Matthew Boulton was a great entrepreneur and industrialist who was born in 1728 and died in 1809.
We are two Greek style sphinxes who have seen & heard everything that has happened at Soho House since we arrived in 1795 - page to promote Soho House Museum & Matthew Boulton! We are two Greek style sphinxes carved from Portland Stone that were purchased in 1795 by Matthew Boulton for a Sphinx Walk in the Pleasure Gardens at his home, Soho House in Handsworth, Birmingham. He was a founding member
15/09/2023
Regency cash can be complicated.
Coins circulating in England included guineas, half and quarter guineas, halfpennies, pennies, sixpence, shillings, sovereigns, crowns and many more. Foreign coins, such a doubloons and dollars were also being used.
The one coin you won't find is a pound. The pound existed - it was 20 shillings - but the first pound coin didn't circulate until 1983.
03/06/2023
Origins of Middle-Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and Sarehole Guided walk | Sarehole Mill | Birmingham Museums A guided walk introducing the scenery that inspired J.R.R Tolkien when he lived near Sarehole Mill as a child. The tour begins at the Mill and takes us to
03/06/2023
The friends who changed the world - Birmingham's Lunar Society The friend who made the future - How the Lunar Society in Birmingham which members included James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood and ...
01/03/2023
Women of Excellent Understanding: The Wives and Daughters of the Lunar Society - Lunar Society The men of the eighteenth-century Lunar Society are well known, but what about the Lunar women? Who were they and how important were they in the stories of their husbands and fathers? This talk will look at some of the Lunar wives and daughters to consider the role the Lunar women played in their hu...
We have just found out that one of our human scribes has been in hospital for a while so we would like to wish Gillian well, and hope she's back to visit us very soon x
27/05/2022
A brand-new exhibition curated by renowned photographer Vanley Burke is now open at Soho House!
Blood & Fire: Our Journey Through Vanley Burke's History takes visitors on a journey through the artist’s history and the Black British experience. As one of the UK’s leading Black artists of the commonwealth generation, this exhibition focuses on Vanley Burke’s journey to illustrate a wider, connected history of Black British experiences using the communities of Birmingham as a lens.
The exhibition is free to visit and is open every Wednesday to Sunday, 11am-4pm until 30 October.
Find out more here: https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/soho/whats-on/blood-fire-our-journey-through-vanley-burke-s-history
13/05/2022
With his love of astronomy Mr Boulton would have really been interested in this!
Happy birthday to our lovely scribe Gillian! We hope you have a great day, and we're looking forward to seeing you very soon # # #
22/03/2022
Launch of two new books on the Soho Manufactory sites and James Watt Launch of The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry by George Demidowicz and James Watt ed. by Malcolm Dick and Caroline Archer-Parré
07/03/2022
Birmingham 2022 Festival Video: The trailer for the Birmingham 2022 Festival features stop-motion animation of photographed characters with colourful outlines, moving and manipulating cube-like elements across a collage-style landscape of Birmingham landmarks, ultimately constructing the Birmingham 2022 Festival logo compri...
We are two Greek style sphinxes carved from Portland Stone that were purchased in 1795 by Matthew Boulton for a Sphinx Walk in the Pleasure Gardens at his home, Soho House in Handsworth, Birmingham. Matthew Boulton was a great entrepreneur and industrialist who was born in 1728 and died in 1809. He was a founding member of the Lunar Society, a group of great thinkers and inventors who met regularly at his home at Soho House. For more information go to www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/soho or better still visit the Museum*!
After Mr Boulton died we were taken to Great Tew in Oxfordshire when his descendants moved there and were purchased by Birmingham City Council when the last family member died. We lived at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in the Industrial Gallery for a while but moved back to our home at Soho House in July 2012 where we now live in the Event Space!
* Soho House Museum is open Wednesday - Thursday (and the first Sunday of the month), 11am - 4pm. Also open some bank holiday Mondays and for special events (prices may vary).
Visitor centre, café and garden are FREE
Entry to Soho House is by guided tour only at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm.