Westbury Heritage Society celebrate 25th anniversary

WESTBURY Heritage Society hosted a special open day  to celebrate 25 years of sharing the history of the town with the community.

Member of the heritage society, Sally Hendry said, “Tea, cakes and a taste of Westbury history proved a winner when the town’s heritage society celebrated its 25th anniversary.

“More than 100 visitors to the centre in the High Street got the chance to view a whole range of artefacts, some of which are not usually on display. Among the wide range of local history artefacts were an elaborate engraved silver cup given to Abraham Laverton by the ‘middle and working classes’ of the town in gratitude for him paying for the construction of the Laverton Institute, the hooter that used to call workers to the mills in Westbury, bales of cloth woven in Angel Mill, and a glove-making machine.

“Visitors also got the chance to tuck into homemade cake while browsing exhibitions on Westbury schools, the town workhouse and the white horses of Wiltshire, as well as a wide range of historic photographs of their town.

“The anniversary celebrations continued on Tuesday 10th October when David Dawson, director of the Wiltshire Museum, gave a talk on the white horses of the county.”