Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery located in, Hastings, East Sussex, England. Established in 1892, it originally resided in the Brassey Institute (now the town's library), but moved to its current location in 1927. it had around 97,000 objects of local history, natural sciences, fine and decorative arts, and world cultures. The early local history gallery recounts the history of the area from prehistory to the Saxons. Local wildlife is displayed in dioramas of different local habitats, and there is a dinosaur gallery. Other galleries include local wildlife and a Native North American collection, featuring the Plains and Sub-Arctic areas and the life of Hastings-born conservationist Archibald Belaney, who adopted the name "Grey Owl". Building The museum has been based at John's place since 1928. John's Place was designed in 1923 as a private house. It made of red brick with sandstone dressings. The building has a distinctive character with a crenelated roof line, columned loggia, oriel window and studded oak doors. It was bought by Hastings Corporation and converted into the museum in 1928. In 1932 an extension was added to create an art gallery and house the Durbar Hall, part of an Indian palace built for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition of 1886. A store was added to the back of the building in similar style in 1988. A major refurbishment took place in 2006–7, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which expanded the floor space by 40%, improved access and facilities and introduced environmental control and monitoring. The Durbar Hall The Durbar Hall was constructed for the 1886 Colonial & Indian Exhibition in London. It was donated in 1919 as part of the Brassey Collection. The hall was the centrepiece of the Indian Court, a series of buildings designed and laid out like a traditional Indian palace. It was designed by Caspar Purdon Clarke and was built on-site by Mohammed Baksh and Mohammed Juma. Baksh and Juma were skilled woodcarvers brought over from the Punjab specially to do the wood carving required for the exhibition. During the exhibition, the hall was the Prince of Wales official reception pavilion. At the conclusion of the exhibition Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey bought parts of the Indian Court and had them remodelled and installed as an extension to his Park Lane house. It was removed from London by Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey and gifted