Where history lives -10 fascinating museums in or near Swindon

2 Cricklade Museum in Calcutt Street - www.cricklademuseum.co.uk - is open on Saturdays from 10am until noon and by appointment with Cricklade Historical Society. The organisation established and run the museum, which has an eclectic collection of items relating to the town. They range from fossils to weapons, and from toys to maps. The museum holds a fine collection of work by Ivan Martin, one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed ceramicists, who worked for many years in the town.

3 In Royal Wootton Bassett, the museum’s fascinating artefacts are housed in a building which is itself a fascinating artefact - the old Town Hall which stands on pillars in High Street. Open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10am until noon, the museum - www.royalwoottonbassett.gov.uk/town-hall-museum/ - displays a diverse array of objects including a ducking school and decades’ worth of photographs.

4 The oldest exhibits at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes - www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk - are the fossilised remains of primitive life forms from whicvh the dinosaurs evolved. The most recent are every day items from the recent past which will, be familiar to all but the youngest visitors. In between are exhibits which tell the story of our species in the area from our earliest communities.

5 As The Salisbury Museum - salisburymuseum.org.uk - reminds us, there is much more to the city’s history than its cathedral and other beautiful architecture. Its collections include relics of the ancient and enigmatic Beaker people, coins, primitive worked metal, pottery, clocks, watches, examples of clothing dating as far back as the 18th century and thousands of other items. A full-sized dioramas recreate a pre-World War Two doctor’s surgery.

6 Chippenham Museum - www.chippenham.gov.uk/chippenham-museum is - an 18th Century building in the town’s Market Place, and is operated by the town council. Its collection of some 35,000 objects spans historical periods beginning with the Neolithic, but there is a great deal of emphasis on trade and industry down the centuries. During its long history, the town has been an important centre for produce ranging from cloth to cheese, and latterly precision instrumentation. The museum is also home to many works of art.

7 Warminster Museum is housed at the town’s public library, and would-be visitors should check www.warminstermuseum.org.uk for opening times. The museum’s collection ranges from poignant militaria to a collection of locally-discovered fossils.

8 The National Trust Museum at Avebury is better known as the Alexander Keiller Museum. It is a treasure house of items excavated from and relating to the world famous stone circle, and helps visitors understand the possible relationships between ancient sites throughout the area. Its website is www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/features/the-alexander-keiller-museum-at-avebury

9 Bradford-on-Avon’s museum - www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk is run entirely by volunteers and has a remarkable collection of exhibits covering the social, industrial, religious, artistic and cultural history of the town. They range from a recreation of a Victorian pharmacy to an enormous rolling machine used in the rubber industry.

10 The collection of items at Malmesbury’s Athelstan Museum - www.athelstanmuseum.org.uk - is drawn from throughout the history of the town, which dates back in one form or another to the Iron Age. Exhibits range from lace to bicycles.