Our Country Lives

Marvel at the countryside

In this gallery, you will be confronted by a striking piece of art depicting the county of Cheshire. This enormous wall-hanging was designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain, and is one of seven works designed by ‘the lost modernist’ Michael O’Connell. The MERL redevelopment in 2016 allowed us to display one of these wall-hangings, Kent, for the first time in over 60 years. In May 2021, as part of The MERL’s 70th Anniversary project, 51 Voices, the Kent wall-hanging was replaced by another, Cheshire.

Find out more about this fascinating process and how it relates to our anniversary in From Chalk to Cheese, a blog by Curator, Dr Ollie Douglas.

You can also listen to Ollie talking about the wall-hanging changeover in this video.

The gallery also a digital interactive to explore contemporary issues in the countryside (as well as herd a few sheep and pigs).

The MERL Google Streetview Tour

Activities in this gallery

Take a break and read a book

A selection of children’s books about farming, animals and the countryside are available for you to sit and read

Can you identify these objects?

There are just a few large, curious objects on display in this gallery. What do you think they are? Lift the flaps to find out more about them.

Test yourself with our quiz & multiplayer games

Take your place at the table and try your hand at herding sheep, shooting clay pigeons or answering quiz questions about some of the contemporary issues raised in the galleries