[1] It was felt within the organisation and the council that the new single building needed a new name that encompassed the history of the site and collections, while being more straightforward than the interim merged name.

[3] The reopening of Bedford Gallery as a venue for touring exhibitions, lectures and events gave an insight into what Phase 2 of the re-development process would offer.

Among the displays, nationally significant collections of work by the Victorian architect-designer William Burges and the 20th-century designer-printmaker Edward Bawden are housed in dedicated galleries.

The gallery was known for its collections of watercolours, prints, ceramics and furniture as well as two of the largest groupings of works outside London by the art-architect William Burges and the painter Edward Bawden.

The museum had been created by the philanthropic brewer, Cecil Higgins (1856–1941) to house his collection of ceramics, glass and objets d’art for the benefit, interest and education of the inhabitants of, and visitors to, Bedford.

Graham Reynolds remained an advisor until 1955 when he was succeeded by two authorities in their respective fields who were to shape and expand the collection significantly; Edward Croft-Murray (1907–1980) of the British Museum and Ronald Alley (1926–1999) of the Tate Gallery, from 1957.

That the collection is strong in the greatest painters of every generation is one thing, but that it is also representative of artists who were once popular and influential in their own day and less so at the time of acquisition, is due to their expert scholarship.

They began to form a collection of Victorian work at a time when few scholars and collectors took the period seriously, sometimes tracing the descendants of the architects and designers and buying directly from them.

The print collection now numbers over 400 pieces, including work by some of the finest British artists as well as internationally renowned figures such as Picasso, Lichtenstein and Dürer.

In 2005, the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery merged with Bedford Museum, but retained its separate buildings and identity until it closed for refurbishment in 2007.

In 1884, a solicitor called Charles Prichard, donated his private collection of fossils and minerals to Bedford Modern School, where he had formerly been a pupil.

Although additions were made to the original collections, oddities from all over the world began to feature as fathers and Old Boys travelled and took up positions in foreign lands.

He acquired archaeological material including Roman and Saxon pottery and jewellery from Kempston, replaced the worst of the natural history with the J. Steele Elliot collection of Bedfordshire birds, mammals, nests and eggs and, in 1929, developed two new refurbished galleries.

Built in 1838,[6] this red brick industrial building offered greater potential for public service, temporary exhibitions and storage for the ever increasing collections of north Bedfordshire.

The first professional Curator, John Turner, was appointed in 1974 and he led the extensive refurbishment and transformation of the brewery buildings into the new town museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1981.

The museum was merged with the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery in 2005, but still retained its separate buildings and identity until it closed to the public for refurbishment in October 2010.

[7] Bedford Museum's archaeology collections include Palaeolithic flint tools and hand axes, as well as later artefacts from the Medieval times.

The depot was later used for many other purposes including St. Agnes Elementary School and as kitchens for Castle Close, the Higgins family home.

Between 1840 and 1841 the building we now call Bedford Gallery was constructed, facing north on Castle Lane, opposite the Bunyan Meeting Church.

For some time during World War Two, the British Broadcasting Corporation music department is believed to have used Bedford Gallery as a rehearsal and recording studio.