The Lightbox, Woking
The Lightbox in Woking boasts three art galleries and a free museum of local history.
Located opposite the WWF Living Planet Centre, this contemporary cultural space exhibits sculptures by Jacob Epstein, Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Paolozzi.
History
The Lightbox opened in 2007. It is located on the banks of the Basingstoke Canal in the centre of the town.
It has its roots in a volunteer group set up in the 1990s.
After a successful fund-raising campaign including donations from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council, sufficient money was available to commission the architects behind the London Eye to construct the building.
Both cedar and aluminium is used on the outer shell of the building.
The Exhibits
The three galleries host a range of exhibitions that change frequently during the year.
Previous exhibitions have included Women in Photography: A History of British Trailblazers, Impressionism: The Art of Life, Turner in Surrey, Damien Hirst: New Religion and Four Days with Picasso among many others.
The three permanent collections at the Lightbox are the The Joan Hurst Collection including pieces by Jacob Epstein and Elisabeth Frink, the Ingram Collection of mostly 20th century art with works by Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Paolozzi among others and the Heritage Collection that makes up the museum Woking's Story.
The latter is a fun, interactive, hands-on museum that appeals to children and families. There are exhibits on the town's history, Brookwood Cemetery, the Shah Jahan Mosque and the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment among the nine themes.
Access & Hours
The Lightbox
Chobham Road
Woking GU21 4AA
Tel: 01483 737800
www: thelightbox.org.uk
General admission to The Lightbox is free. This includes Seasons Café and the shop, the Woking's Story museum and Art Fund Prize Gallery.
Admission to the Main or Upper Gallery requires the purchase of a Day or Annual Pass.
Tuesday - Saturday 10.30 am to 5 pm. Sunday 11 am to 4 pm. Bank Holidays and Mondays closed.
Getting to Woking
The M25 motorway (Junction 11) , the M3 (Junction 3) and the A3 offer rapid road links to Woking to match the extensive rail services.
On an average weekday there are around 250 trains from Woking to London Waterloo and vice versa, taking as little as 23 minutes.
Woking is half an hour's drive from Heathrow Airport or 40 minutes by bus, one hour's drive or train ride from Gatwick and has direct rail links to Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton and Weymouth.
Woking Hotels
The new 100 metre-high Hilton will open in 2021, to add to the existing large hotels in the centre - DoubleTree by Hilton, Premier Inn and Travelodge.
Addison House and the Woking Hotel are two smaller central options and Gorse Hill is an elegant Edwardian alternative, as is the Talbot Inn in Ripley, a coaching inn with 500 years of history.
There is a good selection of serviced apartments for staying in too.
See here for a listing of accommodation in Woking to suit all budgets.
Map of Woking
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