Trowbridge Museum facts for kids
Trowbridge Museum is located in the town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. It's a special place that shares the history of how cloth was made in the West of England.
Museum's Journey: How it Grew
The museum started small, in just one room inside the Town Hall. Later, in 1974, it moved to a new space called the Garlick Room. This room was built especially for the museum within the Civic Hall.
It stayed there until July 1990. Then, the people building The Shires Shopping Centre let the museum move to the first floor of the Home Mills building. This gave the museum more space.
The museum closed for a big update in June 2018. It reopened in May 2021, much bigger and better! It now has a second floor, which doubled its size. A new lift was also added to make it easier for everyone to visit.
These improvements were possible thanks to lots of help. The National Lottery Heritage Fund gave £1.1 million. Trowbridge Town Council added £900,000. Friends of Trowbridge Museum and many other people also helped with money.
What You Can See: Cool Collections
The museum has many interesting things to explore. In 2012, they had an exhibition called Rare Machinery. It showed how woollen cloth was made in Trowbridge. It covered everything from making cloth at home to using big machines.
One amazing item is a complete Spinning Jenny. This machine helped spin thread. It's very rare, with only five left in the world! The museum also shows a fulling machine. This machine was designed by John Dyer from Trowbridge in 1833. It was so well-made that it was used for over 100 years!
You can also see a fine teazle gig. This machine used special plants called teazles to make cloth soft and fuzzy. The teazles were dried in a building called the Handle House. This house is also very old and rare, just like the Spinning Jenny.
As of 2021, the museum has about 25,000 items in its collections. One of the staff's favorite items is Joanna Turner's pocket watch. It's made of silver and tortoiseshell. Inside, it has her name and two prayers engraved. Joanna Turner was an important local speaker in the 1700s.
Textile Festival: Weaving Fun
The museum also puts on a special event every two years. It's called the Textile and Weaving Festival. This festival celebrates the town's history of making woollen cloth. It also shows off the work of artists who create textiles today.
