War Came to Topsham: a Commemoration on the Centenary of the Armistice

When: 25 August 2018 to 31 October 2018
Where: Local History Room
Time: 1400 - 1700
Cost: None but donations welcome
Suitable for: Any age

This exhibition opens on Saturday 24th August and complements the theme of Topsham Charter Day which celebrates the conclusion of the First World War.  On 24th August there will be processions, competitions, street entertainers, town criers, children’s events, mumming plays at the Museum  and much more.  In the evening there will be a Ceilidh and live band on the Quay.

Regular visitors to the Museum will recall that our major exhibition in 2016 was “War Comes to Topsham”, kindly sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund. That exhibition focussed on the Topsham community during the First World War, with emphasis on what was happening in the town in 1916.  Interesting and heroic stories were discovered about residents who served at home, in the Trenches, at sea, in field hospitals, the VAD Hospital in Topsham and in many faraway corners of the world.   Primarily it concentrated on the men and women who survived and returned to the town after the war.

So, to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice this year, we have decided to show some of the original material from “War Comes to Topsham” again but together with some brand new displays and new research findings which will reflect what was happening here at the Armistice, the impact of the Spanish Flu epidemic and early the following year when the troops finally returned home.

The files of information from the original exhibition,  which feature every one of over 300 local servicemen who returned to the town after the War ended, remain on open shelf access in the Local History Room for relatives and researchers to consult when the Museum is open or by appointment.

if you have local connections and have documents or photographs from this time which you could share with us, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

If you are visiting with your children or grandchildren, don’t miss the new display at the end of the Sail Loft on the theme of remembrance. Children can learn a little about why the poppy flower is a symbol of remembrance for us and make their own simple poppy. Then downstairs, families can find out more about Topsham people involved in World War One by going on to see our new exhibition.

The new exhibition opens on Saturday 25^th August.