This Town needs a museum!

Taking a step back for a moment;  With its undeniably rich industrial heritage and incredibly engaging human stories (read any local history book), isn’t it incredible to think that we do not have a museum in the town?

This has not always been the case.  As a child, I often used to visit the museum which was opposite the Wine Vaults at the time (where the High Street Dentist now stands).  There were local artifacts as well as a few small displays of broad historical interest (for example war time equipment and ration books), and as it was the first time I saw a fruit bat up close, I cannot overlook its small natural history displays.  Unfortunately, due to lack of affordable accommodation and sustainable funding it had to close.

Shepton Mallet People was recently approached by Gretal Marsh, who has designs on righting this wrong. “There is a growing feeling in Shepton that it's heritage is an opportunity that could be exploited for the economic benefit of the Town.” she told me.  The recent wall to wall BBC television filming has rekindled interest in the history of our High Street” adding that “Sheptonians have enjoyed seeing the shops dressed through the victorian period to the modern day.”  The attention which we have had, and are still yet to receive is unprecedented.

The Right Time?

I know that seeing a museum in the town is something which Gretal has been interested in for some time, but as she rightly points out, with the Wall To Wall filming, and the various other moments of fame the town has experienced recently, is this not an obvious time to start making the right noises?  Our high street will soon be on the television every week for a short period, so will people visit, and if so, is a Museum/Visitor centre something that the people of Shepton Mallet would want to see?

A Local Attraction, Drawing On Regional Resources?

A new heritage centre in Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton, is drawing together its contents from 15 other sites, so to find out anything that is beyond the reach of our library (or google) means a round trip of roughly 70 miles to a place which is poorly served by public transport.  This is not a criticism of the heritage centre, and indeed - at least the journey will be fruitful, as opposed to, say, in days gone by where you could take a trip to the county library, only to find that what you are after is at the public record office, etc.    The reality, however, is that information is not easily available to the casual researcher or tourist.  With technology, a little imagination and the pooling of some local resources, a museum in Shepton Mallet could easily become one of the essential places to visit in Somerset.

Can We Make It Happen?

If you have any thoughts about a new museum or how we could use our history, we would appreciate your views.

Are you willing to help set up a museum again?  

As we past examples show, the people of Shepton Mallet can achieve anything if we put our minds to it, so lets start the discussion and lets make things happen.