WESTBURY Heritage Society, which runs the Westbury Museum, held its annual general meeting last month where members gave an overview of the different exhibitions the museum has seen over the past year.
Sally Hendry, chair of the Heritage Society, said, “This is the third year the museum has been open in the town library, and the last 12 months have seen it stage a winning combination of exhibitions, films, talks, walks, visits and more.
“Since we opened, we have staged a variety of changing exhibitions to ensure the museum remains fresh and interesting for visitors new and old. This year has been no exception with almost 1,900 visitors.
“Our most popular exhibition in 2023 featured our huge range of historic photographs, enabling visitors to take a look at Westbury’s past. It proved fascinating for many people who remembered bygone shops, buildings and industries. We welcomed many visitors and were delighted to hear their own memories of our town.
“We also staged exhibitions to celebrate the King’s Coronation, renewed and refreshed our displays on the industries of Westbury, and marked Christmas with a tree and traditional decorations from gilded walnuts to paper chains. Our annual marking of Remembrance was a little different this year. As well as featuring an exhibition, we placed our poppy wreath on the town’s original WW1 memorial in the churchyard.
“During the year we welcomed visits from local schools, enabling pupils to learn about Westbury history and get a chance to handle artefacts like bobbins and shuttles once used in our town mills. Town benefactor Abraham Laverton also took the spotlight this year when local artist Leslie Longworth very kindly allowed us to have the brilliant portrait she painted.
Talks, walks and the silver screen
“The White Horse proved popular in 2023, not least because it acquired a new coat! In the museum we created a new display tracing the history of chalk downland figures and the legends around our own White Horse. This coincided with our screening of a brilliant film, Drawn To War. This traced the life of artist Eric Ravilious who painted the iconic picture of our White Horse.
“Our team have been sharing their knowledge of Westbury history with a variety of talks on local history for both the Westbury Heritage Society and neighbouring history groups. Subjects have ranged from schooldays to gloving, bygone pubs, and life in the workhouse.
Fundraising
“Fundraising is an intrinsic part of the museum, enabling us to stage more exhibitions, fund events and purchase occasional artefacts. This year, In conjunction with the town council, we produced a range of Westbury mugs and coasters using the image from the town’s neighbourhood plan. We expanded our range of items for sale to include felted white horses, lavender bags, tote bags and local history books including a history of the Pinniger family – Westbury’s oldest business, written by historian Eileen Dew.
“Westbury Town Council has continued to pay our rent and we are very grateful. We also received a grant from the Westbury Area Board to help fund a new laptop and printer. Thank You!
Volunteers
“Absolutely none of our work would be possible without our team of volunteers – they are truly brilliant. Over the year, they have not only manned the museum but also helped with research, put up displays, created gorgeous, felted tree decorations, entertained schoolchildren – and even braved a freezing winter day to host our stand at the town fair!
“We are always keen to hear from anyone who would like to join our team – volunteers are essential to the future of our museum and if you can give just a couple of hours each week it would be welcomed. Contact us for information or a chat to find out more.
Future plans
“So where do we go from here? We have a forward plan showing how we want to develop and expand in the future and will be working towards Museum Accreditation status. Our plans for 2024 include an April exhibition on ‘Hospitals, Healthcare and Home Remedies’. This will be followed by our main exhibition of the year – Westbury 150 Years Ago. This promises to be fascinating and will look at everything from crime and punishment to food, occupations, wages, leisure and much more. We are also planning a number of events as part of the Westbury Festival in July 2024.
“While we love our current premises on the first floor of this historic building, it has raised some concerns, mostly about people being unable to manage the stairs. We do appreciate this may be an issue and are keen to work with you such as bringing some exhibits downstairs, linking to an online display or arranging visits to organisations and venues. Please let us know how we can help as we want to be here for everyone.”
