Chard Museum is a small local museum in

Chard, Somerset Chard is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an el ...

, England. It opened in 1970, in a converted 16th century

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 ...

, with collections of exhibits about local history and displays related to the lives of notable local residents.

History

The basis of the collection dates from around 1880 when Arthur Hull collected ‘curiosities’. He left these to the town and in 1917 they were transferred to the Museum of Somerset in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, before returning to the new museum in 1970. The museum is housed in a 16th-century

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...

ed building which was originally four cottages. The building was converted and restored for use as a museum in 1970, and later incorporated the building next door which had been the New Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. In 2010 doubts were raised about the ongoing funding of the museum.

Collection

Exhibits within the museum tell the story of the town and the local area including geology, the fire of 1577, the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II of England, James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II of England, Charles II as king of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

and local lace mills. Outside there is a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

and display of farm machinery. There are also displays on notable people with connections to the town. John Stringfellow and another local man William Samuel Henson achieved the first powered flight, in 1848, in a disused lace factory, with a 10-foot (3 m), steam-driven flying machine. James Gillingham pioneered the development of articulated artificial limbs, after working as a shoemaker in the town and seeing a man who had his arm so badly shattered in an accidental explosion of a cannon that it had to be amputated to the shoulder socket. The museum includes a representation of his consulting room, including several examples of his artificial limbs. Corporal Samuel Vickery who was awarded the VC in 1897 for his actions during the attack on the Dargai Heights, Tirah, India during the Tirah Campaign.

Margaret Bondfield Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a priv ...

, who was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and a member of the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

References

External links

{{authority control Biographical museums in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in South Somerset History of Somerset Archaeological museums in England Local museums in Somerset Museums established in 1970 1970 establishments in England Chard, Somerset Thatched buildings in Somerset