A remarkable Elizabethan timber-framed building in the heart of Bishop’s Castle. It tells the story of conventional rural life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, with local artefacts and memorabilia.
The House on Crutches Museum is situated in a remarkable timber framed building dating back to Elizabethan times. It houses an extensive social history collection covering many aspects of community life and agriculture in Bishop’s Castle and South West Shropshire.
The story of this unique small town is told through displays of local artefacts and memorabilia, mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Rural life and farming were very important in this area on the remote borders between England and Wales, but the town supported thriving industries such as brewing, clock making, shoemaking and tanning which are well represented in the museum.
We also provide a glimpse into domestic life at a time when industrial innovations began to find their way into rural homes across the country.
The Museum currently has four rooms devoted to domestic life, local businesses, agriculture and childhood. The story of the long-defunct Bishop’s Castle Railway is told here.
Recently, a display celebrating the Life of Sir Albert Howard was created in the Agricultural Room. Albert Howard was born at Bishop’s Castle in 1873 and went on to become an eminent soil scientist, a co-founder of The Soil Association and someone who is still revered today in India, where he conducted much of his research.
In 2022 a new display featuring two local Morris Dancing teams was commissioned. The Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Roden’s Tuppeny Dish were founded in 1975 using the Border Morris style. The new display documents nearly fifty years of activity together with an opportunity for adults and children to try on the teams’ characteristic costumes.
The House on Crutches museum is part of The House on Crutches Museum Collection Trust (HOCMCT). HOCMCT also runs Bishop’s Castle Heritage Resource Centre. Here is held a large amount of information such as Parish Records and other documents concerning Bishop’s Castle and surrounding parishes as well as a small reference library. Volunteers research the history of the area, curating artefacts and documents. A Family History research workshop is held weekly.
