Wootton Bassett Museum
{{Short description|Municipal building in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Wootton Bassett Museum
| native_name =
| image = Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 103332.jpg
| caption = The old Town Hall, now the Wootton Bassett Museum
| locmapin = Wiltshire
| map_caption = Shown in Wiltshire
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5417|-1.9049|type:landmark_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
| location = Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England
| area =
| built = 1690
| architect =
| architecture =
| governing_body =
| designation1 = Grade II Listed Building
| designation1_offname =
| designation1_date = 17 January 1955
| designation1_number = 1363658
| website=
}}
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.{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall, Wootton Bassett|num=1363658|access-date=23 April 2020}}
History
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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl_GCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT11|title=Royal Wootton Bassett Through Time|first= Bob |last=Clarke|publisher=Amberley Publishing|year=2013|page=11|isbn=978-1445613321}} The design involved an open ground floor and an upper storey supported on 15 tapered oolite columns.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/historic_wootton_bassett_photos_gallery1.shtml |title=Historic Wootton Bassett pics|publisher=BBC|access-date=23 April 2020}} The ground floor was the venue for local butter and cheese markets{{cite web|url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/54347153/royal-wootton-bassett|title=A Walker's Guide to Royal Wootton Bassett |page=7|publisher=Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council / Wootton Bassett Historical Society|access-date=13 August 2020}} and the upper storey served as both a council chamber and a courthouse. Facilities on the ground floor included a "blind house" under the staircase where drunkards were held until they were completely sober{{cite web|url=https://www.royalwoottonbassett.gov.uk/town-hall-museum/|title=Town Hall Museum|publisher=Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council|access-date=13 August 2020}} and a storage facility for the hand-worked fire engine.
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.{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1832-05-30/debates/0811c028-a6f5-4bd9-8b59-f5bb0601a9fa/ParliamentaryReform%E2%80%94BillForEngland%E2%80%94Committee%E2%80%94SeventhDay |title=Parliamentary Reform Bill, For England|volume=13|date= 30 May 1832|publisher=Hansard| access-date=10 August 2023}} Its right to elect members of parliament was removed by the Reform Act 1832,{{cite web |title=The History of Politics: The Rotten Boroughs of England |url=https://juliaherdman.com/2017/04/21/history-of-politics-the-rotten-boroughs-of-england/ |website=Julia Herdman Books |date=21 April 2017 |access-date=10 August 2023}} and the borough council, which had met in the courtroom, was abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883.{{cite book |title=Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) |date=1883 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1883/18/pdfs/ukpga_18830018_en.pdf | access-date=10 August 2023}}
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,{{cite web |last1=Orbach |first1=Julian |title=Wiltshire Architects |url=https://julianorbach.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/7/5/23756946/wiltshire_architects.doc|access-date=12 May 2024}} on behalf of the socialite, Lady Meux and her husband, in 1889.{{efn|Lady Meux's husband, Sir Henry Bruce Meux, 3rd Baronet, who came from a brewing family, owned a large estate on the Marlborough Downs{{cite web|url=https://www.upperkennetnews.co.uk/the-auction-sale-of-the-meux-estate/|title=The auction sale of the Meux Estate|publisher=Upper Kennet News|access-date=13 August 2020}} as well as the Royal Oak Hotel and many other properties in Wootton Bassett.{{cite web|url=https://oldbankantiques.co.uk/history.asp|title=Our Building A brief history|publisher=Old Bank Antiques|access-date=13 August 2020}}}} 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.
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.{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/681|title=The National School, Wootton Bassett|publisher=Wiltshire Community History|access-date=2 July 2020}} Following an initiative by Dr Alan Stebbens, the then Chairman of Wootton Bassett Historical Society,{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Question/Details/156|title=Question: Beaman's Lane, Wootton Bassett|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=14 August 2020}} the Wootton Bassett Museum was established in the empty town hall later that year.{{cite web|url=https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7314146.museum-could-go-to-the-wall/|title=Museum could go to the wall|date=25 June 2003|publisher=Gazette and Herald|access-date=23 April 2020}}
The museum subsequently built up a photographic collection covering life in Wootton Bassett during the 19th and 20th centuries{{cite web|url=http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/wootton-bassett-museum|title= Wootton Bassett Museum|publisher=Days Out Guide|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100416184800/http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/wootton-bassett-museum|access-date=23 April 2020|archive-date= 2010-04-16}} as well as a ducking stool dating from 1686,{{cite web|url=https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/object/postcard-procession/|title=Early 20th century colour postcard - a reproduction of a picture of an election procession in Wootton Bassett in 1808, featuring Peggy Lawrence, a woman ducked for scolding|publisher=Museum of Witchcraft and Magic|access-date=23 April 2020}} geological items, stocks, and a whipping post. It also created a scale model of Wootton Bassett railway station as it would have looked before closure in 1965.{{Cite web |date=16 October 2015 |title=Autumn Tour |url=https://wshc.org.uk/blog/item/an-autumn-tour.html |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre}}
See also
Notes
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