Weston Museum facts for kids
.jpg)
The museum's main entrance
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1861 |
|---|---|
| Location | Burlington Street, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, BS23 1PR |
Weston Museum is a cool place to visit in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It first opened in 1861. The museum holds a huge collection from North Somerset Council. It shows off items from Weston-super-Mare and the areas around it, going back 400 million years to today!
Contents
How the Museum Started
Weston Museum was created in 1861 by a man named William Mable. He was a shoemaker who moved to Weston-super-Mare from London.
In 1851, a local leader, Reverend R Warre, started digging up an old camp of Celtic Britons on Worlebury Hill. William Mable was super interested in what they found. But he was sad that all the cool discoveries were sent to a museum far away in Taunton. He wanted local people to see them!
So, he decided to start his own collection of "natural history specimens." His goal was to make a museum for Weston that was "free to the public at all reasonable times."
William Mable also opened a night school for young boys who worked with donkeys. He wanted to help them get an education. He also started collecting everyday items from the past, as the town was changing quickly. Soon, his collection became too big for his small home. In 1861, he gave his collection to the Night School. He wanted it to become the town's museum, as long as they found a proper place to show it.
In 1863, he opened the town's first museum in the Albert Memorial Hall. This hall was built to honor the late Prince Albert. Some people wondered why a "mere cobbler" (shoemaker) was allowed to run a museum. But many others called him a very smart working man. A few years later, the hall grew to include a workers' institute and the museum.
William Mable passed away in 1887. His dream of a public museum finally came true in 1901. The museum moved from the Albert Memorial Hall to a new building. This building was specially made to be a Free Library and Museum. It was designed by local architects Hans Fowler Price and Sydney Wilde. Part of the cost was covered by public donations and a gift from Mr. Frederick Wood.
In 1975, the museum moved to where it is now, on Burlington Street. This used to be the offices of the Weston Gaslight Company. The collections moved from the old library, and the museum was renamed 'The Woodspring Museum'. New areas were opened. In 1985, the museum got a Victorian cottage next door. This cottage was named Clara's Cottage.
In 1996, North Somerset Council took over. The museum was called "The Time Machine" until 2002. Then, its name changed again to "The North Somerset Museum".
Weston-super-Mare Town Council bought the Burlington Street building in 2011. In 2012, they asked the Heritage Lottery Fund for money to make big improvements. Their request was approved! The museum closed in April 2015 to start the big redesign. It also got its current name, "Weston Museum." It reopened on August 26, 2017.
The museum's new design included a special gallery for temporary exhibits. It's called the William Mable Gallery, honoring the museum's founder.
The Museum Building Today
The Weston Museum is located in what used to be the Weston Gaslight Company's workshops. It's a special building, protected as a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1912 by architects Hans Fowler Price and William Jane. It held the company's supplies and workshops. In the 1970s, many old buildings in Weston were torn down. The Weston Civic Society was formed to help save beautiful Victorian buildings.
The Gaslight Company Workshops was one building that was saved. The local council bought it and turned it into the new museum. It reopened on June 30, 1975.
In 2010, there were plans to close the museum and move its displays to a smaller spot. But local people, including Brian Austin (Clara's grand-nephew), fought against this. In 2012, Weston-super-Mare Town Council took over the building. They planned to improve the museum for everyone in the town and for visitors.
Making the Museum Better
Making Weston Museum better was the biggest project Weston Town Council had ever done.
Many groups helped pay for the project, like the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
The Friends of Weston Museum, a local group, were very important in saving the museum from closing. They wrote letters, organized a march, and spoke at council meetings. They were very happy when Weston Town Council agreed to run the museum. In 2015, the group became a charity. In 2016, they gave a large amount of money to the museum's improvement fund.
The Lottery Fund was the biggest helper, giving £1.1 million in 2015. This was even more than the town council first asked for! In 2013, they also gave £72,000 to help plan the improvements. Nerys Watts from the Heritage Lottery Fund called the plans "a transformational project for Weston-Super-Mare."
Many groups helped pay for the museum's improvements:
| Source | Money Given |
|---|---|
| Heritage Lottery Fund | £1.1 million |
| Arts Council England | £52,000 |
| Coastal Revival Fund | £50,000 |
| Garfield Trust | £30,000 |
| Fairfield Trust | £15,000 |
| Anonymous | £15,000 |
| Weston Society of Arts | £3,330 |
The £52,000 from Arts Council England helped the museum get advice on how to make its cafe and shop better. This also helped the museum become a "unique visitor destination" that could support itself. In December 2016, Arts Council England gave another £15,000 for two new art projects. One project was for artist Mary Flower to create art for the courtyard. The other was for local schools and groups to help make a cool wood print mural.
The council plans to do more improvements in the future. This will include Clara's Cottage and an old 1860s mews cottage front in the museum's back courtyard.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has four main galleries with important items. These include things about geology (rocks and earth), archaeology (old human history), art, and social history (how people lived). There are also two areas for temporary exhibits: the William Mable Gallery and the Community Gallery. Since it reopened in 2017, the William Mable gallery has shown four temporary exhibits.
| Exhibit | What it was about | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making Weston Museum | How the museum was redeveloped | 26 August 2017 | 13 January 2018 |
| The Art of Self-Expression | Facial hair and tattoos through time | 27 January 2018 | 13 May 2018 |
| That's The Way To Do It: Punch and Judy Through The Ages | The history of Punch and Judy shows | 26 May 2018 | 16 September 2018 |
| Alfred Leete: The Man Behind the Icon | A Weston man who created the famous ‘Your Country Needs You’ poster. | 29 September 2018 | 13 January 2019 |
The 'Community Gallery' is a place to "explore, share and understand modern society in Weston-super-Mare." This was made possible by a £10,000 grant. Volunteers run this gallery with help from the museum's Community Liaison Officer. The first exhibit was about the town's Greek community. This is the largest ethnic group in Weston. Later, there was an exhibit about the North Somerset BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) Network. From October 2018, the gallery showed an exhibit about the Uphill Village Society. Future topics include links between the West Country and the Spanish Civil War, Pride, and the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Literary Festival Fun
Weston Town Council wants the museum to be a place for arts and culture for everyone. In Spring 2018, the museum helped host Weston's first literary festival. It ran from February 22 to March 1, around World Book Day. Writers like Amanda Prowse, Huw Powell, and Lord Jeffrey Archer (who grew up in Weston) were there.
The festival came back in February 2019. Speakers included writer Christina Patterson, children's authors Claire Barker and Duncan Beedie, and women's rights activist Dr Helen Pankhurst.
Clara's Cottage: A Step Back in Time
In 1985, the museum got a Victorian cottage right next door. From 1901 to 1985, the Payne family lived there. Clara Payne lived in the cottage from 1901 to 1952. She earned extra money by renting out a room to people who needed a place to stay. To honor her, the cottage was named Clara's Cottage. It opened to visitors in June 1987.
When the Council bought the cottage, they wanted to make it look like it did around 1900. They recreated three main rooms: the kitchen, the parlor (living room), and the lodger's bedroom. Almost everything in Clara's Cottage was given by local people or came from homes in North Somerset. The dresser in the kitchen is actually original to the cottage! It also shows off the museum's collection of old toys.
Rusty the Iron Age Dog
The official mascot of Weston Museum is 'Rusty the Iron Age Dog'! He's a cartoon dog based on the bones of two real dogs. These dogs were found in Christon when they were building the M5 motorway. The two dogs are thought to be between 2,100 and 2,600 years old. They were found at the feet of a man in an Iron Age burial site. You can see their skeleton remains in the museum's 'Living Landscape' gallery. 'Rusty' got his name from a public contest in January 2016. The winning name was chosen because it fit his Iron Age history. Rusty is now the mascot for the Weston branch of the Young Archaeologists' Club, which meets at the museum.
