The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum in the centre of Rugby has exhibits on local history including Roman artefacts excavated from the nearby Roman town of Tripontium plus displays of contemporary art that include works by LS Lowry.
What to see at the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum is a small museum with exhibits about local history as well as displays of contemporary art.
The museum’s Archaeology Gallery focuses on Roman artefacts from Tripontium, a town just 8km (5 miles) from Rugby that flourished during the Roman period. Tripontium started out as a military post on Watling Street (a major road that ran diagonally across Roman Britan that roughly follows the route of the A5 and has traditionally denoted the boundary between Warwickshire and Leicestershire) but later became an important civilian town before being abandoned towards the end of the 4th century. Although Tripontium is not open to the public, many of the most important artefacts excavated on the site are on display at the museum including exhibits depicting life here during Roman times.
The Social History Gallery includes exhibits about more recent local history including displays of artefacts showing how Rugby life has changed over the past 200 years.
The art gallery’s permanent collection includes a small collection of local art plus an excellent collection of 20th-century contemporary British art that includes Three Groups of Figures on a Pink Ground by Barbara Hepworth, Monday Morning by LS Lowry, The Bride’s Secret Diary by Paula Rego and Richard Carline by Stanley Spencer
The Floor One Gallery displays artwork by freelance artists with the exhibits changing every two to three weeks.
Temporary exhibitions at the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
The museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions. Current and upcoming exhibitions include:
Your Story Your Collection
This exhibition (until 22 April 2023) using the unique medium of pop-up books to depict the personal idea of ‘home’.
David Remfry RA: We think the World of You. People and Dogs Drawn Together
This exhibition (until 3 June 2023) is comprised of a series of artworks features dogs with their owners.
David Remfry RA Selects: The Rugby Collection
This exhibition (until 3 June 2023) is a selection of over 60 works curated by David Remfry RA from the Rugby Art Gallery’s collection. The exhibition showcases some of the best modern and contemporary works by British artists.
Join Our Club
This exhibition (until 17 June 2023) takes a look at associations, clubs and societies with exhibits about The Rugby Club, the town’s rugby football clubs and other recreation and social clubs in Rubgy.
Visiting the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum is located in a building at the southwestern corner of the town centre that is shared with the town’s library and the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
It is open Tuesday to Saturday and admission is free of charge.
Note that parts of the museum may be temporarily closed while exhibitions are being changed or updated. However, in most instances, the Archaeology Gallery and the Floor One Gallery will continue to remain open at these times.
The art gallery and museum is fully wheelchair accessible with a lift to all floors.
The museum complex includes the Maia Cafe on the ground floor, which serves tea, coffee and cakes.
It is only a small museum and a visit shouldn’t take much longer than an hour or two.
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