Leominster Museum

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
Interior of the museum, from the first-floor balcony

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.

References
  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. 2014-05-14. 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.

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