John Piper. He grew up in Frome, Somerset and is still based in the county...
. Between November 2006 and February 2007 there is an exhibition of the illustrations of E.H. Shepard called The Man who Drew Pooh & Toad.
The museum was one of the first to have a website, which existed before it actually opened.
Themes
The Museum celebrates four themes explored through a wide variety of exhibitions and events across four galleries and special exhibitions:- The past, present and future of the River ThamesRiver ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
- The historic riverside community of Henley on Thames
- The international sport of rowingRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
- The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows Gallery
The permanent Wind in the Willows exhibition heralds the return of Mr Toad, Ratty, Badger and Mole to the banks of the River Thames, whose creatures and landscapes provided the inspiration behind this classic tale.E.H. Shepard’s illustrations are brought to life via 3-D models that depict the adventures of Mr Toad, Ratty and their friends. The Museum has exclusive rights to use the original images by Shepard, who explored the meadows and willow-fringed river around nearby Pangbourne in search of settings for these classic illustrations.
The exhibition faithfully follows the original story line, using theatrical lighting and sound techniques to transport visitors on a journey through the whimsical world of The Wind in the Willows.
As they make their way through the exhibition, interactive exhibits and specially developed audio guides help visitors young and old really feel a part of the story…. whether joining Ratty and Mole’s picnic on the riverbank, getting lost in the Wild Wood or evicting the weasels from Toad Hall.
Thames Gallery
The Thames Gallery is the largest of the River & Rowing Museum’s permanent galleries. It provides a unique interpretation of the River Thames from source to sea.The River Thames is a living, changing entity that has been, and remains, a key element of life in the Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
and the country as a whole. The gallery offers visitors a range of perspectives, looking at the river as an inspiration for the arts, as a natural habitat for wildlife and as both a source of pleasure and a means of trade. In a mix of music, art, photography, original objects, boats and oral testimony the gallery takes the visitor on a journey from the source at Kemble to the Thames Barrier
Thames Barrier
The Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest movable flood barrier and is located downstream of central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea...
.
Exhibits from local and private collections help to illustrate the historic and social importance of the river, whilst interactive displays enable visitors to learn more about river management and water supply.
Aspects of the Thames in the exhibition include:
- Travel from the hidden source to the sea
- Thames paintings in the gallery and on terminals
- The wildlife and the bugs that make their home in and alongside the river
- Music, poetry and literature inspired by the Thames, from Conrad to The KinksThe KinksThe Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
- The craftsmanship of boat builders from log boats to skiffs and punts
- How the Thames has been managed throughout the ages
- The importance of weirs, locks and bridges and meet some of their custodians
- Stories told by members of riverside communities
Schwarzenbach International Rowing Gallery
There is a contemporary painting by the entrance. painted by Chris GollonChris Gollon
Chris Gollon is a British painter.Gollon was born in London, England. He still lives near London, working in his studio in Surrey. He regularly exhibits in London at IAP Fine Art....
and commissioned by the River & Rowing Museum in 2008. The image shows a defeated crew at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
. Inside the gallery, the story of international rowing is presented, allowing the visitor to experience the sport and understand what it is like to compete on the water.
Rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
is one of the world's oldest sports and the gallery tells its story in detail. On display are many objects never before shown to the public, much film footage showing races, and a range of interactive exhibits providing family interest.
Sections include exhibits on the following:
- Six communities who relied on the oar for their livelihood
- A race at the Henley Royal Regatta in 360° panoramic vision
- Rowing across the world, and throughout the centuries
- Races at the Olympics, Boat Race, etc.
- Professional rowers, sports stars of their day
- Coaches and boat builders whose work has allowed champions to flourish
- Racing craft spanning 200 years of design and innovation
Invesco Perpetual Henley Gallery
The Invesco PerpetualInvesco Perpetual
Invesco Perpetual is an investment company based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England.-Description and history:It was originally founded by Sir Martyn Arbib as Perpetual Mutual and then Perpetual plc...
Henley Gallery tells the story of the town built by the river. From industry to arts, Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
to sports, Henley has had a fascinating history. Using an interactive touch-screen visitors can start at the top of the church tower to take a virtual tour around the streets of Henley then travel back through time to find out when the town was established, why it has changed over time and how it became world famous.
The Museum's latest acquisition is an Iron Age Hoard. It is made up of 32 gold coins dating from approx. 50 AD. It was found in Henley in 2003 and is the only hoard of British-made Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
coins from Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
to survive intact. They have been acquired jointly by the River & Rowing Museum and the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
in Oxford.
Henley was established in the 12th century when its location by the river made it ideal as an inland port for shipping timber, grain and firewood to the rapidly growing city of London. From this time onwards, the town's fortunes were linked to the river and transport. Boats, stagecoaches, railway engines and motors have in turn brought goods and people to the town for business and pleasure.
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
has made the town of Henley on Thames the international home of rowing. Established in 1839, and gaining a royal patron in 1851, the Regatta brings together leading oarsmen and women from around the world and is considered to be one of the English social calendar. From hats to hatchet blades, the essence of town and Regatta celebrations since 1899 are captured on film in the gallery.
Painted in 1698 by the Dutch master Jan Siberechts
Jan Siberechts
Jan Siberechts was a Flemish Baroque landscape painter. He was born in Antwerp, the son of a sculptor with the same name. After establishing himself as an artist in Flanders, he moved to England during his forties.He died in London.-References:...
, Henley from the Wargrave
Wargrave
Wargrave is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, which encloses the confluence of the River Loddon and the River Thames. It is in the Borough of Wokingham...
Road has its own room off the Henley Gallery. A masterpiece displaying the multifaceted life of the town and surrounding countryside, its origins are only now coming to light. The painting is however rich in social history showing the river trade, agriculture, and social hierarchy alongside a still familiar view of the town.
Henley from the Wargrave Road was purchased with the assistance of the National Arts Collection Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
.