Tiverton Museum Of Mid Devon Life — Attraction in Mid Devon

The Tiverton Museum of Mid-Devon Life is a great museum.

We have been to many one or two room town museums, when holidaying in this country, whose claim to fame is often an original bequest from some member of the local gentry, who had no one left to leave stuff to, combined with random bits of junk others have contributed over the years.

Tiverton Museum is not like this at all. Rather, it is very thoughtfully laid out and takes you gradually through various aspects of Mid-Devon life.

It ranges from childhood items, through agricultural implements, to Cider production, Mantraps, rattraps, and gunpowder are also covered.

The Wool Industry links to India are also celebrated as is Church history in the area.

The Museum has a section of, nearby, Honiton's lace industry, including a fascinating crystal ball, used not for fortune telling, but to intensify the light for lace markers doing delicate work by candlelight.

The museum then moves on to kitchens, with the first representing the 1930s and the second, the 1950s.

World War II was represented by an Anderson Shelter and the museum also has modern(ish) tech like an early PC.

The pièce de résistance of the whole museum was the Transport section. This ranged from lots of wooden farm equipment to early motorised tractors and to the star of the Show, the Tivvy Bumper. This fine old train was set up so that a visitor could get into the driver's cab and pull leavers with realistic sounds.

The museum has a lot to share and is laid out in a clear and logical order. A great way to experience the history of this fascinating...

Museum is pretty good. Some interesting exhibits. Felt a little pressured when arriving to pay the higher entrance fee so they could get gift aid. I said I would pay higher on one and the other the lower without gift aid. Both ladies at the reception wanted me to pay higher on both. It was uncomfortable as they both talked at me at once. I had to out and out say I could only afford to pay higher on one. We got through the museum pretty quickly as my daughter is autistic and sometimes we aren’t long at places, it happens. Then both ladies passed comment on how quickly we went through. It felt a little uncomfortable again and we didn’t want to hang about looking at the gift shop. My daughter is very conscious of her difficulties and it made her feel bad. The lady watched us expectantly for an answer as to being so quick. We paid and surely it’s our business how fast...

Such a varied content in this deceptively large building kept me and the kids occupied for hours, which was an accomplishment for a 6 year old.

The museum contains many agricultural, industrial, and post - modern examples of life in the local area. It also provides information on how the Roman empire changed the region with artefacts on display.

Being able to enter the engine compartment of a steam engine was great, and other exhibits had items on display that allowed you to "touch" history going back hundreds of years.

There's also little lego figurines dotted throughout the exhibits for younger children to spot, as well as a quiz for them to complete as they view each area of the museum.

I would recommend visiting this museum to anyone looking to get out and get a feel for the area, as well as those interested in...