'Treasures of Gloucestershire' in Chorley Upper Gallery. (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

The exhibition aims to raise funds for Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum and is celeberating the rich history of Gloucestershire and will have many fascinating objects from the area.

10:52am Thursday 5th July 2012 in What's On

AN IMPORTANT loan exhibition 'Treasures of Gloucestershire' is being held in Chorley's Upper Gallery at Prinknash Abbey Park over the weekend of July 7/8. Hosted by The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire, the exhibition aims to raise funds for Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, currently undergoing a multi-million pound redevelopment.

The exhibition is celebrating the rich history of Gloucestershire through its people, places and culture. Fascinating objects loaned from private houses, museums and institutions are on show from the 16th century to the present day depicting our Gloucestershire landscape and heritage at its very best.

The exhibition has many fascinating objects from the Cirencester area including two pieces of Roman jewellery found during excavations at the Beeches villa site in Cirencester in 1971. Two Medieval glazed ceramic floor tiles, one decorated in a similar style to the Great Malvern School and which includes an unidentified coat-of-arms, the other decorated with a lion and a carved limestone corbel in the form of an animal's head, possibly a dog. These tiles and corbel were found in the Abbey grounds, Cirencester, during excavations of the 12th Century Augustinian Abbey of St Mary's. Lent by the Corinium Museum.

The Ashbrook Coin Hoard - In November 1935 Albert Vincent found an earthenware jar in a small stone lined pit in the farmyard of Manor Farm, Ampney St Mary (Ashbrook is the old name for Ampney St.

Mary). The jar contained almost 350 silver coins from the reigns of English monarchs from Edward IV to Charles I. It is thought that the hoard was hidden about 1646. The hoard was declared Treasure Trove by a coroner's inquest; 22 coins were acquired by the British Museum and 16 by Stroud Museum, the rest were returned to the finder. A local benefactor subsequently bought 51 coins and gave them to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester. The rest of the coins have been dispersed and cannot now be traced. Lent by The Museum in the Park, Stroud.

Ploughing Match at Northleach by John Miles of Northleach (1781-1849), oil on canvas, 1831. John Miles is best known for his paintings of prize pigs and cows. This unusual painting shows a ploughing competition in great detail and is painted in Miles' characteristic na•ve style (he was probably a self-taught artist). Lent by Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum A Prospect of Rendcomb is an oil on canvas by an unknown artist painted in 1780. From medieval times, Rendcomb passed through the De La Mare, Tame, Stafford and Berkeley families, before being bought by Sir William Guise of Elmore in 1635. It is thought the old house was burnt to the ground in the late 17th Century and that Sir William Guise rebuilt the house, an image of which appears in Kip's engraving for Atkyns'

Gloucestershire. A later Sir William Guise added a third storey to the house in the late 18th Century and the prospect of that house is shown here. Guise sold Rendcomb in 1864 to Sir Francis Goldsmid. His architect, P C Hardwick, demolished the old house and Thomas Cubitt built the present Italianate mansion at an impressive cost of £40,000. Rendcomb is now a private school. Lent by Elmore Court Cabinet of Drawers designed by Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) made at the Daneway workshop, circa 1907. In 1892, the young Ernest Gimson decided to move to the country in search of the simple life with fellow architects Sidney and Ernest Barnsley. Living first in cottages on the Pinbury estate near Cirencester, and then at Sapperton, he set up a furniture workshop and designed handcrafted furniture, metal and plasterwork until his death in 1919. The Cotswold style he and the Barnsleys created was hugely influential in 20th Century furniture design in Britain. This piece was made by Ernest Smith, one of Gimson's cabinet makers.

Lent by Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum.

Exhibition opening hours: 10am - 5pm. Illustrated catalogue available. Admission: Adults £5; concession £4