This picture was taken
mid-June 2010.  
'Shrouded in Mystery'
it is not.
It may not look too
iconic now but
just wait until
it is finished.
We are getting there aren't we.







Latest from the Hon. Curator
Carol Chambers

April 2010 and we are making
even greater strides in the
building of our annexe.


It looks a long way down from
here and I can't remember
how I managed to climb up!





MORE NEWS SOON FROM
THE HON. CURATOR
CAROL CHAMBERS

March 2010 shows us the base    
shape of our long-awaited annexe.

Roll on 2011.

Hope to show you more as the building 
progresses.

You can even see the
sunshine !


From the Hon. Curator
Carol Chambers

Now that the snow and ice have relented, at least for a while, our builders ROK have started work on our long awaited annexe.
We are planning to take pictures as the building rises up and put them on our website so that you can see how the work is progressing. We are planning, hopefully, to open the new building and the refurbished Museum in the early months of 2011. We have a lot to do before that though. We will keep you informed! Watch this space as they say.

Latest News from the Hon. Curator
Carol Chambers

Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum – Teign Heritage will be closed for the whole of 2009 and 2010 but just think of all the exciting things to come in 2011 after our new annexe is built.
 
We will have much needed facilities: -

• A beautiful foyer with a welcome desk and the first chance to see our Victorian bathing machine and Morgan Giles boats – small ones but showing superb craftsmanship
• a community space for meetings
• a lift to enable those with mobility problems and people with small children access to all of the display areas
• a brand new look to our collections which is being undertaken by a professional designer in association with our own archivists
• some easy-to-use interactive elements
• the ability to have touring temporary exhibitions for which we could not, previously, find space.
• three toilets including one suitable for disabled use
• also a roof terrace, which can be used when conditions are right – of course we always have sunshine in Teignmouth, don’t we?

In the meantime we have a temporary, town centre, office - the address is:

Teignmouth & Shaldon Museum - Teign Heritage
8 Teign Street
Teignmouth
Devon
TQ14 8EA

If you want any information we are still contactable by ‘phone on 01626 777041

or visit our websites as often as you like 

All the Museum volunteers are really looking forward to 2011 and we hope you are too! 

Latest News from the Curator

Carol Chambers

TEIGNMOUTH has netted more than £300,000 to breathe new life into its struggling museum.Teign Heritage, which runs Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum, has landed £376,676 to create a 21st century heritage centre to showcase its artefacts and material of national significance.The massive cash boost, provided under the Government's three-year Sea Change scheme, has been welcomed by museum trustees and local councillors.It will revamp the aging 18th century building and create a new iconic centre which could become a landmark in the town.Teign Heritage chairman Colin Trigger said: "With the final funding now confirmed, this project has been an excellent example of volunteer enthusiasm and perseverance.

"Of course the key funding sources are the Heritage Lottery Fund and the recent Sea Change initiative but a variety of trusts, charities and foundations, individual pledges, donations and local fundraising events not only produced considerable funds but helped to develop awareness and support for the Teign Heritage project.”

"Much work lies ahead but we are very grateful to all concerned for getting us to this exciting point."The money has come from the second wave of funding under the Sea Change programme.Teignmouth is one of 12 local authorities to receive a share of £4.5million to kick start regeneration in hard-pressed coastal communities.The museum houses an important collection of artefacts and archive material including assemblage from the Church Rocks Wreck site, designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, and Admiral Pellew's flag from the 1816 Battle of Algiers.However, it currently has limited space so many items are not on display, there is no room for visiting collections and it lacks visitor facilities.The new centre will preserve the area's cultural heritage, create an accessible community venue and provide a learning and research centre for local history.It will also be eco-friendly and have renewable technology features.Teignbridge Council jointly gifted the land for the project with Devon County Council.Already the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of £400,000 and more than £132,000 has been raised by the community. English Heritage has also pledged funds.Devon County Council successfully bid for the funding on behalf of Teign Heritage.Teignmouth county councillor Chris Bray said: "I am delighted the bid has been successful and that it will enable the Heritage Centre to go ahead with the re-development of the museum.”"Teign Heritage is to be congratulated on all the work it has put into this imaginative scheme, which will greatly improve the museum and be yet another attraction and facility for visitors and local residents."Sea Change is being led by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).In August the first large grant awards were confirmed for Torbay, Blackpool and Dover.The latest round of funding is for the smaller open application grants of up to £1million.Government tourism minister Barbara Follett said: "I'm delighted a further 12 seaside resorts will benefit from the Sea Change scheme.”"The plans put forward are great examples of how investing in our culture and heritage can regenerate our seaside communities."

CABE chief executive Richard Simmons said: "What all the projects share is a desire to use the combination of culture and good design as a catalyst for regeneration."

Report in the Teignmouth News on Wednesday 9^th July, 2008.

Animated Film Wins Pupils Top Award

Class Five at Shaldon Primary School has made a short animated film entitled The Mystery of the Church Rock Wreck.

The film was made as stop frame animation and was created using shadow puppets on a light box.

The idea for the film developed after the class visited the museum in Teignmouth to research the 16th century shipwreck which lies off Teignmouth beach.

The shipwreck was discovered in the 1970s by Simon Burton when he was only 13 years old.

‘Pupils had a chance to think about how the ship might have been wrecked and came up with some really imaginative ideas, including violent storms and pirate attacks,' said a spokesman for the school.

The Museum is a successful, volunteer-run charitable organisation situated in Teignmouth. It houses an important collection of artefacts and archive material of local and regional significance. The Museum currently offers a wide range of educational activities for schoolchildren and also arranges lectures and visits, responds to research enquiries, mounts exhibitions and carries out an extensive oral history programme. However, the Museum has no modern visitor facilities and very limited space - it occupies a three-storey Georgian building, so upstairs galleries and the archives are not accessible to everyone. We have a small archive store so some of our artefacts are suffering from inadequate storage facilities and many historic items are not on display.

After considerable consultation and preparation, a company limited by guarantee, was formed, Teign Heritage, to draw up plans to completely refurbish and extend the building onto adjacent land. This major redevelopment is being called the Teign Heritage Project. The building work is starting at the end of November 2009 and the new Museum is due to re-open in early 2011.

Not only will the new Museum safeguard the area's important heritage for future generations, but it will be of immense value to the local community and the local economy. The new Museum will provide the community and visitors to the area with a fully accessible building, offering new exhibitions and an exciting programme of events and activities. It will provide Teignmouth, Shaldon and the surrounding area with a landmark building which people will describe as a 'must visit' venue at the heart of the community; a venue that everyone in the area, as well as visitors to the town, will want to use, will be proud of and will want to be part of.

Education groups (which include local primary and secondary schools, pre-schools and nurseries, Special Schools, language students, adult education groups and researchers) will be a major audience for the new Museum and 'Heritage Centre' and they will benefit greatly from the new facilities, services and programmes. The Museum will also offer diverse opportunities for the local community to volunteer and get involved in heritage projects.

We would like to say thank you to all who have contributed to this dream becoming a reality for the Teignmouth and Shaldon area.

Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum, which was assessed by the Accreditation Panel at their meeting on the 21st September 2006 is extremely pleased to have been awarded Full Accreditation. One of the first, completely volunteer run, museums to achieve this in our area.