Weston Museum 

TourLife Studio

Weston Museum

Giftshop

Courtyard 

Not to be eaten, but look absolutely fantastic.


Fluffy Cakes!

The markings on the floor show a stable entrance. The company provided horses to various coaching companies, the Grand Atlantic Hotel, and also the local fire brigade.

Original Stable Shutter Door Rails

Cafe

Learning Space

William Mable Gallery

Courtyard

Buy-a-Block Space

Clara’s Garden

Clara’s Kitchen

Clara’s Hallway

Clara’s Parlour

Clara’s Bedroom

205 - 142 Million Years Ago 

Ichthyosaurs or 'sea dragons' were once thought to be fish or lizards. We now know that they were air-breathing marine reptiles. Unlike most reptiles, they gave birth to live young rather than laying eggs. They ate other sea creatures including ammonites.  

Ichthyosaur | Bitton, Gloucestershire 

A Living Landscape Gallery

80,000 - 55,000 YEARS OLD - Banwell Bone Cave

Brown bears were hunter-killers. They fed on bison and reindeers. Adult bears could grow up to 2.8 meters tall.

80,000 years ago the environment of North Somerset was very different. You could find bison, wolves and bears roaming the wilderness. We know this because their remains were discovered in a cave in Banwell.

Loaned by Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society

Brown Bear Paw 

c. AD 250 - 400 | Locking Villa 

Mosaics are floors made from small cubes of coloured stone and fired clay. This one is decorated with simple patterns. Others show elaborated scenes including people and animals.

Mosaic

c. AD 1 - 40 | Henley Wood Temple

This beautiful figurine was found on the Roman temple site at Henley Wood. She may represent the goddess worshipped there and was probably made before the Romans arrived in North Somerset.

Bronze Female Figurine

c. AD 340 - 390 | Brean Down Temple; Henley Wood Temple

The writer of this tablet was the victim of a theft. He asks the goddess that the thief should pay 'with his own blood'.

Lead Curse Tablet and Bronze Writing Tool

c. 450 - 100 BC | Dibbie's Farm, Christon

This dog was found buried with a man aged about 30. The dog may have been a special pet or used for hunting. He has been nicknamed 'Rusty'.

c. AD 40 - 50 | Worlebury

The museum’s founder, William Mable, was fascinated by excavations taking place at Worlebury hillfort. The carbonised grains were some of the first items found that prove human activity on the hill. 


Carbonised Barley

c. AD 40 - 50 | Worlebury

These skulls are from previous inhabitants of Worlebury hillfort. They have ‘cowards’ wounds on the backs of their heads. They were no doubt victims of whatever befell the hillfort around the time of the Roman invasion.

Loaned by Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. 

Human Skulls with Cut Marks

c. 1660 | Oil on Canvas

Florence was the daughter of John Poulett of Hinton St George. She married twice, first to Thomas Smyth of Ashton Court and then to Thomas Pigott of Brockley Court. 

Pained by John Hayis (1600 - 1679)

Florence Pigott (died 1676)

c. 1660 | Oil on Canvas

Thomas Pigott married Florence Smyth in 1647. Their marriage was the first of three between the wealthy Smyth and Pigott families. Popular legend says that the family could travel from Weston and Bristol without leaving their own land!

Pained by John Hayis (1600 - 1679)

Thomas Pigott (died 1674)

North Bridge

This sculpture was created by the BASK collective specially for the museum. The natural oak uses the same traditional woodworking techniques that were utilised to produce the A-frames in the museum roof.

Portico 

William Mable is the founder of Weston Museum. He had a grand collection of natural history specimens that have evolved into today is Weston Museum.


William Mable portrait

Function Suite Entrance

Function Suite

Roof

In 1913 a glass roof was installed over the open courtyard between two different buildings. These were then joined up to create the basic footprint of what is Weston Museum today.

Museum Roof

by Charles Summers 
1869 | Marble

Thomas Tuttton Knyfton was a barrister who lived at Uphill. in 1851 he was appointed High Sheriff of Somerset. He supported good caused including the building and renovation of churches. 

He was also a leading figure in. Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society.

Thomas Tutton Knyfton (1798 - 1987)

(by an unidentified artist)
c.1812 | Oil on Canvas

Ann Pigott inherited the Pigott estates of her uncle Wadham in 1823 and in the same year married John Hugh Smyth-Pigott.

John inherited the Smyth family estates in 1824. The couple had ten children. 

Ann Pigott (1790 - 1854)

by Thomas Gainsborough
c. 1770 | Oil on Canvas 

Wadham Pigott was the first member of the Smyth-Pigott family to make Weston-super-Mare his permanent home.

He lived at Grove House and managed the family estates. He also serves as curate. 

The Revd Wadham Pigott (1750 - 1823)

by Thomas Gainsborough
c. 1770 | Oil on Canvas

The brothers John and Wadham were crucial to Weston's development as a seaside resort. In 1810, they arranged for common land on their estate to be enclosed by Act of Parliament.

Each new parcel of land could now be sold by its owner for building development. 

John Pigott (1741 - 1816)

Joseph Elgar

James Bisdee (1800 - 1891)

by Charles Summers
c. 1852 | Marble

John Hugh Smyth-Pigott encouraged Weston's development as a seaside resort by establishing the toll road from Birnbeck to Kewstoke in 1841. Travel to Weston was made much easier.

in 1823 he planted Weston Woods as a game reserve. He also completed the rebuilding of Weston parish church started by Wadham Pigott in 1823.

John Hugh Smyth-Pigott (1792 - 1853)

Tides of Change Gallery

Paddle steamers have been familiar in Weston since the 1820's. They bought day-trippers from coastal towns on the Bristol Channel. In the 1890s, up to 15,000 visitors arrived in Weston by paddle steamer every day. 

Model of the Paddle Steamer 'Devonia' - 1992

Beside the Sea Gallery

The Winter Gardens and Pavilion opened to the public on 14th July 1927. They provided spaces where people could enjoy entertainment throughout the year. As well as a ballroom there were also gardens, tennis courts and a putting green.

Plaques from the Winter Gardens - 1927 

This key was presented to Ernest Macfarlane, Chairman of the Council, at the opening of the Winter Gardens on 14th July 1927. It was a gift from the building's architect, T.H. Mawson & Sons of London and H.A. Brown, the council's surveyor. 

Key for the Winter Gardens - 1927

These Cinema seats were re-upholstered by Bond's Upholstery Weston-super-Mare. Metal work refurbished by Weston Museum Volunteers. 

Kindly donated by the Curzon Cinema & Arts 

Curzon Cinema Seats

c. 1880

Donkey chairs were used from the 1830s to the 1920s as an early form of taxi service in Weston. Passengers sat in the carriage and a chair man ran alongside steering the donkey. Motorised transport put the donkey chairs out of business. 

Donkey Chair

Weston native Alfred Leete created these incredibly iconic recruitment posters during the First World War. They had a great impact and encouraged many to fight for their country.

Leete Posters

Alfred Leete first rose to fame producing cartoons and designs in popular publications such as Punch Magazine and Tatler.

Leete posters

The Staddon family ran Punch & Judy shows on Weston beach for over 100 years. Puppets are usually destroyed after their owner’s death so we are lucky to have these examples.

Punch + Baby

c. 1939 - 45

Siren suits were reputedly invented by Winston Churchill. They were the equivalent of onesies and were worn during air raids to keep people warm in the shelters. They were designed to be slipped on quickly over nightclothes when the air raid siren sounded. 

Siren Suit

c. 1920

This swimming costume is made of knitted cotton jersey. The fabric fitted well when dry but would lose its shape when wet. The weight of the water would make the fabric sag. Would you like to wear a costume like this?

Men's Swimming Costume

c. 1948

This uniform was worn by members of the Weston branch of Women's League of Health and Beauty. They organised dance and exercise classes on the seafront. The organisation continues today as the Fitness League. 

Women's League of Health and Beauty Uniform 

This machine may seem shocking or distasteful to many people today. It was one of the best-known products of the Canova Novelty Company which specialised in sensational subject matter. The company also produced machines called 'Madame Guillotine', 'The Necromancer' and 'Raid on an Opium Den'. 

American Execution - 1920

c. 1950 - 60

Jolly Jack the Laughing Sailor is an automaton or mechanical puppet. From the 1950's he could be found on seaside piers across the country. 

The Laughing Sailor

This model shows a proposed development for Weston town centre in the post-war era. It was designed by architecture firm Chamberlain, Powell and Bon. The design was never built.


Architectural model of Weston-super-Mare

The mural made by Mary Flower in collaboration with children from schools and other education grounds in and around Weston-super-Mare, as well as adults from local art groups, represents the formation of carboniferous rock on which Weston rests and from which much of the town is built.

Inspired by the combined natural rock and man-made brick walls at Anchor Head in Weston the mural's form depicts a cross-section of the carboniferous limestone strata from Worlebury Hill to Brean Down. 

The materials used to decorate the rock formation are all from Weston and surround area: carboniferous limestone, oolitic limestone (Bath Stone), Traiassic rocks, mud, silt and clay. 

The aim is to form a map of the the mural so all. those who participated in the project will be able to identify their individual piece of art 

Until then, we would like to thank the following for their involvement. 

St Katherines School
Locking Primary School
Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School
Oldmixon Primary School
Milton Park Primary School
Bournville Primary School
Churchhill Church of England Primary school
Westhaven School
Weston College 

Home Educators 

Museum Volunteers and Staff

The Carlton Centre 
Banwell Pottery

Weston Harmony