Totnes Museum
Encyclopedia
Totnes Museum is a local museum
in the town of Totnes
, south Devon
, in southwest England
.
The museum is housed with an Elizabethan
merchant's house that was built c.1575 for the Kelland family. The house has many original features and has been carefully restored.
Totnes Museum has twelve galleries, a courtyard, and a herb garden. The collections date from 5000BC onwards, including coins minted in Totnes during Saxon
times, and concern the cultural, economic, and social history of Totnes.
The galleries include a Babbage Room, presenting Charles Babbage
, the Victorian
mathematician who invented the Difference Engine
and Analytical Engine
, mechanical precursors of the modern computer. Babbage spent his youth in Totnes and studied at King Edward VI Grammar School there.
There is a Study Centre at the rear of the building which contains an archive of Totnes-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. Experienced researchers are on hand to help on Thursdays and Fridays.
Local museum
A local museum is a museum that covers local history. Its collection normally includes objects with a local connection of some sort. Such museums are often small in nature and have a low budget for their running costs...
in the town of Totnes
Totnes
Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, south Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, in southwest England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The museum is housed with an Elizabethan
Elizabethan architecture
Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historically, the period corresponds to the Cinquecento in Italy, the Early Renaissance in France, and the Plateresque style in Spain...
merchant's house that was built c.1575 for the Kelland family. The house has many original features and has been carefully restored.
Totnes Museum has twelve galleries, a courtyard, and a herb garden. The collections date from 5000BC onwards, including coins minted in Totnes during Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
times, and concern the cultural, economic, and social history of Totnes.
The galleries include a Babbage Room, presenting Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
, the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
mathematician who invented the Difference Engine
Difference engine
A difference engine is an automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. Both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful sets of numbers.-History:...
and Analytical Engine
Analytical engine
The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, a design for a mechanical calculator...
, mechanical precursors of the modern computer. Babbage spent his youth in Totnes and studied at King Edward VI Grammar School there.
There is a Study Centre at the rear of the building which contains an archive of Totnes-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. Experienced researchers are on hand to help on Thursdays and Fridays.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Devon
- List of museums in Devon
- Totnes CastleTotnes CastleTotnes Castle is one of the best preserved examples of a Norman motte and bailey castle in England. It is situated in the town of Totnes on the River Dart in Devon...
- Totnes GuildhallTotnes GuildhallTotnes Guildhall is a 16th century Tudor historic guildhall, magistrate's court, and prison, in the town of Totnes, south Devon, in southwest England.- History :...