Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery — Attraction in Shrewsbury

On the whole, the relocation of Shrewsbury's museum to the old Music Hall site has been a big success. It's an atmospheric complex of buildings, including an intriguing survival of a ancient hall; and it's full of excellent, interesting exhibits. The medieval section is delightful. My one big quibble about the rest of the museum is that far too few background details are supplied. Modern curators have a bizarre loathing of providing written information. "Captions on pieces of card in glass cases" are anathema to them, seen as stuffy and boring. The trouble is, without them, the visitor is left unenlightened as to what she or he is looking at. In this respect the new museum is definitely worse than the old. The Roman section, for instance, is full of fascinating objects. Practically none of them have any contextualising information attached. To give one example out of many, in one display case there is a Roman army discharge certificate, a small rectangle of metal engraved in Latin. No background or explanation is given. I remember that in the old museum, there was a caption setting out what such certificates were, how many years’ service a legionary had to have to qualify for one, what the inscription on the certificate said in English translation, etc. Presumably the new curators assume that none of their visitors will be interested in any of this, that the most they can hope for is a quick uninformed blink before the ignorant visitor moves on, still ignorant. How condescending this is, and what a waste of an opportunity to educate and inform, especially for young people keen to find out more about what...

Tucked behind Shrewsbury’s bustling Market Square, @museumcafe_smag inside the @shrewsburymuseum blends local charm with fresh, flavourful food in a quietly relaxed setting.

The atmosphere here is laid-back and welcoming, ideal for brunch, a light lunch, or simply coffee and cake in peace. The standout feature is a spacious courtyard, offering a sun-drenched spot that’s perfect during warmer months. Behind the scenes, @chefteacake and manager Claire keep things running smoothly, and you can feel their personal touch in both the food and the service.

Food-wise, the café punches well above its weight. We had the avocado toast with poached egg and crispy bacon, which came in a generous portion, beautifully presented and packed with flavour. It was everything a comforting brunch dish should be. The Super Greens Salad with added chicken hit a different note - fresh, nutritious, and vibrant with ingredients like quinoa, beetroot, kale, and pickled carrot.

We also spotted the khobez wraps, served open-style on flatbread. They looked seriously tempting, definitely one for next time.

With a rotating line-up of events and collaborations, SMAG isn’t just a café, but part of Shrewsbury’s growing cultural scene.

In a town already bursting with great food spots, SMAG Café manages to feel fresh, relaxed, and genuinely memorable. It’s the kind of place that’s easy to miss but once you know it’s there, you’ll want to...

We spent a very interesting two hours here yesterday. The exhibits are well-displayed and the combination of the visual, aural and tactile are very well planned and sympathetic to all styles of learning, visitor age and length of attention span. I found that the quality of the the "free of charge" section detailing the prehistoric and Roman periods was of such a high standard that I had no reservation in paying the very reasonable entrance fee for the upper floors. Again, the exhibitions on medieval Shrewsbury, natural history and local industry were very interesting and very well presented. All the members of staff or volunteers that I met during my visit were extremely friendly and helpful. On three occasions during my visit I was approached by members of staff who were very happy to spend time showing us round the exhibits and providing some very interesting information. This was my first visit to the museum and it will not be my last. I would recommend the museum to anyone planning a visit...