Weston Museum facts for kids
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The museum's main entrance
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| Established | 1861 |
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| Location | Burlington Street, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, BS23 1PR |
The Weston Museum is a cool place to explore history in Weston-super-Mare, a town in North Somerset, England. It first opened its doors in 1861. This museum holds many interesting items from the North Somerset area. You can see exhibits that cover a huge amount of time. These range from 400 million years ago, when the area was forming, all the way up to today!
Contents
How the Museum Started
The Weston Museum was started in 1861 by a man named William Mable. He was a shoemaker who moved to Weston-super-Mare from London.
In 1851, a local reverend, R Warre, began digging into an ancient camp on Worlebury Hill. This camp belonged to the Celtic Britons. William Mable was very interested in these digs. However, he was sad that the cool things found were sent to a museum far away in Taunton. He wanted local people to be able to see them.
So, William Mable decided to start his own collection. He gathered "specimens of natural history" and other items. His big goal was to create a museum for Weston that everyone could visit for free.
William Mable also cared about the young "donkey boys" in town. These boys often worked with donkeys and didn't get much schooling. He opened a night school for them on Carlton Street. Here, they could learn and get support. He also started collecting old items and papers from the town's past. His collection grew so big it didn't fit in his small home. In 1861, he gave his collection to the Night School. He hoped it would become the town's museum, as long as a proper place was found to show it.
In 1863, the town's first museum opened in the Albert Memorial Hall. This hall was built to remember Prince Albert. William Mable's collection moved in. Some people wondered why a shoemaker was running a museum. But others saw him as a very smart working man. A few years later, the hall got bigger. It added a workers' institute, a superintendent's house, 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 was the Free Library and Museum on the town's Boulevard. This new building was designed by local architects Hans Fowler Price and Sydney Wilde. Part of the cost was covered by public donations. A man named Frederick Wood also left money and his valuable library to the town.
In 1975, the museum moved to its current spot on Burlington Street. This building used to be the offices of the Weston Gaslight Company. The collections from the old library building were moved. The museum was then called 'The Woodspring Museum'. New exhibit areas were opened. In 1985, the museum bought a Victorian cottage next door. This cottage was named Clara's Cottage.
From 1996, the North Somerset Council took over. The museum was called "The Time Machine" until 2002. Then, its name changed again to "The North Somerset Museum".
The 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". The museum proudly re-opened on August 26, 2017.
The museum's new look included a special gallery for temporary exhibits. This gallery was named the William Mable Gallery, honoring the museum's founder.
The Museum Building Today
The Weston Museum is located in a building that used to belong to the Weston Gaslight Company. It is a Grade II listed building, which means it's an important historic building. It was designed in 1912 by local architects Hans Fowler Price and William Jane. It was built to hold 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 Weston's beautiful Victorian buildings. The Gaslight Company Workshops building was one of the buildings they helped save. The Weston Borough Council bought it and turned it into the new museum. The museum opened in this new location on June 30, 1975.
Around 2010, there were plans to close the museum on Burlington Street. The idea was to move the exhibits to a smaller area. But local people, including Clara's grand nephew, Brian Austin, fought against this plan. In 2012, the Weston-super-Mare Town Council took over the building. Their plan was to improve the museum for both local people and visitors.
Museum Improvements
Making the Weston Museum better was the biggest project the Weston Town Council had ever done. Many groups helped by giving money. These included 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 the Weston Town Council agreed to run the museum. This group became a charity in July 2015. In December 2016, they received a large donation for the museum's improvement fund.
The Lottery Fund was the biggest helper. They gave £1.1 million in 2015 for the museum's redesign. This was even more than the town council first asked for. Earlier, in 2013, they received £72,000 to study how to improve the museum. Designers and architects were hired to create plans.
Many organizations helped fund the museum's improvements:
| Source | Contribution |
|---|---|
| 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 money. This included ideas for the café and gift shop. The goal was to make the museum a "unique visitor destination" that could support itself. In December 2016, Arts Council England gave another £15,000. This money was for two new art projects. One project created cool art for the courtyard. The other involved local schools and groups making a wood print mural.
The council plans to do more work on the museum. This will include Clara's Cottage and an old 1860s mews cottage front in the museum's back courtyard.
What You Can See: Exhibits
The museum has four main galleries with important items from its collections. These include displays on geology (rocks and earth), archaeology (ancient history), art, and social history (how people lived). There are also two areas for temporary exhibits. These are the William Mable Gallery and the Community Gallery. Since the museum was improved in 2017, the William Mable gallery has shown many different temporary exhibits.
| Exhibition | Description | 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 the ages | 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 learn about modern society in Weston-super-Mare. It was made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Volunteers run this gallery, with help from the museum's Community Liaison Officer. The first exhibit was about the town's Greek community. This group is the largest ethnic minority in Weston. After that, there was an exhibit about the North Somerset BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) Network. Since October 2018, the gallery has shown an exhibit about the Uphill Village Society. Future topics have included links between the West Country and the Spanish Civil War, Pride, and the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Literary Festival
The Weston Town Council wants the museum to be a center for arts and culture. 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) took part.
The festival returned 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
In 1985, the museum bought a Victorian cottage right next door. From 1901 to 1985, members of 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. The dresser in the kitchen is even original to the cottage! The cottage 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'. Rusty is a cartoon dog based on the bones of two real dogs. These dog skeletons were found in Christon when the M5 motorway was being built. 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 the real dog skeletons in the museum's 'Living Landscape' gallery. 'Rusty' got his name from a public competition in January 2016. The winning name was chosen because it was popular and honored Rusty's ancient past. The mascot now gives his name to the Weston branch of the Young Archaeologists' Club, which meets at the museum.
Images for kids
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The museum's main entrance
