Wallace and Gromit creator to reopen hometown museum

The Harris Museum reopens after a four-year revamp on Sunday

The creator of Wallace and Gromit says he has to "pinch myself" as he prepares to reopen the Harris Museum in his Preston birthplace on Sunday.

Oscar-winning animator Nick Park will also launch an exhibition featuring the much-loved characters at the venue, which has been refurbished over the past four years at a cost of £19m.

"I never would have dreamt it. My grandparents who inspired all the sets and everything - they'd be very proud."

Councillor Matthew Brown, from Preston City Council, said the museum's relaunch meant "everything to us, to be honest, because it's taken three-and-a-half years".

"It got delayed with Covid, there's been one or two issues. But we stood behind this and we want to have this in the hands of our community for the next few generations."

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park says it has been an "extraordinary experience" to be in a life-size version of the duo's living room

The venue also includes an art gallery and library

Park added: "I grew up in Preston and the Harris Museum was always a real centre-point of life.

"With my siblings, mum and dad, we'd often spend a day here looking around and it was always so interesting - all the artefacts and the history of the area, what had been found in the area and the paintings."

He will open a temporary exhibition titled A Case at the Museum, which has built a life-size version of Wallace and Gromit's living room.

"It's like a dream walking into your own creations, which have always been very small," Park said.

"So it's quite an extraordinary experience to see it all - to actually be in the world of Wallace and Gromit."

The building first opened in 1893

Officials hope to get 500,000 visitors annually after the reopening

The venue, which also features an art gallery and library, had been receiving about 350,000 visitors a year before the refurbishment and has added new exhibits to its collection.

The building opened in 1893 after an 11-year construction, having been funded by a bequest from local lawyer Edmund Harris.

The cost of the recent revamp was financed with money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, central government, Lancashire County Council and Preston City Council.