Discover rural life in Warwickshire’s past at re-stored museum

Marton Museum had been closed for several years, but has now reopened after a group of villagers got together to breathe new life into the building’s neglected collection.

Over the past year, volunteers have catalogued many of the previously unrecorded collection - and so far they have accumulated a database of more than 2,000 items, with more work in the pipeline.

For 50 years, the collection was put together by Marton man George Tims, who gathered together tools, equipment and devices from the village - by approaching people such as farmers, thatchers, the village constable, washerwoman and dairy maid - that would have been used by local people.

Visitors will be able to see a variety of curious objects, including a hand-pumped harmonium from the village chapel, a wheelwright’s tools, dairy equipment, children’s toys and the clock mechanism from a local church tower that dates back more than 300 years.

The museum is also encouraging anyone who has historical objects the purpose of which they do not know to bring them along for volunteers, who have already been working on projects with school groups and dementia patients, to use their experience of cataloguing to see if they can help.

The museum, which is in Louisa Ward Close in Marton, is open every Sunday from 2pm to 4pm from now until early September.

To see a video about the museum, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhE3lw-xQno&feature=youtu.be