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Until
the 1930s Southwold had no museum. The only display
of local artefacts was in a little room above the
porch in St Edmund's Church which was becoming increasingly
congested.
The turning point came
in 1932 when a Mrs Goddard, the owner of a pair of
adjacent Dutch-style cottages in Victoria Street,
offered them to the town. The condition attached to
this very generous gift was that they should be converted
into a museum. |
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The two
cottages in the 1930s before restoration. Left,
view from the rear and, right, from the street.
Click either picture to enlarge and see more views. |
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Thus it was that
a group of local enthusiasts, historians and
town dignatories came together specifically
to create a museum for Southwold. They founded
the Southwold Archaeological and Natural History
Society with the object of realising that dream.
The cottages
had been built in the second half of the seventeenth
century. Photographs of them in the late nineteenth
century show families living in some degree
of poverty. |
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Left:
the two cottages as they looked in the
late 19th century. The street on their
right flank then formed a link between
Victoria Street and the High Street. P1306.
Right: A view from the Church tower in
1890. The cottages are bottom left. P559
Click the pictures to enlarge.
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By
1931, just before the building was donated
to the town, its condition had deteriorated
to the point where it had been condemned
as unfit for human habitation. At that
time it still had a toilet at the bottom
of the back yard, where the museum's art
displays, office and library now stand.
The
Society's first task was to set up a trust
to raise funds for renovation and then
to see that through to completion. To
make it possible to use it as a museum
it had to be substantially rebuilt. This
entailed, among other things, gutting
the interior, removing the first-floor
structures, putting in a concrete ground
floor and underpinning the front wall.
Most of the original
roof timbers were retained and five oak
tie beams were fixed across the interior
to strengthen the whole structure. The
end result was a single-storey, light,
airy room.
The
museum was opened by the Mayor just a
year after it had been acquired on June
8th 1933 under the curatorship of D W
Collings. |
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Left:
Official opening of the museum by the Mayor,
Mr E. Pipe, on June 1 1933. The ceremony
took place at Saint Felix School. On the
left are Mr and Mrs Goddard who donated
the building. [P410]. Right: The official
reopening in May 2008. Click one of the
pictures for a closer look. |
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The
main and original part of the museum is
a Grade II listed building.
An extension was added
in 1959 and dedicated to the memory of
Dr. Collings. A further small extension
was built in 1962 to house the Southwold
Railway exhibits. In 1967, the Society
purchased a two-storey carpenter's workshop,
which had been built in the 1950s at the
bottom of the back yard. This was needed
to provide basic storage space for objects
which there was no room to display permanently
and to house the museum's growing archive
of books, photographs and postcards. It
also made possible the construction of
a compact museum office.
In 1999 the
museum underwent a programme of essential
refurbishment and was equipped with a
new lighting system and carpeting. However
this was only a very partial response
to what was becoming an increasingly pressing
need - to bring the museum up to today's
conservation and equal-access standards
and to present the story of Southwold
in a more coherent, accessible and attractive
way.
Southwold Museum reopened
in 2008 after a £375,000 rebuild
and redesign supported by the Heritage
Lottery Fund with local match funding.
In 2009 the museum was highly
commended in the Museums and Heritage
Awards for Excellence. The judges
commented that this was a "small
museum that just gets it absolutely right".
Also in 2009, the museum
was the beneficiary of a generous grant
by the trustees of the Barrett
Jenkins Charitable Trust as a result
of which a new display area is being created
to exhibit recent acquisitions including
an important collection of local fossils.
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Read the
full letter by clicking on the cutting above. |
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OUR
FAMOUS SPELLING ERROR! |
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This
was the previous name for the Southwold
Museum & Historical Society. Our plaque
was lovingly and painstakingly carved
in oak by a talented local woodcarver.
The night he finished, he blew the dust
away and straightened up to admire his
handiwork. Then the awful truth dawned...
Few people ever notice the slip. Those
in the know cherish it and wouldn't have
it carved any other way!
Click the picture to enlarge |
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BEGINS |
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Initial structural
work on the front and flank walls in 1931. Click
either picture for a closer look. |
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