| Wootton Bassett Museum | |
|---|---|
 The old Town Hall, now the Wootton Bassett Museum | |
| Location | Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England |
| Coordinates | 51°32′30″N1°54′18″W / 51.5417°N 1.9049°W |
| Built | 1690 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 17 January 1955 |
| Reference no. | 1363658 |
  Shown in Wiltshire | |
Wootton Bassett Museum is a local museum in the market town of Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England. It is housed in the town hall which is a Grade II listed building. [1]
The town hall was a gift to the town from Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, who had served as Member of Parliament for Wootton Basset, and was built in 1690. [2] The design involved an open ground floor and an upper storey supported on 15 tapered oolite columns. [3] The ground floor was the venue for local butter and cheese markets [4] and the upper storey served as both a council chamber and a courthouse. [1] Facilities on the ground floor included a "blind house" under the staircase where drunkards were held until they were completely sober [5] and a storage facility for the hand-worked fire engine. [4]
Wootton Bassett had a very small electorate and two dominant patrons, John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon of The Grove, Watford and Henry St John, 4th Viscount Bolingbroke of Lydiard Park, which meant it was recognised by the UK Parliament as a rotten borough. [6] Its right to elect members of parliament was removed by the Reform Act 1832, [7] and the borough council, which had met in the courtroom, was abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883. [8]
By the late 19th century, the building was in an extremely dilapidated state and under threat of demolition, before being extensively restored by Thomas Lansdown, [9] on behalf of the socialite, Lady Meux and her husband, in 1889. [1] [a] The restoration included the removal of both the "blind house" under the stairs and the storage facility for the hand-worked fire engine, thereby creating a completely open space on the ground floor. [4]
The town hall was used as a meeting place by Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Rural District Council until 1972, when it fell vacant after the council converted the old primary school building in Station Road into a Civic Centre. [12] Following an initiative by Dr Alan Stebbens, the then Chairman of Wootton Bassett Historical Society, [13] the Wootton Bassett Museum was established in the empty town hall later that year. [14]
The museum subsequently built up a photographic collection covering life in Wootton Bassett during the 19th and 20th centuries [15] as well as a ducking stool dating from 1686, [16] geological items, stocks, and a whipping post. [14] It also created a scale model of Wootton Bassett railway station as it would have looked before closure in 1965. [17]
North Wiltshire was a local government district in Wiltshire, England, between 1974 and 2009, when it was superseded by the unitary area of Wiltshire.
Royal Wootton Bassett, formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies 6 miles (10 km) to the west of the town of Swindon and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Calne.
North Wiltshire was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented since its 1983 recreation by the Conservative Party. In the period 1832–1983, North Wiltshire was an alternative name for Chippenham or the Northern Division of Wiltshire and as Chippenham dates to the original countrywide Parliament, the Model Parliament, this period is covered in more detail in that article.
Chippenham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Sarah Gibson, a Liberal Democrat. The 2024 constituency includes the Wiltshire towns of Calne, Chippenham, Corsham and Royal Wootton Bassett.
Clyffe Pypard is a village and civil parish about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south of Royal Wootton Bassett in North Wiltshire, England.
Hilmarton is a village and civil parish in North Wiltshire, in the west of England. The village lies on the A3102 between the towns of Calne and Wootton Bassett, and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Lyneham. The parish includes the village of Goatacre and the hamlets of Catcomb, Clevancy, Highway and New Zealand.
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Royal Wootton Bassett Academy (RWBA) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in the town of Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England, for students aged 11 to 18. With over 1,700 pupils, it is one of the largest in Wiltshire.
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The Old Town Hall was a former municipal facility at the corner of King Street and Rodney Street in Wigan, England. The building, which was demolished in September 2013, had been designated a Grade II listed building in 1990.
Kingsbury Green Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Calne, Wiltshire, England for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school's present site to the south of the town was the last home of the former Bentley Grammar School, from 1957 to 1974, and the present school was called The John Bentley School when it was created as a new comprehensive in 1974. The school's name was changed to Kingsbury Green Academy in 2019, after it joined the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust.
Cowbridge Town Hall is a public building in the High Street of Cowbridge in South Wales. The town hall, which is the meeting place for Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council, and also houses the town clerk's office, the committee rooms and the Cowbridge Museum, is a Grade II* listed building.
Sir Henry Bruce Meux, 3rd Baronet was an English baronet, the son of Sir Henry Meux, 2nd Baronet (1817–1883), a brewer and politician.
The Town Hall, Christchurch is a municipal building in Christchurch, Dorset, England. The building, which incorporates a room known as the mayor's parlour on the first floor, and is a Grade II listed building. It is currently the base of Christchurch Town Council.
Henley Town Hall is a municipal structure in the Market Place in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Henley Town Council, is a Grade II* listed building.
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Westbury, Wiltshire, England. The structure, which was used as the local market hall and as a courtroom, is a Grade II* listed building.
Malmesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in Cross Hayes in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Malmesbury Town Council and the home of the Athelstan Museum, is a Grade II listed building.
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Wilton, Wiltshire, England. The structure, which is currently used as a Baptist church, is a Grade II listed building.