Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre

Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre maintains an extensive collection of archive material, photographs and artefacts which tell the story of life in Bovey Tracey from medieval origins of the town through to the present day.  With changing exhibitions and displays about the town’s contributions to world wars, the pottery industry, the granite tramway, local mining, agriculture and railways, there is something to interest everyone.  The remains of an internationally significant pottery kiln and a restored GWR brake van can also be found on site.

Children are especially welcome and will find their own activity area to help them enjoy the museum.

Grampound with Creed Heritage Centre

A small village with a BIG history. The purpose of the Grampound with Creed Heritage Project and Centre is to tell the story of the countless individuals who have made their mark on this place since ancient times and to ensure that this knowledge is recorded and passed on to future generations.

A Heritage Centre comprising a short film about the locality, a collection of digital photographs, audio recordings, storyboards and in-depth research material is housed in the historic Town Hall to which visitors are welcome. The Heritage Project was initiated by the Grampound with Creed Parish Council, which continues to support the group of local enthusiasts who now carry the initiative forward.

Whitchurch Silk Mill

In 1990, the Mill became a charity called the Whitchurch Silk Mill Trust, which has a trading arm, meaning it can continue to produce high quality silks, while also providing a fascinating venue for visitors from far and wide.

THE AIMS OF THE WHITCHURCH SILK MILL TRUST ARE:

• to retain the skills of weaving on the machinery;
• to care for the building and its contents;
• to inspire the public about textiles.

Museum of the Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Museum was officially opened on 29 May 2014 and is currently co-located with The Royal Scots Museum in historic Edinburgh Castle. This means that the story of the oldest regiment in the British Army, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), sits alongside the story of the youngest Scottish regiment, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, under one roof. The Museum exists to preserve, and make accessible, the story of The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Our display tells the story of The Royal Regiment of Scotland since its formation in 2006 and focuses on two main themes; an operational theme which uses the strapline ‘Courage under Fire’ to inform the public about the Regiment’s operational service in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and in support of the United Nations in Cyprus and a second theme that concentrates on ‘A Soldier’s Life’. The latter looks at training, sports, ceremonial duties and the other activities that offer a soldier opportunities to build team and leadership skills and develop fitness. The display is designed to showcase modern Scottish infantry soldiers who are the proud successors to Scotland’s world famous infantry regiments.

Cowbridge & District Museum

The Museum was formed in the early 1980’s by a group of very enthusiastic people who felt there should be some record made of ‘Cowbridge past’ and having it based in Cowbridge.

The Museum is housed in the cells of the Cowbridge Town Hall, right in the centre of the town. The Town Hall itself is a modern building having been built in 1829. It was built over a much older building which had over the years been called a prison, bridewell, house of correction and even for a short period the County Gaol. It was first licensed as a prison in 1576, but there is some evidence that it was being used as a prison as early as 1525.

All the museum exhibits are housed in six cells set in two corridors in the centre of the ground floor of the Town Hall.

Swannington Heritage Trust Museum

Swannington Heritage Trust exists to preserve and enhance our legacy of the past for the benefit and enjoyment of people in the present. We maintain former mining and railway sites a mill and 10 acres of woodland. We make our sites and historical information available to everyone and we are keen to work with village people and organisations for the benefit of all. In February 2012 we completely revamped this website, hopefully we have kept the best of the old while adding new facilities. Apart from more information on how to contact, join and volunteer with the Trust, there are walks to enjoy and information on village

Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre

73 years ago on the night of 26/27 April 1944, 106 Sqn suffered one of their greatest losses of WWII in a single night.

Five aircraft from 106 Squadron were lost. They had taken off from RAF Metheringham as part of a larger task force consisting of an additional 201 Avro Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes from 5 Group and an additional 9 Lancasters of 1 Group. Their mission: to bomb a ball bearing plant.

The aircraft lost were: JB601, ME669, JB562, ND850, ND853. Out of 36 crew members (one a/c was carrying a second pilot) 22 were killed, 10 were taken POWs and 4 Evaded.

Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum

The Society receives a large amount of donated items and over the years has amassed a great collection dedictaed to the mining industry and the social history surrounding the community of Bilsthorpe. The Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum was officially opened in July 2014 marking a new beginning for the society and village.

Tudor House And Garden

History of Tudor House

Tudor House and Garden has a fascinating history and provides us with rich insight into the lives of people in Southampton over the last 800 years. This is perhaps best demonstrated by its respective owners, the lives of whom are all well documented, but described in brief on this page.

John Wytegod
Owner of Tudor House from 1348-1369

John Wytegod was a wealthy merchant and Mayor. He owned the part of the property known as King John’s Palace as well as other properties nearby. Blue Anchor Lane, which runs alongside Tudor House, was originally called Wytegod’s Lane.

In 1338 Southampton had been attacked by French and Genoese raiders who wreaked death and destruction in the town. 20 years later, it was struck by the Black Death, causing further widespread death and misery. When calm returned, merchants began to arrive from foreign lands bringing wine to sell and buying goods to take back, especially wool. The river ran very close to King John’s Palace and ships and boats could moor here for loading and unloading.

King John’s Palace originally featured fine, large windows looking out over the river. However, when the town wall was built in 1360 to protect Southampton after the raids, these were bricked up for security and some converted to arrow slits.

Walter and Jane William
Owners of Tudor House in the late 15th Century

Walter William, a merchant also known as Watkyn William, inherited Tudor House from his father. Like many other Southampton traders he sent wool and cloth by ship to many countries and imported salt, wine, leather, oil, fish and many other luxury goods including woad – used for dyeing clothes.

Becoming Sheriff, and in 1483 Mayor of Southampton, William was involved in a plot against King Richard III, to the extent where some said that he may have been responsible for killing the two young princes in the Tower of London. He was labeled a traitor and to avoid persecution and punishment fled to Beaulieu Abbey where he sought sanctuary. He died shortly afterwards.

The Battle of Bosworth Field in I485 saw Richard defeated by Henry Tudor and killed in battle. The new King – Henry VII – pardoned William’s fellow traitors from Southampton and rewarded them with important positions in the town. William’s wife Jane became the wealthy owner of Tudor House, later marrying Sir John Dawtrey. It was through this union that the house came into the Dawtrey family.

Sir John Dawtrey
Owner of Tudor House from 1491 – 1518

Coming from a wealthy family in Petworth, Sussex, Sir John Dawtrey moved to Southampton to become the Overseer of the Port of Southampton and Collector of the King’s Customs (any cart entering or leaving the town through the Bargate paid a toll according to the goods being carried). Dawtrey was also a major landowner and merchant, an MP and Sheriff. He was also responsible for maintaining the town’s great defensive wall and ditch in good repair.

Dawtrey married Jane William, who already owned three houses on the corner of St. Michael’s Square. Deciding that he needed a house more appropriate for a man of his status, he had them joined together into one much larger, more fashionable house, very much like the one you can see today. Jane subsequently died and Dawtrey married Isabel Shirley in 1509, giving birth to their son Francis the following year.

Dawtrey received large sums of money from Henry VIII to provide food for the navy, at sea in defence of attack by France. Money was also provided for the building and fitting out and provisioning of ships – including The Peter Pomegranate and The Mary Rose. Dawtrey died in 1518.

Lady Isabel Lyster

In 1528 Dawtrey’s widow Isabel married Sir Richard Lyster, one of the richest men in Southampton. Lady Isabel traded in millstones for the many windmills and watermills in England. Both importing and exporting, she rented land at West Quay for storage.

Lord and Lady Lyster – as they became – were very wealthy and often entertained regally at Tudor House. Lady Lyster organised the household, having eight servants, who fetched water, cleaned the house, made beds, and washed the clothes. Large houses often also had a bake house, a dairy, and a kitchen often in a separate building to avoid the risk of fire.

Young women who worked in service were expected to live within the household, working very long hours. They were provided with food and clothing and when they left to get married they were often given some money to help set up their own home.

Most families in Tudor Southampton used their gardens for growing vegetables and possibly for keeping bees, pigs and chickens. Richer families like the Lysters would have had a decorative garden, also growing herbs for use in cooking and cleaning. Lady Lyster may have prepared medicines and made perfumes and cosmetics from the flowers and herbs she grew.

Sir Richard Lyster
Owner of Tudor House in the 16th Century

Sir Richard Lyster was born in Wakefield, in Yorkshire 1480. He trained as a lawyer in London and after 16 years became Lord Chief Justice of England, acquiring considerable wealth, and land across the country. In fact for many years, Blue Anchor Lane, the lane leading past Tudor House, was known as ‘My Lord Chief Justice Lane’, later shortened to ‘Lord’s Lane’.

Following the death of Lady Isabel, Lyster married Elizabeth Stoke. They had a son, Michael and daughter, Elizabeth. Lyster divided his time between London and Southampton, where he retired in 1552.

Lyster took part in many important events during the reign of Henry VIII including the trials of Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More and the procession of Anne Boleyn through London prior to her 1533 Coronation, in which he actually rode.

Lyster died in 1554 and Lady Elizabeth erected a monument to him in St Michael’s Church, opposite Tudor House.

Weald and Downland Open Air Museum

The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum was launched in 1967 by a small group of enthusiasts led by the Museum’s founder, the late Dr. J.R. Armstrong MBE. It first opened to the public on 5 September 1970.

The principal aim of the founding group was to establish a centre that could rescue representative examples of vernacular buildings from the South East of England, and thereby to generate an increased public awareness and interest in the built environment. Read our founder’s article, Ancient Monument Society – Series 20 1973 – The Open Air Museum Idea and Reality – J R Armstrong, reproduced with the kind permission of the Ancient Monuments Society.

The Museum’s foundation coincided with a growing national interest in historic buildings and this general public interest has resulted in strong support for the Museum from its inception.

The Museum promotes the retention of buildings on their original sites unless there is no alternative, and we encourage an informed and sympathetic approach to their preservation and continuing use. Only a small number of representative buildings can be brought to the Museum for inclusion in the collection.

The Museum offers advice to people involved in the conservation of buildings. Where we cannot give advice ourselves, we will attempt to provide suitable contacts with other experts.

As well as illustrating the history of original building styles and types, the Museum has good collections representing country crafts and industries, building trades and agriculture. Objects from these collections can be seen displayed in buildings on the site, and in the open access store in the basement of the Downland Gridshell.