The Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life is a local history museum in Tiverton,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, to the southwest of Gotham House. It features various exhibits relating to the social and economic history of the Mid Devon region, one of the most popular being a steam locomotive known as the "Tivvy Bumper". Founded in 1960 and initially located in rooms in a local pub, the museum is now housed in a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

former National School.

History

The museum was founded in 1960 and initially housed in two rooms of the former Old Bell Inn on Angel Terrace. In 1962, the exhibitions were moved to Chilcott School. In 1969, as a result of the growth of the collections, the museum was moved to its own building, a former National School, where it has remained since. This move was funded by Lord Amory at a cost of £6,000. During the 1970s, the exhibition space was expanded with the construction of new galleries. Further redevelopment took place at the beginning of the 21st century, and the museum reopened with an expanded exhibition space in 2001, after an 18-month, £800,000 refurbishment. Half of this money was provided by the National

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, and the rest was obtained through fundraising efforts in the local community. In 2012, the museum was among 20 national institutions

longlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

ed for the Family Friendly Museum Awards.

Collections and exhibitions

The Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life has one of the largest museum collections in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

, and contains various exhibits relating to the economic and social life of the region. One of the most popular exhibits is the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

steam locomotive number 1442 of the 1400 Class, known as the "Tivvy Bumper". The locomotive was in operation between 1934 and 1965, with its latter years spent transporting passengers between and the old station at

Willand Willand is a village and civil parish within the Local Government district of Mid Devon, England. It is about north of Exeter and north of Cullompton. In 1991 the population was 3750 although recently this has grown considerably. The Nat ...

; the engine serving this route was known by locals as the "Tivvy Bumper". The locomotive on display was originally located outside on Blundell's Road in Tiverton, having been purchased by Lord Amory in 1965, but it was moved to the museum in 1978 to protect it from the weather. It is now housed in the Authers Gallery, which was constructed around the engine. This gallery features other exhibits related to road and rail transport in Mid Devon, including bicycles, a

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

and signalling equipment. Museum visitors can stand inside the locomotive's cab. Other galleries include the Alford Gallery, featuring various items of agricultural equipment, including two of only three surviving examples of Devon spindle-sided ship wagons, and the Heathcoat gallery, named after lace-maker

John Heathcoat John Heathcoat (7 August 1783 – 18 January 1861) was an English inventor from Duffield, Derbyshire. During his apprenticeship he made an improvement to the warp-loom, so as to produce mitts of a lace-like appearance. He set up his own busines ...

who owned a factory in Tiverton, which contains a lace frame patented by Heathcoat. There is a restored

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

outside the museum's entrance. The museum also has a temporary exhibition space, which has housed a variety of exhibits in the past, including exhibitions on the history of

teddy bears A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, ...

, historic photographs of the region and "childhood treasures". As well as its museum exhibits, there is a library with a Devon Record Office Service Point, assisting visitors with research into local family history.

Virtual Victorians

The museum runs the Virtual Victorians website, which provides an exploration of life in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

through the experiences of the Poslett family who lived in the town in the 19th century. It contains various digital artefacts, including archived editions of the ''

Tiverton Gazette The ''Tiverton Gazette'' is a weekly tabloid local newspaper for the town of Tiverton, Devon Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population i ...

'' from the 19th century and extracts from the logbook of the Heathcoat lace factory. The site was launched in March 2000, and received 27 million visits from 142 countries within its first four years. The website is particular aimed at schoolchildren and is used in schools throughout the United Kingdom.

References

External links

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Virtual Victorians
run by the Tiverton Museum {{Authority control Local museums in Devon Museums established in 1960 Grade II listed buildings in Devon Grade II listed museum buildings Tiverton, Devon Transport museums in England Art museums and galleries in Devon