Leominster Museum

Leominster Museum
Map
Former name
Leominster Folk Museum
Established1972 (1972)
LocationLeominster, Herefordshire, England
Coordinates52°13′33″N 2°44′15″W / 52.2259203°N 2.7375494°W / 52.2259203; -2.7375494
Websiteleominstermuseum.org.uk
Interior of the museum, seen from the first-floor balcony

Leominster Museum, formerly known as Leominster Folk Museum, is an independent, volunteer-run,[1] museum in Leominster, Herefordshire, England.[2][3]

Harlech Castle, by John Scarlett Davis, at the Museum

The museum, which opened in 1972, owns and displays a collection of artefacts relating to the local area, including banknotes and cheques from the Leominster & Herefordshire Bank, early local postage marks, material from the Leominster and Kington Railway, the Bronze Age Aymestrey burial, and a complete cider mill.[4] It also has a number of works by the Leominster-born artist John Scarlett Davis, including an 1828 self-portrait,[5] and a book of 173 sketches, purchased for £11,000 at auction at Christie's in March 1979.[6]

In 2014 the museum obtained an £8,900 Heritage Lottery Fund grant.[7] for a project called "Rifles and Spades", which commemorated the local effects of World War I. The project,[8] which finished in April 2015, comprised three Open Days at the museum, three public talks, a commemorative event at Leominster Priory attended by 240 people, an exhibition called 'Our Story' which was in Leominster Library for two months before touring various village and school locations,[9] and finally a linked set of education packs that are available to schools.[10]

In addition to its permanent displays the museum aims to stage a different temporary exhibition each season. In 2015 there were in fact two: one on the History of Morris Dancing and Mumming in Leominster, entitled 'Here be Dragons!',[11] and 'An Unlikely Champion - A History of Bill Bengry and Bengry Motors'.[12]

The museum building, on Etnam Street, was originally built in 1855 as a mission hall for workers constructing the local railways.

  1. ^ "Volunteering". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Home Page". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Visiting Times". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Leominster Folk Museum - Leominster Museum of local life". Leominster.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Self Portrait in Oil". Art UK. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  6. ^ Hobbs, Tony (2004). John Scarlett Davis: A Biography. Almeley, Herefordshire: Logaston Press. ISBN 1904396151.
  7. ^ "Leominster Museum's Rifles and Spades project wins Heritage Lottery Fund support". Hereford Times. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Rifles and Spades". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Our Story Exhibition". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Free Education Packs and other services for schools". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Here Be Dragons!". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  12. ^ "An Unlikely Champion". Leominster Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2015.