Welcome to Mere Museum

MERE MUSEUM was founded in 1970. At that time a new Public Library was being set up in the old National School in Church Street. The school had been built in 1839 on the initiative of Dean Pearson of Salisbury who gave the site and opened the school in 1840. The building was enlarged in 1864 and two more classrooms provided in 1891 when The Grove Buildings were put up on an adjacent site in 1891. The school was vacated in 1966. In 1969/70 the County Council invited Mere's Local History Committee to have four showcases in the new Library for the display of historical documents, photographs and artefacts that people might offer.

From that modest beginning there are now more than 6,000 items in the Museum's collection with eight showcases and two large wall-mounted displays.

In a corner of the Library is a MINI MUSEUM for children. This is intended to introduce young children to the investigation and identification of objects through various 'games' and so give them some idea of what a museum does. It is a popular part of the Library/Museum and with it, the Museum won a Gulbenkian Foundation Award in 1998 for 'an outstanding achievement with limited resources'.

Since 1990, there has been an active FRIENDS OF MERE MUSEUM group which raises funds for the museum and lends support in other ways.  Contact us to learn more.