Ilchester Museum

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Ilchester Museum
Ilchester houses (geograph 7512211).jpg
Entrance to the Ilchester Museum in the High Street (Note the hanging "Ilchester Museum" sign above the front door)
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown within Somerset
Location Ilchester, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°00′05″N2°40′59″W / 51.0015°N 2.6831°W / 51.0015; -2.6831
Type Local museum
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall House
Designated19 April 1961
Reference no. 1267580

Ilchester Museum is a small local museum in Ilchester, Somerset, England. The museum is based in a former private house, known as the Town Hall House. [1] Standing behind Ilchester Town Hall, the Town Hall House is a Grade II listed building. [2]

Contents

History

The building

The building was built as a private house in rubble masonry and was probably completed in the 18th century. Standing behind Ilchester Town Hall, it may have been modified when the town hall was completed in 1816. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of two bays facing onto the High Street. On the ground floor there was a central doorway flanked by two bay windows, all surmounted by a lean-to slate roof. The upper two floors were fenestrated by sash windows and at roof level, there was a parapet. [2]

The collection

The museum was established in 1989, [3] and is dedicated to the memory of the local author, James Stevens-Cox, who wrote the book, A History of Ilchester, the Ancient County Town of Somerset, published in 1947. [4] It is managed by the Ilchester Town Trust. [5] The museum includes exhibits showing the history of the town from the Iron Age and Roman periods, when it was known as Lindinis, to the present day. [6] [7]

These exhibits include a complete female skeleton from the end of the Roman period. [8] There is also the town's 13th-century mace or staff of office, bearing the insignia of Richard I as well as three kings and an angel: it is the oldest staff of office in England. [9] The collection also includes a full set of Maundy Money which Queen Elizabeth II presented to a local parishioner in Wells Cathedral in 1993 and which was acquired by the museum in 1995. [10] A short programme about the gaols of Ilchester, made with the assistance of museum staff, featured on the BBC Radio Somerset programme, Treasure Trove, in 2017. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "About The Museum". Ilchester Parish Council. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Town Hall House (1267580)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Directory of Museums, Galleries and Buildings of Historic Interest in the UK 2003. Taylor and Francis. ISBN   978-1135475451.
  4. ↑ Stevens-Cox, James (1947). A History of Ilchester, the Ancient County Town of Somerset.
  5. ↑ "Ilchester Town Trust". Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Ilchester Museum". Ilchester Parish Council. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "39 free things to do in Bath and Somerset". Somerset Live. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Allen, Denise; Bryan, Mike (2020). Roman Britain and Where to Find It. Amberley Publishing. ISBN   978-1445690155.
  9. ↑ Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books. p. 73. ISBN   978-0906456996.
  10. ↑ "Ilchester Museum". Culture 24. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Treasure Trove: The gaols of Ilchester". BBC Radio Somerset. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
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