A 14ft stuffed polar bear is among the antiquities from the recently closed Great Yarmouth museum, Yesterday’s World, that are due to be sold by Chippenham Auction Rooms.

Principal auctioneer Richard Edmonds and the team from Ivy Road were up against two major London auction houses which also pitched to sell the items.

The attraction, dedicated to the Victorian era and the early 20th century, closed at the end of October after the owners decided it was no longer financially viable.

Mr Edmonds said: “This is a major win for our team in Chippenham. Yesterday’s World is a real cornucopia of nostalgia items and collectibles and we haven’t seen anything like this come onto the market for many years.

“I’ve been in the business for more than 16 years and some of these items I’ve never seen. It’s going to be an exciting time; these sorts of items just don’t come up very often and are extremely rare.”

Items to be sold include a full-size working Victorian carousel, wax figures created for Madame Tussauds in London, a 14ft stuffed polar bear, items owned by Queen Victoria and the contents of several preserved shops.

The first of the items from Yesterday’s World will be sold at auction in Chippenham on Saturday, November 29, starting at 10am, with further items to be sold in December and January.

The auction is expected to attract buyers from all over the world, particularly Australia.

The November sale will include a range of highly-collectible enamel signs and advertisements, as well as vintage toys and the contents, packaging and shop fittings of five heritage shops: ironmonger, grocer, shoe shop, toy shop and tobacconist.

Mr Edmonds said: “Our aim is to ensure that as many of the items as possible remain on public display somewhere or go to collectors or restorers who will really value them. Items like old shop fittings, vintage tills, slot machines and enamel signs are highly prized by specialist collectors.

“Right now, we’re still cataloguing all the items as there are just so many of them. It’s a huge job but one we’re thrilled to be doing. I think one of the reasons we won the sale is that we’re genuinely very interested in these types of collectibles and the museum’s management recognised our enthusiasm.”