As restrictions continue to ease, Chippenham Museum has marked a very special occasion with the 35,000th item added to its collection.

The painting of Chippenham’s Old Mill joins an array of other items dating back from across the town’s history.

The pandemic has encouraged more people in the north of the county to look closer to home, and to their local history, meaning there has been a large number of first-time visitors from the wider Wiltshire area.

The museum has launched its latest exhibition Kilvert’s World, which explores the work of Rev. Francis Kilvert, whose diary written in Victorian Chippenham and Langley Burrell is now sold across the globe.

The exhibition, open until October 9 with free entry, features two of the three surviving diaries on loan from The National Library of Wales. Born in Chippenham in 1840, Kilvert became curate for his father in Langley Burrell.

“Kilvert is sprinkled across the museum, he had a huge impact,” explained Claire Selman, visitor services officer.

From Victorian Chippenham to Goldiggers nightclub, and everything between and before, museum staff and volunteers hope they can capture the imagination of visitors far and wide.

“We’ve started town walks that have been fully booked, which is great,” added Claire.

“Since we opened again, we’ve had lots of people visit with family connections to Chippenham, or with relatives who had worked at one of the factories or companies based here.

“But there’s still so many people who don’t realise we’re here, and we’re hoping to capture them.

“We don’t just have items on Chippenham, we have pieces from Castle Combe, Corsham and Calne and, we hope, something for everyone. We want to make our history accessible.”

Staff and volunteers are also thinking ahead to a time when the pandemic will be a thing of the past and have collected several pieces, that will one day be historic artefacts.

Upcoming events at the museum include:

Photography workshops for adults and young people

Enjoy free photography workshops this Saturday for adults, ages 9 - 14 and 15 - 18 years at Cricketts Lane and Lords Mead Allotments with The Photo Club, Food School and Chippenham Museum. Funded by Chippenham Borough Lands Charity, book your place via the museum’s What’s On webpage.

More at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/162153109315

Discover the Yelde Hall

Open Fridays and Saturdays in July 10.30am – 3.30pm with free entry, step inside Chippenham’s medieval Yelde Hall to explore its history.

At the heart of Chippenham life for over 600 years, listen to characters from the town’s past in the Council Chamber and meet pirates from 1709 in the lock-up.

Enjoy a display of photography from Chippenham Museum’s modern art collection, celebrating the creativity of North Wiltshire.