Founder of Fairlynch Museum Joy Gawne celebrates 101st Birthday - Fairlynch Museum Budleigh Salterton

By: Clare Suttie
Added: 27 September 2021

Yesterday, one of the founders of the Fairlynch Museum celebrated her 101st birthday.

Joy is one of a quartet of local women who bought Fairlynch more than half a century ago.

Head of history at the Museum Roz Hickman added: “Still taking an interest in all matters concerning her beloved museum, Joy is a mine of information and enjoys sharing her knowledge with us. We wish her a very happy birthday and many happy returns.”

Joy Gawne is the last surviving member of the quartet of local women who bought the house that is now the Fairlynch Museum. She and her two sisters Elizabeth and Aalish had a large collection of period and theatrical costumes they wanted to house and display, while their friend Priscilla Hull wanted to exhibit art, archaeology and geology. Her father George Carter had been excavating and investigating locally since the 1920s and his collection of finds deserved a wider audience.

For over half a century, the Fairlynch Museum, Budleigh Salterton’s most famous landmark, has been displaying and conserving the precious memories and artefacts that make the town and surrounding area so special. 

(Photo shows Joy receiving flowers on her birthday last year, credit: Roz Hickman).