Old Speech Room Gallery

The Old Speech Room was completed in 1820 and used as a space where boys could learn the art of public speaking. In 1976, it was converted into a Gallery - a safe repository for the School's distinguished collection of antiquities and fine art.

A professional curatorial team manages the collections in accordance with best museum practice under the direction of the Curator. There is an ongoing programme of conservation and collections care, as well as a loans scheme. In the OSRG Arts Society, Harrovians can learn about object handling, conservation, documentation and collections care; help to research, design, curate and advertise exhibitions; and enjoy regular visits to major art collections in and around London. To see examples of some of the 19th-century watercolours held in the OSRG collection please visit Watercolour World.

Key Collections

Recent Gifts and Acquisitions

Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian antiquities 19th-century English and European watercolours, prints and engravings 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century oil paintings and sculpture 19th-century Japanese prints, Chinese ceramics and sculpture Manuscripts, rare Bibles and early printed books Coins, medals and stamps Photographs by Beaton and Lichfield Natural history

Cruden’s Concordance of the Old and New Testaments, 1738 The Fellows’ Garden, Exeter College, 1986, watercolour by Valerie Petts ‘Leavers’, 1991, a montage of Harrow Leavers’ cards by OH Jeremy Cooper View of Old Schools and the War Memorial Building, c.1925 engraving by Wallace Hester The cricket ground at Harrow, engraving by H Sargent The signal station, 1887, watercolour by Thomas Bush Hardy Visit with Winston Churchill, c.1970, signed lithograph by Sarah Churchill The Highgrove Florilegium, 2008, compiled for Prince Charles by OH Richard Shirley Smith (The Knoll, 1949) Anti-Slavery Convention Medal depicting Thomas Clarkson, 1840

Exhibitions

Apart from significant artworks of the 19th and 20th centuries, permanent displays include Greek vases and Old Harrovian subjects such as Lord Byron, Admiral Sir Edward Codrington and Sir Winston Churchill. These are primarily used for teaching.

As not all parts of the collection can be displayed at the same time, the Gallery runs a termly programme of temporary exhibitions. Recent subjects include From Reynolds to Matisse: Treasures of the OSRG Collection; The Muse and the Maker: a Celebration of Women on the Hill and the major exhibition for the Harrow 450 programme: Harrow 1572-2022.

The following exhibitions are running this term:

Cecil Beaton: 20th-century Icons

Saturday 21 September – Friday 29 November

From Edith Sitwell to Audrey Hepburn, the OSRG’s collection of Cecil Beaton’s (Bradbys 1918) portrait photographs spans nearly 60 years. Beginning with Beaton’s first family snapshots, the exhibition reveals a unique career that took him from Harrow to Hollywood, from battlefields to Parisian salons. Becoming Royal Photographer in 1937, Beaton was in constant demand. He was commissioned to take what became the most iconic image of Churchill, as prime minister in 1943.

Images of Churchill at Harrow

Saturday 21 September – Friday 29 November

30 November 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (The Head Master’s 1888), statesman and prime minister. The OSRG is commemorating the event with a special exhibition of artworks, documents and other related materials that have been brought together for the first time. They cover his life from his arrival at Harrow as a schoolboy in 1888 and include his celebrated return visits to the Hill in later years for Harrow Songs.

Autumn Term Opening Hours

The gallery is open to the public between 2.30-5pm on the following days: 21 (2-5pm) and 26 September; 4, 11, 17 and 31 October; 1, 2 (1.30-4pm), 7, 8, 14, 21 and 29 November.