The location of the exhibition

The exhibition, although fictitious, is located in Bantock Park, behind Bantock House Museum. If such an exhibition was ever held in Wolverhampton this would be the ideal location, close to the City's museum.

The Museum

Bantock House.

The display on the first floor celebrates Wolverhampton's manufacturing past and includes many locally made products. It gives an impression of the wide range of products that were made here and their high quality.

The location of Bantock House Museum.

The location of the exhibition.

The exhibition is housed in four buildings, each of which has now disappeared from the City centre. The shopping display is located in the old Queen's Arcade which used to be on the south side of Queen Square. The elegant arcade was built when much of the square was redeveloped in 1909. The building was demolished in the late 1960s to make way for the Mander Centre and contained one of the best local arcades.

The services display can be found in the old Star and Garter Hotel, which was a prominent feature on the eastern side of Victoria Street. It was the town's main hotel and occupied the site of a house in which King Charles I sheltered during the Civil War, and from this the hotel was named. The hotel was built in about 1815 and extensively modified in 1836. The building was demolished in the late 1960's to make way for the Mander Centre.

The transport display has been set up in the old Corporation tram shed that stood in Cleveland Road. This was the Cleveland Road Depot of the Corporation Tramways Department and was built in 1901 in readiness for the electric trams which were in operation the following year. The building later housed many of Wolverhampton's trolley buses and has since been rebuilt and is now used as a car park.

The entertainment display is to be found in the old Theatre Royal which stood in Cleveland Road on the site of the Central Library. The theatre was built in 1844 and closed in 1894 after a chequered career. Within a few years of closing it was demolished in readiness for the library which was completed in 1902.

It would be marvellous if such an exhibition could exist in reality, and Bantock Park would be the ideal location, standing next to one of the best museums in the area. Bantock House Museum is well worth a visit and if you do go don't expect to see the exhibition, it is purely fictional and can only be found on this website.