Market Drayton Museum is maintained and funded by Drayton Civic Society through charitable donations and run entirely by Volunteers who give their time to enable the museum to open to the public – as well as look after the extensive archives and artefact collections it holds.
The Museum is open Saturdays 10.30am-1.00pm and Wednesdays 10.30am-3.00pm April to October, so to give the public chance to see some of the collection when it’s closed, we’re planning a special Artwork Exhibition at Festival Drayton Centre from Tuesday 3rd January to Saturday 4th February 2023.
The display will include the 5-panel Charter Embroideries, made to commemorate the 750th Anniversary of Market Drayton’s Town Charter, granted in 1245 by Henry III. Each panel has been individually created and depicts buildings and scenes of Market Drayton using various styles of textile art (now called “multimedia”) and are well worth a close-up look!
The panels were intricately worked by five talented needlewomen, Vicki Lee-Overy, Joe Hastie, Jenny Compton, Peggy Bourne and Jackie Woosey, who formed themselves into “Group 94”.
If any of the ladies or their relatives can provide further information, e.g. how long each panel took to make, where they made them (did they have a stitch and chat group?) or how they chose which buildings, we’d love to get more information! Maybe we could display each panel along with a photograph of each lady? If any of them could call in at the Museum or contact us by email we’d be very pleased to hear from them.
The picture shows Panel 4 by Peggy Bourne. Can you identify some of these buildings?
The panels are on permanent display in the Museum, along with many other artefacts with a direct connection to Market Drayton. We tell the ‘Story of Drayton’ with a variety of displays in an informal setting. Our friendly Volunteer Stewards are always happy to help answer your questions and we have a large Archive of local information available for your own research.
Admission is Free and it’s well worth a visit, so we look forward to welcoming you when we open again in April.
Market Drayton Museum & Resource Centre
53 Shropshire Street, Market Drayton TF9 3D
