Axminster Museum was the town museum situated in the Old Police Station and Courthouse opposite St. Mary's Church in the centre of the town of

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe, Devon, River Axe which ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It was founded in 1982. The Old Court House was built in the 1860s on the site of the old

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

. The two-storey stone building has five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

with three asymmetrical

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s. The current main doorway was a carriage entrance. The building is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The collections included exhibits related to the town's carpet industry founded by

Thomas Whitty Thomas Whitty (1713–1792) was an English carpet manufacturer who founded Axminster Carpets in 1755. Whitty was impressed by a large Turkish carpet he saw at Cheapside Market in London, and upon his return to Axminster he used his skills as a wea ...

in 1755. There are also agricultural tools, archaeological finds, Coins and Medals, Costumes and Textiles, old photographs, archives and occasional special exhibitions. It is also possible to see the old police cells and courtroom. In 2015 Axminster Heritage Ltd took over the management and care of the Axminster Museum Collection and moved it into their nearby Heritage Centre development. In 2015 a grant of £69,700 was obtained from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

for the development of a museum in the nearby Thomas Whitty House, as part of a heritage centre. The heritage centre opened in 2016 and many of the exhibits from the museum were moved into the new centre, based in the old carpet factory. Further Heritage Lottery Fund saw a complete redevelopment of the museum area within the Heritage Centre which reopened in April 2019. The new displays included the installation of an original 1937 Crabtree Gripper Loom which had been used at the Axminster Carpet factory opened in 1937 by Harry Dutfield. The building also houses the town's

tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...

References

External links

Axminster Heritage
{{Authority control Local museums in Devon Museums established in 1982 1982 establishments in England Axminster