What’s in a Name… Beck’s Square
The entrance to the Museum, once the home of the National School, today stands in Beck’s Square. However, the Square is not found on old maps of the town, neither is it referred to in the early histories of Tiverton. There is some evidence from a legal document held...
Taking Flight
This advert appeared in the Gazette in March 1925 with a ‘representative’ of the paper recording his experience. The 3 seater Avro 110hp was piloted by an experienced and decorated veteran of the first World War. The rivers Exe and Lowman were visible ‘for many miles’...
Thank you to our Funders!
We are incredibly grateful for the funding provided through Mid Devon District Council’s Prosperity Fund, which has allowed us to make significant improvements to the visitor experience at Tiverton Museum in recent months. Thanks to this support, we have been able to...
Join the Team at Tiverton Museum
Position: Assistant Visitor Information Officer Organisation: Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK Closing date: 9am Monday 24th March Job Type: Fixed Term contract (12 months). Part Time: 6 hours per week (Saturday). Salary: £3,809.52 pro...
Steal Not This Book
In late April 1925 a strange collection of verses appeared in the Gazette. Interestingly the authors were only ‘school boys’, perhaps the verses that school girls wrote in the front of their books weren’t as lurid! ‘Steal not this book for fear of shame For here you...
Holiday Haunts
The possibility of a family holiday in the South-West became a reality for some in the 1920s. Tourism had been flourishing in the region for a long time for those with the money and leisure time to enjoy a break away from home. As early as 1911, the Trades Union...
Posy Ring – A poem by Emma Phillips
Posy Ring inscribed 'I Live in Hope', Wool Trade Gallery - A poem by Emma Phillips, read by Beccy Lloyd. https://youtube.com/shorts/D69BFeA6Gls?si=N2KxsPvv0TNSolVH She loved me not; not then, when I offered her my boyish charms in cuckoo–spit and daisies, not...
Roving Around
As the 1920s advanced more and more adverts for cars appeared in the Tiverton Gazette. Car ownership was, however, far beyond the reach of most people. The cheapest of these Rover cars was the equivalent of 6 months pay for the average worker in 1925. In 1920, there...
‘Do Your Worst!’
The Tiverton Gazette of early April 1925 carries a report from a court case headed ‘Stationary Car without Lights’. It goes on to describe the conversation between the police constable who found the car at Stoodleigh parked outside the owner’s house, and the owner...
Twitching the Curtains
We can’t tell if the lace in the curtains sold in Carey’s shop was made in Tiverton. Certainly, the invention of the Bobbinet machine by John Heathcoat in the early 1800s must have contributed to the expansion of the lace curtain industry. It was only when wide,...
Electric Power
There was a long article in the Tiverton Gazette in the early days of February 1925 headed ‘Electric Power’. For the first time, politicians were discussing various aspects of production and distribution of electricity. The use of electric power was increasing...
Back with Clout
In early January 1925, there was a small article in the Tiverton Gazette with the heading ‘Clouted Cream’. Sometimes known as ‘clouted’ cream from the word ‘clout’ which means ‘patch’ referring to the crust which forms as the cream is being made. The virtues of...