Stockwood Discovery Centre

Stockwood Discovery Centre, formerly known as Stockwood Craft Museum, is one of two free admission museums situated in Luton . The museums in Luton are a part of a charitable trust, Luton Culture.The discovery centre displays collections of local social history, archaeology, geology and rural crafts. It also houses the biggest collection of horse-drawn carriages in Europe, the Mossman Collection.The external part of the Discovery Centre features extensive gardens. The Period Gardens, ranging from the Elizabethan Knot Garden to the Dig for Victory Garden, were created by Luton Council from the mid-1980s onwards. Re-development work in 2007 included the building of the Sensory Garden, World Garden and Medicinal Garden. It is one of the few places in the country where the work of acclaimed artist Ian Hamilton Finlay can be seen on permanent display. Improvement Garden is a classical garden in which Ian Hamilton Finlay sculptures are an integral part of the landscape.Stockwood Discovery Centre offers a range of services and facilities including venue hire for corporate events and weddings, adult learning courses and regular craft activities for visitors. It also caters for group and schools visits.Bagshawe GalleryThe collection of rural crafts and trades held at Stockwood Discovery Centre was amassed by Thomas Wyatt Bagshawe who was a notable local historian and a leading authority on folk life. Bagshawe was born in Dunstable in 1901 and became a director of the family engineering firm.Bagshawe began a small private museum in Dunstable in 1925 and became the honorary curator of Luton Museum when it first opened in 1927. He later became the museums director.