Wells and Mendip Museum facts for kids
 |
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1893 |
|---|---|
| Location | Wells, Somerset, England |
The Wells and Mendip Museum is a cool place to visit in the city of Wells, England. It's like a treasure chest filled with amazing things from the local area. You can discover old tools, ancient fossils, and items that tell stories about the history of Wells and the nearby Mendip Hills.
Contents
What's Inside the Museum?
The museum is packed with interesting collections that show what life was like long ago. You can explore different rooms, each with its own special theme. It's a great spot to learn about geology, archaeology, and local history.
Discovering Ancient History
One of the most exciting parts of the museum is the Balch Room. Here, you'll find incredible fossils and rocks from the Mendip Hills. Many of these items are super old, dating back to the Stone Age and Iron Age. Imagine seeing tools and objects that people used thousands of years ago!
You can also see heavy lead ingots from Roman Britain. These were blocks of lead made by the Romans who lived in Britain. The museum also has beautiful old statues that once belonged to Wells Cathedral.
The Mystery of Wookey Hole
The museum has some really unique exhibits about caves and caving, also known as speleology. One famous item is a skeleton found by the museum's founder, Herbert E. Balch. It was discovered in the Wookey Hole Caves. Some people believe it might be the skeleton of the legendary Witch of Wookey Hole!
There's also a collection of animal bones. These bones were found in 2004 when a new cave was discovered. This happened right in the car park of the Hunters Lodge Inn in Priddy! It shows that even today, new discoveries are being made.
The Museum Building
The museum building itself is very old and interesting. It's right next to the famous Wells Cathedral. The building used to be called the Chancellors' House. It was first built way back in the 1400s!
Most of what you see today was built in the 1600s and 1700s. The building is made of stone and has cool gabled roofs covered in Welsh slate. Inside, there's a grand staircase and a fancy room with a marble fireplace. The front of the building was updated around 1828. This historic building is so important that it's officially recognized as a Grade II listed building.
How the Museum Started
The Wells and Mendip Museum was started by a man named Herbert E. Balch. He founded it in 1893. He wanted a place to show off all the cool local items and historical pieces he had collected. Since then, many more exhibits have been added.
The museum is run by a group called the Wells Natural History and Archaeological Society. It first opened in a different spot, inside the Cathedral cloister. But in 1932, it moved to its current home, the Chancellors' House, where you can visit it today!
