Paul Willis, Museum Manager outlines the plans to modernise Wareham’s Museum as a cultural heritage facility for all the community
Wareham Town Museum has been a feature of Wareham life for half-century with a loyal core of passionate volunteers and visitors. As the Museum develops and grows, we plan to embark on a refurbishment of the museum, with an entirely new permanent display, a temporary exhibition gallery, a community space, an education room / lecture room, and an open archive/ store area.
We will take inspiration from the superb collections we have, the stories of local people, and arrange loans for national and regional museums and art galleries, to tell the important stories of Wareham. These stories will not be determined by us. This whole project will be undertaken by working closely as a team with the local community and businesses.
We are only in the initial phase of the redevelopment programme. There is plenty of work ahead with working with the local groups, various funding organisations and partner institutions. While the project will take several years to complete, it is important we start looking forward and begin the discussions about the direction of the Museum with our enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteer team and local communities and businesses to redevelop this rich, local asset
We know this might come as a surprise to some of you and we appreciate it might seem like short notice, but we thought it best to let you know what we’re planning for future. Rest assured we have been busy for years behind the scenes planning and consulting and can’t wait to share more details and visuals with you as soon as plans develop and take shape.
Open until 2nd November!
Celebrating 50th Years of Local History
Wareham Football Club circa 1895
The image above is one of the earliest photos of Wareham’s Football Club – especially given that it was taken in 1895! Wareham’s Football Club was opened in the 1880’s – around the same time as the launch of football clubs in Lyme Regis, Dorchester and Shaftesbury.
Football was a very popular game in Dorset. In fact, the ancient custom of ‘kicking the ball’ by the Quarrymen of Purbeck, as part of Shrove Tuesday activities goes back hundreds of years. Football back in the 19th century was a far more rough and ruthless game that it is today!
Read more about Wareham’s History at www.visitwareham.com
History talks to celebrate 50th Anniversary
To mark the museum’s 50th birthday, on the 28th September there are a number of talks on various subjects. Find out more details on our What’s On pages at Visit Purbeck Dorset.
Or check out the Wareham Town Museum facebook page for updates on their anniversary celebrations.
Wareham Town Museum is situated in the Town Hall, and is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, until the end of October. Entrance is free.
