Welcome to
Our Blog.
A road less travelled
by Sally Hendry Ever mapped out a journey only to find yourself distracted by a road less travelled, an interesting ruin or simply an enticing pub? Losing your way can be both frustrating and fascinating – and that is exactly the case with historical research. Whether you are searching online for your great great grandfather [...]
How Slag Lane got its name
by Liz Argent... Westbury hit the headlines recently when it was announced that the road signs at Slag Lane were to be reinstated by Wiltshire Council. But how did it get its name in the first place? To answer that question, we need to look back at the history of the Westbury ironworks. When the [...]
Christmas 1850 at Fontainville
By Sally Hendry... Decorating our Christmas trees is a favourite tradition but you might be surprised to learn that Westbury could have been one of the first places in Wiltshire where a tree was decorated for the festive season. That's all thanks to James Wilson, the founder of the Economist, and one-time Westbury MP. He lived in Fontainville House, [...]
The best days of our lives?
By Brenda Pyne... Welcome to what is the first of Westbury Museum’s blogs – we hope you will enjoy the subjects we choose. With the children going back to school after their summer break, we found an item in our collections which we thought is very relevant but would also take us back in time a little – [...]
A road less travelled
by Sally Hendry Ever mapped out a journey only to find yourself distracted by a road less travelled, an interesting ruin or simply an enticing pub? Losing your way can be both frustrating and fascinating – and that is exactly the case with historical research. Whether you are searching online for your great great grandfather [...]
How Slag Lane got its name
by Liz Argent... Westbury hit the headlines recently when it was announced that the road signs at Slag Lane were to be reinstated by Wiltshire Council. But how did it get its name in the first place? To answer that question, we need to look back at the history of the Westbury ironworks. When the [...]
Christmas 1850 at Fontainville
By Sally Hendry... Decorating our Christmas trees is a favourite tradition but you might be surprised to learn that Westbury could have been one of the first places in Wiltshire where a tree was decorated for the festive season. That's all thanks to James Wilson, the founder of the Economist, and one-time Westbury MP. He lived in Fontainville House, [...]
The best days of our lives?
By Brenda Pyne... Welcome to what is the first of Westbury Museum’s blogs – we hope you will enjoy the subjects we choose. With the children going back to school after their summer break, we found an item in our collections which we thought is very relevant but would also take us back in time a little – [...]