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The Trowbridge Museum you see today was opened in July 1990. However,
the town’s historical collection began in November 1932 when
Councillor HH Garlick donated his collection to the townspeople
with a legacy to establish a town museum.
Councillor Garlick’s collection largely consists of pictures
and prints connected to the history of Trowbridge and ranges from
engravings and lithographs to a rare nineteenth century silk flag
dedicated to Queen Caroline.
This relatively small though important collection was housed within
the Town Hall for some forty years. It then moved to the Garlick
Room within the Civic Hall.
The current collection within Trowbridge Museum has expanded quite
considerably from its 1932 origins and now contains around 15,000
objects and some 5,000 photographs. Some of the collection has to
be housed in a special store room where it is carefully monitored.
The museum does offer a reproduction service for its photographic
collection.
Woollen cloth was how the town developed and the museum’s
comprehensive displays chart the his tory
of this industry. They range from an extremely rare eighteenth century
Spinning Jenny (which was used to spin yarn) to a reconstruction
of a weaver’s cottage complete with a handloom. What is unique
to Trowbridge Museum is that its looms still work and the smaller
Hattersley loom is operated on most Saturdays. Items made on the
looms are sold in the museum shop.
Although cloth production helped Trowbridge to transform and develop
many other manufacturers and retailers also contributed to the town’s
growth. Taylors, a draper’s shop used to give customers their
change in the form of shirt buttons. It has now been reconstructed
just as it was in the late 1940s and is on display in its entirety.
There is also material relating to Ushers Brewery. Ushers was founded
in 1824 when Thomas Usher acquired a small brewery in Back Street.
The Brewery Tap as it became known steadily grew and all drinking
was carefully supervised by Thomas’s wife Hannah! Sadly Ushers
brewed its last on the 16th August 2000. However, the Head Brewer
invited museum staff into the brewery to collect objects so that
this fascinating part of Trowbridge’s history could be preserved
for future generations.
Hadens, the international engineering firm was founded in Trowbridge
and many former employees of the firm come to view the museum’s
engineering collection. It was this company who installed the central
heating system in Windsor Castle.
Trowbridge was the birthplace of the world renowned inventor of
shorthand Sir Isaac Pitman. As well as a display about the great
man the museum has produced a book about his life in the town and
a trail of local sites relating to him. The poet George Crabbe,
whose work was much admired by Jane Austen and Lord Byron, was the
Rector of St James Church Trowbridge for some 18 years. His fine
collection of fossils can be seen in the museum.
There is a programme of temporary exhibitions, these have ranged
from ‘Into the Unknown…the world of witches and wizards,
magic and myths’, which was opened by Terry Pratchett, to
‘Bowyers, Beyond Bangers and Pies’, a history of Trowbridge’s
last town centre manufacturer before its closure to the work of
contemporary textile artists as part of the Town’s annual
Textile and Weaving Festival. A variety of family activities are
organized for the school
holidays and a thriving Education Service meets the needs of schools
and specialist groups from as far afield as Berkshire and London.
Check out the fiendish museum mice! If you can find them all you
get a certificate. If you’re short of time give the mini-mouse
hunt a try.
Trowbridge Museum staff and volunteers look forward to welcoming
you soon.
Our opening times are Tuesday to Saturday 10-4.00 and Saturdays
10-4.30. Admission is free.
Website: www.trowbridgemuseum.co.uk and www.trowbridgehistory.co.uk
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