The Collection (Lincolnshire)

The Collection is the county museum and gallery for Lincolnshire in England. It is an amalgamation of the Usher Gallery and the City and County Museum in such a way that they can work more effectively together than hitherto. The museum part of the enterprise is housed in a new, purpose-built building close by the Usher Gallery in the city of Lincoln.

Lincoln consists of two parts, that at the top of the cliff and that in the Witham valley. The site of the collection is on the steep slope between the two and within the Roman colonia which linked the first century legionary fortress with the shipping and commerce in the river. The new building presents its qualities modestly so as to enhance its surroundings which, towards the end of the twentieth century had slightly developed the feeling of a no man's land.

The Usher Gallery was built to house the collection of James Ward Usher, using funds he bequeathed for the purpose. It was designed by the architect, Sir Reginald Blomfield and was officially opened on 25 May 1927 by the Prince of Wales. It is a basically simple building faced in stone with brick panels separated by simplified Tuscan pilasters above which is a frieze decorated with triglyphs and a roof line finished with a balustrade. The portico, central in the south façade, is topped by a broken pediment and urn finials. It stands in a small park on the hillside looking southwards across the lower town.

The Usher Gallery is a Grade II* Listed Building.

Following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions Panter Hudspith Architects (project architect, Hugh Strange) designed the new building and the doors were opened in October 2005 after much hard work including an archaeological excavation. Despite the building's having been designed to rest above the Roman horizon, at the foot of the pit for the lift shaft, it just found the corner of a mosaic-paved passage which had been laid around a courtyard.

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