The plaque reads:
The Yorkshire Philosophical Society
transferred The
Yorkshire Museum and Gardens
to the citizens of York on
January 2nd
1961
The Yorkshire
Philosophical Society (YPS) website [visit link] tells us:
"The YPS was formed in 1822 to pursue the study of natural sciences, and
to combine the private collections of individual members.
In 1828 the Society was given a royal grant of some of the grounds which
we now know as the Museum Gardens on which to build a museum to house the
collections and create a botanic garden. The Society built the Yorkshire Museum
in 1829 and continued rapidly to increase the collections, enhance and expand
the Gardens, and to advance scholarship on scientific matters.
The British Association for the Advancement of Science
(now known as the British Science Association) was founded with the help of the
Society and had its inaugural meeting at the Yorkshire Museum in 1831. This was
quickly followed by the building of an astronomical observatory in the Gardens,
so continuing York’s association with astronomical science.
The Tempest Anderson Hall was added to the Museum in 1912 as a bequest of
the vulcanologist, Dr Tempest Anderson, to provide adequate facilities for
scientific lectures.
In 1961, the Society handed the Museum and Gardens to the City of York in
trust, but still continued to take an interest in them, as well as pursuing its
objective of keeping members and the general public aware of scientific matters.
The YPS continues to support the York Museums Trust through collaborations on
projects and activities.
In 1971, the Society joined the Council for British Archaeology in
initiatives which led to the formation of the York Archaeological
Trust."
The Britain Express website [visit
link] tells us:
"The Yorkshire Museum is an
archaeological treasure trove boasting some of the finest historical artefacts
in all of Europe. Permanent exhibits trace the history of Yorkshire from the
earliest times.
Major exhibits include Roman
mosaics and jewelry, a gilt Anglo-Saxon bowl, and superb Viking weapons and
clothing. The 15th century Middleham jewel is a remarkable gold pendant with a
sapphire attatched.
Other displays show the changing
pattern of the geography and climate of York over the past 300 million years.
There are also regular temporary exhibits ranging from art to dinosaurs and
beyond.
Note: You can get a joint ticket to
the Yorkshire Museum and the nearby York Castle Museum for a considerable
savings.
Open: 10am - 5pm, except for 25 and
26 December, and 1 January, closing at 2.30pm on 24 and 31 December.. Disabled
access."
Wikipedia [visit link] also tells
us:
"The Yorkshire Museum is a museum
in York, England. It is the home of the Cawood sword, and has four permanent
collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy. It underwent
a major refurbishment from November 2009 to 1 August 2010, with major structural
changes and a re-development of all existing galleries.
The Museum was founded by the
Yorkshire Philosophical Society to accommodate their geological and
archaeological collections, and was originally housed in Ousegate, York, until
the site became too small. In 1828 the society received by royal grant, ten
acres (0.040 km²) of land formerly belonging to St Mary’s Abbey in order to
build a new museum. The main building of the museum is called the Yorkshire
Museum and was designed by William Wilkins in a Greek Revival style and is a
Grade I listed building. It was officially opened in February 1830, which makes
it one of the longest established museums in England. A condition of the royal
grant was that the land surrounding the museum building should be a botanic
gardens and one was created in the 1830s. The botanic gardens are now known as
the Museum Gardens. On 26 September 1831 the inaugural meeting of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science was held at the Yorkshire
Museum.
The Tempest Anderson Hall was built
in 1912 as an annex to the museum, and is an early example of a reinforced
concrete building. It is used as a conference venue and lecture
theatre.
In 1960 the Museum, along with the
Museum Gardens, were given in trust to York City Council, its successor the City
of York Council in 2002 set up the York Museums Trust to manage the York Castle
Museum, York Art Gallery, the Yorkshire Museum and the Museum
Gardens.
The museum closed in November 2009
for a major refurbishment and reopened on 1 August 2010, Yorkshire Day. The £2
million scheme was largely carried out by the museum's own staff, who
restructured the interior of the building and re-decorated it. The result is
three major sections: "Eboracum: Face to Face with the Romans", "York: The Power
and the Glory" (Anglian, Viking and Medieval York), and "Extinct: A way of life"
a "fun, family-oriented gallery" featuring fossils, skeletons and animal
specimens. There will also be a "History of York" section and "Enquiry - The
Learning Level"."
Collections
The four permanent collections at
the museum all have English designated collection status, which means they are
"pre-eminent collections of national and international importance". The
collection began in the 1820s with the collection of animal bones and fossils
from Kirkdale Cave.
Biology:
The biology collection
contains 200,000 specimens, including both fauna and flora, with the majority of
the collection made up of insects. There are two stuffed specimens of the
extinct great auk, an almost complete skeleton of an extinct moa and a large
collection of specimens from the Yorkshire region including the remains of
elephants, cave bears and hyena from Kirkdale Cave dated to the Quaternary
period, around 125,000 years.
Geology:
The geology collection
contains over 112,500 specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils. Fossils make up
the majority of the collection numbering over 100,000 samples, and include
important specimens from the Carboniferous, Mesozoic and Tertiary
periods.
Astronomy:
The astronomy
collection is mainly kept in the Observatory in Museum Gardens with some
telescopes kept at the Castle Museum in York.
Archaeology:
The archaeology
collection has close to a million objects that date from around 500,000 BC to
the 20th century. Significant object include the Coppergate Helmet, discovered
in York in 1982, and the Ormside Bowl, found in Cumbria, an intricate example of
work by an Anglian silversmith. In 1992 the Yorkshire Museum paid two and a half
million pounds for the Middleham Jewel which was originally found by Ted Seaton
using a metal detector at Middleham, North Yorkshire. The jewel is a gold
diamond-shaped pendant with a blue sapphire at the top dating to around 1460
that is engraved with a picture of the Christian Trinity on the front and of the
Nativity of Jesus on the back.
Most of the objects from the Roman,
Anglo Scandinavian and Medieval periods are from York and Yorkshire area. After
the Museum reopened from its refit in 2010 the first gallery in the museum
displays parts of the Roman collection focusing on objects from Eboracum, Roman
York. A statue of the Roman God Mars found is prominently displayed, and there
is an interactive display describing the lives of some of the Romans whose
remain have been found in York. The final record of the famous lost Roman
legion, the ninth legion is on display as part of the Roman gallery. The stone
inscription dated to Trajan twelfth year as emperor, between 10 December 107 to
9 December 108, and commemorates the legions rebuilding in stone the south
eastern wall of Eboracum's legionary fortress. The BBC reports that "Experts
have described it the finest example of Romano British inscription in
existence."
The museum also has a collection of
studio pottery consisting of over 3,500 pieces that represent more than 500
potters. These were bequeathed to the Yorkshire Museum by Wakefield librarian
Bill Ismay in 2001. The collection can be seen in York Art
Gallery."