Trowbridge Museum facts for kids
The Trowbridge Museum is located in the town of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, England. It's a special place that teaches us about the history of making cloth in the West of England.
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History of the Museum
The museum started in a very small way. It began in just one room inside the Town Hall. Later, in 1974, it moved to a new, specially built room called the Garlick Room in the Civic Hall.
Moving to Home Mills
The museum stayed in the Civic Hall until July 1990. That's when the people building The Shires Shopping Centre let the museum use the first floor of the old Home Mills building. This gave the museum much more space!
Modern Updates and Expansion
The museum closed for a big renovation in June 2018. It reopened in May 2021, looking much bigger and better! They added a whole second floor, which doubled its size. They also put in a lift, making it easier for everyone to visit.
These improvements were possible thanks to a lot of help. The National Lottery Heritage Fund gave £1.1 million. Trowbridge Town Council added £900,000. Also, The Friends of Trowbridge Museum and many people from the public helped raise money.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Trowbridge Museum has many interesting things to see. It shows how woollen cloth was made, from simple home methods to big machines.
Amazing Old Machines
In 2012, the museum had an exhibition called Rare Machinery. It showed how cloth was made in Trowbridge. You could see a complete Spinning Jenny, which is a very old machine used for spinning thread. There are only five of these left in the world!
The museum also displays a fulling machine. This machine was invented by a Trowbridge engineer named John Dyer in 1833. It was so well designed that it was still used in the 20th century!
Another cool machine is a teazle gig. This machine used special plants called teazles to make the cloth soft and fluffy. The teazles were dried in a building called the Handle House, which is also very old and rare.
Special Collections and Items
As of 2021, the museum has about 25,000 items in its collection! One of the staff's favorite items is a pocket watch that belonged to Joanna Turner. It's made of silver and tortoiseshell. Inside, it has her name and the entire Lord's Prayer engraved. Joanna Turner was an important local speaker in the 1700s.
Textile and Weaving Festival
The museum also organizes a special event every two years called the Textile and Weaving Festival. This festival celebrates the town's history of making woollen cloth. It also shows off the amazing work of local artists who create textile art today.
