Congleton Museum facts for kids
Entrance to Congleton Museum
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| Established | 29 July 2002 |
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| Location | Congleton, Cheshire |
| Type | Local |
Congleton Museum is a cool local museum in Congleton, Cheshire, in northwest England. It tells the story of Congleton, a town located right next to the River Dane. A group of local history fans started the Congleton Museum Trust in 1985. You can find the museum in the Market square of Congleton.
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The Museum's History
Back in 1985, some local people decided to create the Congleton Museum Trust. They started collecting old items and raising money. They also looked all over town for the perfect spot to put a museum.
In the mid-1990s, another group got involved. They wanted to fix up Congleton Town Hall using special funding. They decided to include a museum in their plans. The old police station, a Victorian building connected to the town hall, was chosen for the museum.
The Heritage Lottery Fund gave the project over £200,000. Other local and national groups, businesses, and local councils also helped out. Construction work began in January 2002. Finally, Congleton Museum opened its doors on July 29, 2002.
The Duke of Gloucester officially opened Congleton Museum on October 9, 2002.
What You Can See and Learn
The museum focuses on the history of Congleton and the areas nearby. It especially highlights prehistory, the English Civil War, the Industrial age, and World War II. The main exhibits are on the ground floor. Upstairs, there's a research library with maps and a special room for learning. This room is used for new exhibits, school trips, talks, and fun events. There are also display cases showing other cool items from the museum's collection.
Some amazing things in the museum include:
- A burial urn from about 1500 BC.
- A log boat from 930 AD.
- Two collections of old coins (called coin hoards) from the 1600s.
The museum also has special displays that show what life was like in Congleton during different times. You can see scenes from prehistoric times, the Civil War, the busy textile industry, and the Second World War. Figures from the past "tell" their stories, and interactive computers give you more information. Special 3D maps show how the town changed over hundreds of years.
The Civil War was very important for Congleton. A former mayor of the town, John Bradshaw, was the first person to sign the death warrant for King Charles I. You can even see a cannonball from that time, still stuck in a piece of wall from Biddulph Hall, right here in the museum! The museum often has temporary exhibits, sometimes showing work by local schools.
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Congleton Stocks
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A Selection of War Medals
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Display case including a copy of a James I Charter
Visiting the Museum
It's free to enter the museum! The museum is easy to get around for everyone, including people with disabilities. There's a lift for wheelchairs on the stairs and an accessible toilet. They also have a hearing loop system for talks and walks, which helps people with hearing aids.
Learning Programs
The museum offers a special "Second World War Evacuee Experience" for kids in primary school. It teaches them about what it was like to be an evacuee during the Second World War.
Events and Activities
The museum hosts fun local history walks with different themes. Some past themes include "Surprising trades," "A pub crawl through Time," and "Mill Walks and Industrial Yarns." Guest speakers or the museum's Collections Manager, Ian Doughty, also give talks. Topics have included the Staffordshire Hoard and how to research local history.
Researching History
The museum has a reference library filled with books and papers about Congleton and the area around it. Their archive collection includes important town documents like charters and account books. They also have old papers from estates, businesses, and private families. The museum has a huge collection of over 5,000 pictures, which show the visual history of Congleton.
See also
