Wellington Local History & Museum Society

LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY – The Society, a registered charity, seeks to promote Wellington via its history to the town’s residents and visitors. To this end it organises a series of talks and walks throughout the year. TheSociety also runs Wellington Museum. You can learn more about, and contribute

St., has displays illustrating Wellington’s history – themes include the town’s industry, trade, social life and famous people . The model of the Wellesley cinema always attracts attention as does the 17th century money chest that was once used by Fox Brothers, woollen manufacturers. There is a reference library of more than 100 local history books and documents, a cabinet of documents and pictures on local topics and an oral history cd collection in which workers tell of life in local industries. LOCA Entry to the museum is FREE Visitors to the museum will also find a range of Wellington L HISTORY & MUSEUMSOCIETY souvenirs, leaflets and books on local topics for sale.

A brief history of Wellington

Despite being mentioned in theDomesday Book, andin some earlierdocuments, Wellington is essentially a modern town. There are few buildings older than thelate 18th century. St. John’s parish church is the oldest building in town, parts datingfromaround 1200.

The first prominent inhabitantwas SirJohn Popham who built a large mansion on what is now the footballpitch sometimearound 1592. SirJohn rose to beLord ChiefJusticeofEngland and took part in the trials of Guy Fawkes and Mary Queen of Scots. His house was destroyedin 1645during a Civil War incident.

Woollen manufacture became an established industry in the late 19th century, over 200 years ago. It startedwith the Weres and was later developed by the Fox family and by theirrivals the Elworthys. Nowadaysthereis still a remnant of the industry with a much reduced Fox’s producing a high quality clothing fabric from their millinMilverton Road.

Wellington was brought to the attention of the widerworld when, in 1809, Arthur Wellesley took thetitle Viscount Wellington. He was made Duke in 1814 andachieved his famous victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Work on Wellington’s mostprominent building, the Monument, began in 1817 to commemorate the Duke of Wellington following the Battle of Waterloo but it tookover 35 years to build and didn’t reach its current height until 1892. The 1830s werea busy time for the town. In 1833 the Baptist Chapel in South Street and the Town Hall in the town centre were built. In the same yearthegas works opened in MantleStreet. Four years later Wellington Academy, the forerunner of Wellington School was founded, and brick-making began at Poole, now the recycling centre. In 1838 the Grand WesternCanalreached Wellington,butwithin 5 years Wellington became partof the railway network when the Bristol & Exeter opened theirstation. By the first decadeof the 20th century the town was reaching its current recognisableshape. Price’s (Relyon) and Gregory’s (Swallowfield) were well established and the Park opened in 1903.

The principal leisure facilities appearedlater in the century; Wellesley Cinema in 1937, Coram’s Lane Sports Centre in1973, the Museum in 1983 and finally the Princess RoyalSports Centre, in the current century, in 2002.

Wellington Town Guide 2019 - 2020 Local History Society & Museum 28 Fore Street, Wellington TA21 8AQ Tel: 07971 242904 info@wellingtonmuseum.org.uk www.wellingtonmuseum.org.uk Wellington Museum & Local History Society 28 Fore Street, Wellington TA21 8AQ Tel: 07971 242904 info@wellingtonmuseum.org.uk www.wellingtonmuseum.org.uk

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MUSEUM OPENING TIMES: FREEADMISSION

Easter to end of September: Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm; Saturday 10am to 1pm, October: Monday to Friday 11am to 3pm; Saturday 10am to 1pm November to mid-December: Saturday 10am to 1pm ClosedBank Holidays

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT EITHER:

Chairman: Paddy Gray 12 Baynes Close Wellington TA21 9HA tel: 01823 661341 Curator: Colin Spackman, 8 Clifford Terrace, Wellington TA21 8PQ Tel: 01823 666702 Reg. Charity No. 801321 @wellingtonlhsoc

Wellington has had a volunteer-run museum since the early 1980s. Over the years the collection has grown considerably, mainly through donations, so that now it can focus particularly on the history of Wellington and the town’s area of influence. An ongoing project to catalogue the collection and to make it more accessible for casual and academic researchers means that there is now much more to the items on displays. Each year changes are made to the displays using pictures and artefacts from our reserve collection – items that are not usually seen by the public.

LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY – The Society, a registered charity, seeks to promote Wellington via its history to the town’s residents and visitors. To this end it organises a series of talks and walks throughout the year. TheSociety also runs Wellington Museum. You can learn more about, and contribute tothepreservation and presentation of Wellington’sinteresting past and ever-changing present by joining the Society.

THE MUSEUM – The Museum at “The Squirrel” in Fore St., has displays illustrating Wellington’s history – themes include the town’s industry, trade, social life and famous people . The model of the Wellesley cinema always attracts attention as does the 17th century money chest that was once used by Fox Brothers, woollen manufacturers. There is a reference library of more than 100 local history books and documents, a cabinet of documents and pictures on local topics and an oral history cd collection in which workers tell of life in local industries.

Entry to the museum is FREE

Visitors to the museum will also find a range of Wellington souvenirs, leaflets and books on local topics for sale.