Warrington Museum & Art Gallery Launches New App

An iconic piece of Warrington history has been given a new lease of life as Warrington Museum & Art Gallery launches its brand new app.

Founded in 1848, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery is home to thousands of fascinating exhibits, from beautiful works of art, an Ancient Egyptian mummy - and even our very own dinosaur!

Described by visitors as a "museum of museums", the town-centre venue is unique in that its historic features have been carefully preserved, with treasures from all around the world cramming its original glass cabinets.

Craig Sherwood, collections officer at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, said: "Warrington Museum & Gallery has always been much-loved by visitors for its distinctive character but as much as we continue to preserve the past, we are also keen to look to the future and encourage people to engage with us on a 21st-century level."

Now, thanks to funding from Colonel Edelsten Bequest Fund, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery has teamed up with applications developer Tom Southworth, to develop a mobile app to enable people to engage with the museum and its remarkable collections in a whole new way.

Tom said: "Developing a mobile app with the museum team has been great! The mobile app uses technologies such as augmented reality to let visitors explore the museum in new and exciting ways.

"We've aimed to make the app as attractive and user friendly as possible, so please give it a try and let us know what you think. I'm looking forward to potential future collaborations with the museum team, as well as other institutions in Warrington and beyond!"

The Warrington Museum app takes users on an exciting journey through the full expanse of its galleries; from tales from the Triassic era to Warrington war stories and stunning exhibitions of both historic and contemporary art.

Ideal for giving people at home the opportunity to find out a little more about the museum and its collections, the scanner app also acts as a fantastic tool for visitors to find out more about the exhibits on display.

Craig explained: "The Museum app gives a full overview of the history of the museum and our different galleries, which is great for people who might still be shielding at home, or visitors from further afield who are looking for a little more information before they visit.

"We are also getting an increasing number of enquiries and interest from people overseas, so this is an excellent way to give them a little taste of our museum from wherever they are in the world.

"I'm also particularly excited about our scanner feature as this allows visitors in the museum to interact with the exhibits in a vibrant new way.

"By simply using the camera on your phone, you can trigger our augmented reality projector to discover even more incredible stories and fun facts."

The Warrington Museum app will be launching this weekend to coincide with Heritage Open Days.

It will be available to download for free from Saturday 12 September 2020 from Google and Apple stores.

Craig said: "We're really excited to expand our digital offer with the launch of a dedicated app.

"This innovative addition opens the door to a whole new way of engaging with our collections and is something we hope to add to and expand over time."