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Museum to celebrate its own history in 150th year
Somerset Guardian
|June 12, 2025
An institution that celebrates the history of Somerset is marking its own major milestone this year.
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The Museum of Somerset turns 150 next month and a series of events have been planned to acknowledge its birthday.
The museum is based in Taunton Castle which is very much older, dating back to the 12th century.
The birth of the museum began with the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society's foundation in 1849 by “several gentlemen of Taunton and its neighbourhood”.
They wanted to study all aspects of Somerset history and were enthusiastic collectors of archives, objects and books.
They were also keen to create a museum. In 1874 the society bought Taunton Castle and on July 12 the following year the museum was opened.
This story is from the June 12, 2025 edition of Somerset Guardian.
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