Clifton Park Museum — Attraction in Rotherham

I’ll start by saying I’d give 5 stars for the staff as our interaction with them was helpful, friendly, and polite.

Sadly I would not call this a museum - it’s more of a lovely old building from the outside with a few artefact cases dotted around the house in some of the rooms.

Whether it’s just to Covid, I’m not sure, but it felt empty. On a lovely sunny day it felt cold and forgotten.

I knew it wasn’t a grand Manor House like you find in the country side - but it’s a large famous house steeped in history… so I was expecting rooms to be dressed for the period…I thought there would be lots of items from the people that used to live here…and lots about the local history.

Worse was how hard it was to find information of what we were looking at. Often just a little bit of information on the display in genera rather than saying what stuff was or the relevance.

One room was labelled the bedroom - it was almost completely bare with a large single paper doll house half coloured in… it looked depressing.

The whole house has been stripped of character and it needs so much love giving to it. Even their famous lion that used to be displayed at the entrance has been demoted to a small pokey side room - the lion replaced by a modern poster of a horse (why?)

The drawing room had a handful of pictures - this easily could have been an impressive gallery room …and again - have information near the paintings (not a plastic holder shoved in a corner that’s almost missed - although there was still nothing about the biggest painting in the room to be found)

After you’ve gone through the house and made it down the servants staircase and through into the newer part - all of a sudden the museum remembers it’s a museum and you have a small section that shows a handful of artefacts from main time periods…and then you are done.

I’m not sure how the museum is funding - I assume it’s locally and potentially from the council…but it needs dressing up, character and charm injected back into it…put life back into the house. I can imagine it’s great for school groups IF they have dress up and full on school activities - but how it is at the moment it has an identity crisis as it’s not really great for kids and feels empty for adults.

It’s needs so much more about the history of the house, the park, the people who lived there (not a couple of artefacts and the odd painting … oh and then putting the family tree in the room used for weddings etc).

It could be great. At the moment it’s far from it. Those in charge of the museum may need to go visit other museums around the country to get...

Great place for local history. Helpful, friendly staff who enabled me to see a WW1 exhibition, that wasn't officially open, as soon as I explained that that was the only reason I'd come.

This was my third of fourth visit over a couple of decades. Its is great on local history with archeological evidence of human activity from Neolithic times to the present. Most displays have original artefacts combined with very good reconstructions to give context.

Some of the mist recent exhibits show off the achievements of Rotherham's notable sports male and female personalities, including world beaters and Olympians.

The history of the house and families that lived there is well presented, with some not-half-bad oil paintings providing names, faces and an ever changing fashion show to compliment the grandeur of the main house with its two story stair well and hallway.

There are many interactive displays - although I didn't play with them on the day. So blog it up if they are fun. Its a very child friendly place and wheelchair friendly down stairs. I didn't check on disability friendliness upstairs - although I seem to remember, from the mists of a previous visit, that it was good.

The shop is contains a small but totes relevant range of stock. Loved the café. There is a big spacious park adjacent to the house. Car parking is pay and display, I'm not sure what the blue badge deal is.

Basically a great, child friendly, people friendly...

Don't remember it being this good in my childhood but really impressive now with a feature on RUFC and Nelson the lion still in the stateroom. Looks like you can get married there, which nice (not for me though!!!). The park has developed: war memorials plaques re various trees, notably the Queen Victoria Elm. Disappointed to see though that the tennis courts, so ably run by Joe Uttley are now not there but a car park....... malheuruesement !!) understand there are some down on the site of the 2nd string courts from the 1960s but didn't have time to inspect... next time! On my way up Doncaster Gate, I came upon the University Rotherham Building (UCR) - whatever next! Reminds me of the overwhelming when I noticed: Huddersfield University on my way to compete in the Huddersfield Open Tennis tourney: I say "compete" but my actual play was a strangulation of that term but enough of that: can someone enlighten me on UCR. I remember when the great actor James Bolam said the greatest joy of visiting his home city of Newcastle, was to find out when the next train out was; are there signs that the "phoenix" is about to re-emerge...