St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery is a local museum and art gallery in Lymington, Hampshire, England. The museum presents local history and art. It is in the New Forest area. The museum covers social history including many photographs and ephemera.
Find out more about the New Forest coast, an area with a rich maritime heritage where smugglers made profit on the shores, and where boat-builders and salt-makers developed their trades.
In the Napoleonic period and during both world wars the influxes of soldiers helped shape the villages and towns while today holiday-makers still visit to enjoy the landscape and coast.
Our Collection
Our collections relate to the area between the Solent Coast and the New Forest; no other museum covers this specific and unique area. The contrasting stories of Lymington and New Milton offer insights into local and national history. Lymington was founded by charter over 800 years ago and New Milton is a good example of a late Victorian railway town. The museum also holds significant collections of most of the surrounding villages and large estates, including Ashley, Bashley, Boldre, Downton, East End, Everton, Keyhaven, Pennington, Pilley, South Baddesley and Tiptoe.
Our collecting area is the coastal strip to the south of the New Forest and centres on the towns of Lymington and New Milton, Barton-on-Sea and the parishes Boldre, Hordle, Milford and Sway. This also includes the villages of Ashley, Bashley, Dowton, East End, Everton, Keyhaven, Pennington, Pilley, South Baddesley and Tiptoe.
The collections and the stories that they tell reflect many aspects of life in the area from prehistory to the present day including home life, industry, shops, trades, farming, leisure, sport, war, holidays and the local environment.
Our extensive photographic archive covers Lymington, New Milton and the villages, and includes digital format images.
To enhance our educational work with schools, pre-schools, families, the elderly and special interest groups, we often use objects for handling, and are keen to acquire more.
Disability and Access
All our programmes can be adapted to meet the needs of individuals visiting the museum. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery has ramp access to the side of the building for wheelchairs. Please call to discuss your individual or group needs and we can create an engaging, inclusive and affordable programme 01590 676969.
Please read our Access Statement here
