MUSEUM visitors will be able to explore the history of the North-East in an exhibition that opens this weekend.

The exhibition, called William Bell Scott: A Northern Pre-Raphaelite, is on show at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens and includes the artist's series of eight paintings that form the frieze, The History of Northumbria.

The paintings are on loan from the National Trust and illustrate the history of Northumbria from the building of Hadrian's Wall to the Industrial Revolution. They usually form the centrepiece of a Pre-Raphaelite decorative scheme in the central hall at Wallington, in Northumberland.

The chance to show the paintings for the first time in the North-East arose when the house at Wallington closed for conservation and repair.

It has moved to Sunderland from the Laing Art Gallery, in Newcastle.

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens curateor Juliet Horsley said: "Other pictures on loan include a watercolour by the world famous JMW Turner, which features alongside a selection of Pre-Raphaelite works by Rossetti and Burne Jones from Sunderland's own collection.

"The exhibition will take visitors on an inspiring journey back to the grandeurs of Victorian Northumberland and give an insight into the history of the region."

William Bell Scott: A Northern Pre-Raphaelite is on show until June 29.