What's On Today | Find out why we are called The Herbert

Welcome

Arts and Heritage Move to Trust Management

The management of The Herbert Art Gallery, Priory Visitor Centre and Undercroft, and the Lunt Roman Fort is transferring to an independent Trust in 2008; this will include all the new services at the transformed Herbert. Find out more about the new Trust.

Find out about job opportunities at The Herbert.

The Herbert is at the cultural heart of Coventry.
We are part of the Arts and Heritage Service of Coventry City Council. We are in the middle of a major re-development including a new extension to the building which is scheduled for completion in 2008.

During the redevelopment works we are only able to offer a limited exhibition programme. For information about current exhibitions please see our What's On pages. At the same time most of our collections have been moved to the stores during this period. For information about these please see the relevant collections pages.

Find out more about the redevelopment

The Herbert includes an art gallery and museum, creative media studios, an arts information centre and a history centre for the city's archives. Our aim is to work with the people of
Coventry to explore and celebrate the creativity and cultural heritage of all of our
communities.

Getting Involved: A new Friends Organisation for The Herbert
If you'd like to have a direct impact on our work, why not become one of our 'friends'? To find out more, click here.

Coventry Collections is our new online catalogue of museum and archive collections. Find out about over 250000 items from The Herbert, Coventry Archives and Coventry Transport Museum.

Coventry Arts and Heritage is also responsible for two other sites in the city. These are the
Lunt Roman Fort and the Priory Visitor Centre and Undercroft.

This website aims to provide you with all the information you need to plan a visit. You can find out about our collections, exhibitions and events. There are pages about our learning and schools work, our work with communities, and the arts and media services available.

Watercolour of the Month
The Herbert has other studies of the armour in Warwick Castle, particularly a fine watercolour of the armour in the Hall by the Leicester artist John Fulleylove. We also have an engraving of armour and a giant cooking pot there both supposed to have belonged to the legendary Guy of Warwick. This watercolour by David Woodlock takes this quirky theme further - how can puny modern man live up to the evidence of the heroic deeds of the past. The soldier of the artist's day seems no match for the soldier of the past.

Object of the Month
A hurdy-gurdy is a type of string instrument which uses a turning wheel instead of a bow to vibrate a set of strings. The player turns the wheel using a crank on the side of the instrument. With the other hand, the player pushes keys to play different notes.  Hurdy-gurdies make a unique sound due in part to the 'drone strings'. These strings produce a constant hum similar to the low-pitched drone of the bagpipe. Hurdy-gurdies also have a 'buzzing bridge' which adds a percussive quality to the instrument.

The Herbert’s resident performance company Triangle is developing an original approach to Museum Theatre
The company’s latest project, The Last Women, is inspired by the crimes of passion and execution of Mary Ball: a ribbon weaver, from Bedworth hanged in Coventry in 1849 and Ruth Ellis: the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955. The project is touring to 7 cities nationally as it is developed.

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