The Grosvenor Museum in Chester will open two new exhibitions in June, bringing together local landscape art, lead mining history and fossils from Cheshire’s deep geological past.
The summer programme pairs Catherine Taylor Parry’s Earth Stories: Plwm/Lead with Echoes of Ancient Lands and Seas: Fossils from Cheshire, giving visitors a route from the mined landscapes of Halkyn Mountain to the ancient jungles, deserts and seas that once shaped the region.
Lead mining and landscape art in the Coins Gallery
Earth Stories: Plwm/Lead runs from 7 June to 27 September 2026 in the museum’s Coins Gallery.
The exhibition looks at how objects and materials change through time, weather, decay and physical force. Taylor Parry’s 2D and 3D works draw on the history of lead mining and stone extraction on Halkyn Mountain in Flintshire, North Wales, using colour, texture and form to respond to erosion and transformation in the landscape.
Taylor Parry is based in North Wales and has developed a practice that links environment, human activity and the physical qualities of art materials. She holds an MA with distinction in Fine Art from the University of Chester and was a prize winner in the Grosvenor Museum’s 2025 Open Art Exhibition.
Cheshire fossils trace ancient jungles and seas
Echoes of Ancient Lands and Seas: Fossils from Cheshire runs from 20 June to 20 September 2026 in Gallery 2.
The exhibition follows Cheshire’s geological history from the Carboniferous age, around 359 million years ago, to the present day. Fossils from the Grosvenor Museum collection will show how scientists identify former environments, including Carboniferous plant and fern remains from Wrexham, marine microfossils from Saltney and fossilised reptile footprints from the Wirral.
Visitors will also see how Cheshire’s salt deposits formed and how the salt industry became part of regional heritage. The display connects those long timelines with present-day questions about climate change and the landscapes Cheshire may face in future.
The exhibition includes work by artist Val Hunt, who uses recycled materials to create sculptures of endangered and extinct animals, plants, dinosaurs, birds and fish. Hunt has made a horsetail fern sculpture for the Chester display.
Opening times and free entry
The Grosvenor Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 5pm, and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. It is closed on Mondays, except Bank Holiday Mondays.
Entry is free, with donations welcome.
Source: Cheshire West and Chester Council
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This piece is based on the published Cheshire West and Chester Council notice about the Grosvenor Museum exhibitions.
- Confirmed both exhibition titles and opening dates from the source notice.
- Checked gallery locations, museum opening hours and free-entry information.
- Separated artist background from visitor information to keep practical details clear.
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- Cheshire West and Chester Council
- Scope
- Chester, Cheshire
- Updated
- 2026-05-29 13:21
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