Totnes Museum (formerly Totnes Elizabethan House and Museum) is a local museum in the town of Totnes, south

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 ...

, in southwest

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Totnes - Totnes Elizabethan House Museum 20181026-02

The museum is housed in a

Grade I 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 ...

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

merchant's house that was built c.1575 for the Kelland family. The house still has many original features. In 1958 Totnes Town Council purchased the Elizabethan House and carefully restored it to its former glory. In 1961 the Elizabethan House would open to the public as Totnes Museum. Today Totnes Museum is run by the charitable organisation Totnes Museum Trust and is free admission. Totnes Museum extends over two buildings and three floors including twelve gallery rooms, a courtyard, and a herb garden. Towards the back of Totnes Museum is Totnes Archive. The collections date from 5000BC to the present day. These range from early archaeological finds, coins minted in Totnes during

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

times, Elizabethan artifacts and Victorian ephemera. The museum aims to entertain and educate visitors with the cultural, economic, and social history of Totnes. The museum various museum galleries include the Forehall, a Kitchen exhibition and the Babbage Room, which presents a history of

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

, the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

mathematician who invented the

Difference Engine A difference engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial, polynomial functions. It was designed in the 1820s, and was first created by Charles Babbage. The name, the difference engine, is derived from the method ...

and

Analytical Engine The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, which was a des ...

, working with

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the A ...

. This was the mechanical precursors of the modern computer. Babbage spent his youth in Totnes and studied at King Edward VI Grammar School there. Totnes Museum Courtyard

Totnes Archive

The site also contains the Totnes Archive at the rear of the building which contains information for study of Totnes, South Devon and other related material – books, fiches, transcripts, photographs, and local newspapers from 1860 – of particular interest to those seeking information on Totnes history, buildings and their own family connections in the area. The Totnes Archive is open for public drop-ins on Thursdays and Fridays.

Totnes Museum's Garden

Totnes Museum also has a wonderful garden which can be visited all year round at the back of the museum. The Garden has many herbs once found in gardens of the Elizabethan period among various other plants. Totnes Museum's garden is dutifully looked after by the dedicated volunteers of Totnes Gardens.

Haunted Museum?

Totnes Museum is also reportedly haunted by visitors. Some of the paranormal experiences often reported include supernatural seasickness caused by a ships mast used by the spiral stairs and a variety of ghosts. These are reportedly cats, an angry man, a little boy and a little girl. To this day paranormal investigations take place throughout the museum.

References

Gallery

File:Totnes - Totnes Elizabethan House Museum 20181026-02.jpg, alt=Totnes Museum from the front., Totnes Museum from the front. File:Totnes Museum's Garden.jpg, alt=Image of Totnes Museum's Garden taken from a museum window., Image of Totnes Museum's Garden taken from a museum window. File:68 & 70 Fore Street, Totnes (50205327353).jpg, alt=Totnes Museum and 68 Fore Street, 68 & 70 Fore Street, Totnes. Totnes Museum is 70 Fore Street File:Totnes - Totnes Elizabethan House Museum 20181026-01.jpg, alt=Totnes Elizabethan House Museum, Totnes Elizabethan House Museum looking down Fore Street File:Stumbels turret clock Totnes Museum.jpg, alt=Stumbels turret clock in Totnes Museum, Stumbels turret clock on display in Totnes Museum. File:Elizabethan Museum, Totnes - geograph.org.uk - 238024.jpg, alt=Central Hall, once known as the Victorian Nursery, of Totnes Museum, Central Hall, once known as the Victorian Nursery, of Totnes Museum File:Totnes Archive.jpg, alt=An image of Totnes Archive from the Garden of Totnes Museum, An image of Totnes Archive from the Garden of Totnes Museum File:Totnes Museum Courtyard.jpg, alt=An image of Totnes Museum's Courtyard, An image of Totnes Museum's Courtyard from the direction of Fore Street

External links