Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology

The Museum is derived from Britain's first social history museum. It was founded in 1934 in England and was brought to Australia after World War II. After nearly 40 years of storage, it now occupies a new building opened in 1986 near Bribie Island, 40 kilometres North of Brisbane. A fine arts and archaeology museum, the museum's collections cover the history of humankind over the last 500,000 years with original artefacts from Europe, Asia, America and Africa and limited collections from Australia. They include works of art, ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, sculpture and paper. Each year, the Museum hosts a Medieval Tournament, which attracts thousands of visitors to watch armoured knights in combat and spectacular costuming. The museum has re-created an archaeological dig of an Egyptian tomb, where pre-booked groups can obtain a hands-on experience of excavation techniques and recording data. Several Environmental Heritage Trails are conducted in the local district, looking at archaeology, history and natural history of the Glass House Mountains and the Pumice stone Passage. The Friends of the Abbey Museum are a support group who participate in a wide range of activities and assistance to the museum.