Wardown Park Museum

Museum

Explorer Tom

If you arrive at Wardown Park Museum expecting a polite little display case, the house on Old Bedford Road has other ideas. It used to belong to a well-off Victorian family, and now it invites the whole of Luton in to inspect the rooms and, I suspect, judge the wallpaper. The Grade II listed house was designed in 1872 for solicitor Frank Scargill. Two local councillors bought it in 1903 and opened the grounds as a public park; during the First World War the house served as a military hospital, then became a museum in 1931. This is more than a grand shell with things placed inside: the building has taken several sharp turns through Luton's story. Today Wardown House, Museum and Gallery uses rooms such as the Billiard Room, Smoking Room, Library and Kitchen to show how the household worked. Its displays follow the town beyond those comfortable walls, especially Luton's hat trade, local life and the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. The Morning Room hosts art exhibitions. If a hat seems to be giving you orders, remember that Luton made plenty of them and they have had practice. The museum sits in Wardown Park at Old Bedford Road, Luton, LU2 7HA. The Culture Trust currently lists free entry and opening from 11am to 5pm Sunday through Thursday, with Friday and Saturday closed; check its page before travelling because exhibitions and holiday arrangements can change. There is a café overlooking the park, and a lift to the upper floor. Go for the house, stay for the town, and leave with a new respect for anyone who can command a room in a straw hat.