Purton
Museum
and Historical Society
Museum Report
Museum News, May 2025
I
The photograph of Jack Kempster behind the counter of Kempster’s in Lower Square was taken shortly before the shop closed. The counter, with its gothic arches, was acquired when the restoration of St Mary’s Church occurred in 1872. The arches had formed part of a gallery.
Edmund Kempster established the grocery and provision store in 1864 and it finally closed its doors in September 1972. The museum has on permanent display a spike containing all the bills from the shop in 1941. The building has been converted into apartments and is now known as Kempsters Court.
This photograph forms part of an exhibition on Purton in Photographs and the museum is open on Saturdays from 10.00-12.30pm until the end of October. If you are unable to access the museum's stairs, please visit the library during its opening hours to view photographs of the exhibition on a screen.
Museum News, April 2025
This year’s exhibition is Purton in Photographs. The museum has a vast array of photographs and we hope you’ll enjoy looking through the collection that depicts events, people and the changing face of Purton’s buildings and landscape.
Red Gables Children’s Home, on Restrop Road, closed in 1997, 83 years after it opened. The Guinness Trust Housing Association acquired the site from North Wilts District Council and demolished the home to build new dwellings at Red Gables Close which was completed in December 2002.
The original stone, which bears the date of 1914 when the children’s home was established by the Cricklade Union, was rescued by Purton Historical Society prior to demolition and now stands at the entrance to Red Gables Close.
Purton Museum is open on Saturdays from 10.00-12.30pm until the end of October. If you are unable to access the museum's stairs, please visit the library during its opening hours to view photographs of the exhibition on a screen.
Lucy Lewis
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Red Gables 1998
The Rebuilding of the Silver Threads Hall
A significant achievement in the 1980s was the rebuilding of the Silver Threads Hall which was considered in urgent need of replacement in 1986. It only took two years to raise the £27,000 needed, thanks to the generosity of Purton people. The remainder of the £74,000 cost was provided by the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, whose National President, Dame Barbara Shenfield, performed the ceremonial opening in September 1988. Photos of the demolition of the old hall and building of the new one, a well used village asset, are included in the exhibition.
Purton Museum is open on Saturdays from 10.00-12.30pm
Lucy Lewis
Top photo – 1987
Bottom photo – August 1988
The Great Loo Appeal
Museum News
In September 1984 Roy Blake, Vicar of Purton, and Church Wardens Godfrey Fowler and Roger Lawrence wrote to all the parishioners appealing for financial help converting the old Victorian boiler house, on the north side of St Mary’s Church, to provide a toilet and washbasin. They wrote that, ‘Nervous young bridegrooms, older people attending a funeral, parents of young children at Christingle, all ask: Where is the loo?’
The Vicar spent a day in the layby opposite College Farmhouse collecting money ‘thrown down the toilet’ and was delighted that more than £1,100 was donated. The Great Loo Appeal was a huge success and Bishop Peter of Malmesbury officially declared the new facility open at Easter the following year.
The letter, newspaper article and a photograph of Bishop Peter performing the opening ceremony form part of the new Purton in the 1980s exhibition.
Purton Museum is open on Saturdays from 10.00-12.30pm.
Lucy Lewis
