THIS Saturday Tudor musicians Myal Pyper will be enticing visitors into Winchester’s Westgate Museum with tunes familiar to citizens at the time of Henry VIII.
This Hat Fair day event celebrates the start of the summertime weekday opening of the free-to-enter Westgate Museum in July and August in addition to its usual weekend opening hours.
Visitors to the city on Hat Fair Saturday will see the musicians leaving Winchester Tourist Information Centre and making their way up the High Street to the Westgate.
Performing there between 11am and 4pm, the pair of musicians will encourage passers-by to climb up the ancient stone steps into the chamber above the gate that houses a hidden museum.
The Tudor-themed celebration has been devised by Hampshire Cultural Trust in partnership with the Visit Winchester team at Winchester City Council to draw attention to the museum and a popular new Tudor trail that was released during the screening of Wolf hall on BBC1 earlier in the year.
The trail was originally devised to mark the anniversary of the wedding of Mary Tudor to Philip of Spain in Winchester and the Westgate displays a fabulous Tudor ceiling from the time.
The gate chamber houses a fine collection of objects from Tudor and Stuart Winchester including armour, coins and reputably a boot belonging to King Charles II.
Younger visitors to the Westgate can try on replica Tudor and Stuart armour and costumes, sort finds, have a go at brass rubbing, and try the Westgate spotter quiz.
Robin Iles, Venues and Learning Manager for Winchester at Hampshire Cultural Trust said “The extended summer opening of the Westgate Museum is a sign of our commitment to making culture and history accessible to local people and visitors to Hampshire.
"Hat Fair weekend is a great day to visit - there are great views of the city from the Westgate roof.”
The Tudor trail is available free from the Tourist information centre and visit Winchester website.
To find out more and for a full list of attractions operated by Hampshire Cultural Trust visit www.hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk
Opening times at the museum during the period Tue 1 July-Sun 31 August are: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12 noon-5pm.
For more information about the Tudor trail visit www.visitwinchester.co.uk. For a list of Hampshire Cultural Trust attractions visit www.hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk.
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