A NEW pop-up Astley Experience is set to open this weekend while conservation repairs continue at Chorley’s historic hall.

Astley Hall has been closed since Christmas whilst conservation work was done to preserve the Grade 1 listed building.

Now following the recent announcement that the Hall will have to remain closed until the summer, Chorley Council has created a temporary Astley Experience in the adjacent Coach House building to ensure visitors can continue to see parts of the museum collection and experience the stories and history of Astley Hall.

The new experience will open on Saturday, April 11 with a display of the Astley Then and Now exhibition that explores the 90th anniversary of the Hall transferring over to Chorley Council.

The exhibition will be complimented with mystery objects, quizzes and games for younger visitors.

From Saturday April 18 through to Sunday, May 24, there will be Serving Stories workshops from noon until 4pm.

Visitors can discover the roles of some of the domestic servants who have lived and worked at Astley.

From Saturday, May 30 until Saturday June 27, visitors will be able to travel even further back in the Astley timeline to the Tudor period.

Chorley Council’s director of public protection, streetscene and community, Jamie Carson, said: “We decided to create a temporary Astley Experience to ensure that visitors won’t miss out on viewing and experiencing an important part of Chorley’s history.