Charlbury Museum facts for kids
Charlbury Museum is a cool local museum in the town of Charlbury, Oxfordshire, England. It's like a time capsule, showing you what life was like in Charlbury long ago! The museum and its amazing collections are looked after by a group called the Charlbury Society, which started way back in 1949.
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Discover Charlbury Museum
This museum shows off the old ways of life and work in Charlbury. You can see old maps and photographs that tell stories of the past. The museum started collecting items in 1949. It opened in its current building in 1962, and a new entrance was added in 2002. The museum has five rooms filled with interesting things to explore.
What You'll See Inside
The museum's rooms are packed with cool exhibits. You can find:
- Old clothes from the 1800s.
- Amazing fossils from ancient times.
- Objects from prehistoric times, long before written history.
- Artifacts from when the Romans were in Britain.
On the walls, you'll spot old pictures, signs from shops and inns, and local maps. There are also copies of books by writers from Charlbury, like Cornbury and the Forest of Wychwood by Vernon Watney.
A Look at Local History
The museum also shows off items from Charlbury's old industries. For example, you can learn about glove-making, which was a big business here for hundreds of years. The last glove factory in Charlbury closed in 1968.
You can also see a blacksmith's workshop, complete with a bellows (for blowing air on the fire) and a portable anvil (where metal is hammered). Plus, there are tools used by:
- Carpenters (who work with wood).
- Farmers (who grow food).
- Thatchers (who make roofs from straw).
- Watchmakers (who fix clocks and watches).
The Museum's Garden
Outside the museum, there's a lovely garden. This garden used to be the spot where an old inn called the Star Inn stood. That inn was taken down in 1910. Now, it's a peaceful lawn with pretty flowerbeds, a nice place to relax after exploring the museum!
