Day: 19 October 2011

Dartmoor Prison Museum, Devon

The Museum is about 150 yards from Dartmoor Prison, and housed in a building that used to be the prison dairy. It is the only museum run by HM Prison Service to be open to the public. The Museum narrates the history of the prison, and also includes the “Black Museum” of weapons and other items confiscated from prisoners, a collection of manacles and weapons, details of famous prisoners, insignia and uniforms, and the Prison today.

I recall that this was quite an interesting visit.
There is a small admission charge. Free car parking. Note that the Museum closes for lunch.

Cowper and Newton Museum, Bucks

The Museum is situated in a large 17th century house facing the marketplace in Olney. It was the home from 1768-1786 of the poet William Cowper and his companion Mary Unwin. The Rev John Newton, slave trader turned abolitionist and hymn writer, lived nearby at the Vicarage.  The building contains two separate houses, known as Gilpin House and Orchard Side, and there are a Georgian walled flower garden and a Victorian kitchen garden at the rear. Today, the building contains museum displays devoted to both men and to local history.

The museum makes an interesting visit,as the displays inform one about both men and about the slave trade, and local history including the local lace-making industry. The 17th century house itself, with its slightly uneven floors and its mezzanine rooms at the back, is an interesting object. The gardens are also worth investigating, and when I visited there was some sort of historical re-enactment going on in the rear one.
Admission charge.