The current Friends newsletter
This is available at the museum. If you are not yet a member and would like to join, please contact the museum to find out more or visit to collect an application form.
Friends' trips - details are always given in the first Friends' newsletter of the year. Our trips have included:
- a tour of Berkeley Castle led by a guide who is also a Museum Friend
- a visit to the Arts and Crafts collection at Rodmarton Manor, where we were shown round by the grandson of the couple who built the house
- a guided tour of Stanway House, which included seeing its wonderful Tithe Barn, its beautifully restored Watermill and the highest gravity-fed Fountain in Britain
- Wells Museum
- Sidmouth Museum
- Brecknock Museum (Brecon)
- the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust
- and the Museum of Somerset, with the Frome Hoard
Wells and Mendip Museum
It's situated in beautiful surroundings. You can see the pink facade of the museum to the left of the West front of the Cathedral.
We were able to explore not just the museum but the Cathedral too, with its astronomical clock and beautiful fan-vaulted Chapter House.
Brecknock Museum in Brecon was the focus of another Friends' trip. A great deal larger than our museum in Thornbury but still not enough storage space!
A Victorian schoolroom reproduced in Brecknock Museum.
In Brecon Cathedral, we were surprised to find a stained glass window commemorating Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. He was also Lord of Brecknock, having been born in Brecon Castle on 3rd February 1478 and baptised in the Priory Church (now Brecon Cathedral).
He had the Stafford knot, familiar to us in Thornbury, on his shoulder. The cathedral guide who welcomed us was delighted to learn of the Thornbury Castle connection.
In October 2010, the Friends visited the Rolls Royce Heritage Collection, where we were given guided tours of the aero-engine display.
The Ken Baily annual lecture (and salmon supper!)
This originated as an event held to commemorate the contribution to the local community by Ken Baily and was funded by the Ken Baily Bequest for many years. The event has continued, bearing his name, as a fund- raising event for the museum.
At the 2013 Lecture and Salmon Supper, the speaker was John Buxton, who gave us a fascinating history of the engineering behind the Severn Railway Tunnel. Friends always have Priority Booking for these events but if you want to be sure of attending future Suppers, make sure you read your Friends' Newsletter and book before tickets go on general sale. Demand for tickets always outstrips supply!
Images © T&DHT
About the Friends
The Friends of the Museum group was formed in 1999 to support Thornbury Museum, to provide a programme of social and educational activities and to raise funds for the purchase of objects and archives for the museum collection.
Through our exciting programme of events and visits to different heritage destinations we aim to share our activities with a wide audience. There are regular newsletters to keep people informed of our activities.
The Friends holds an annual lecture and supper, called the Ken Baily Event in memory of Ken, a local personality. This is our major fundraising activity of the year and features a guest speaker and an excellent Salmon supper.
The Friends support the Museum in its main aim which is to 'Interpret and document the culture and heritage of Thornbury and the Lower Severn Vale for the education and enjoyment of the public.' The museum maintains a permanent exhibition as well as a varied programme of short term specialist displays.
There are a number of special events held throughout the year, including a custodians and Friends party, coffee mornings and other fund-raising events.
Join the Friends to support the museum and enjoy events and outings.
The annual subscription is £3.00 and life membership costs £25.00.
Contact the museum if you want to join us or drop in to pick up a form.