Features
and Review
Official Opening
of the Cavern Exhibition at the Brixham Heritage Museum
Beneath Brixham there
lies a hidden landscape including three principal fossil “bone”
caverns (Windmill Cavern, Ash Hole Cavern & Bench Cavern).
They attracted much scientific interest during the Victorian
period but have since been largely forgotten, (especially as
Windmill Hill Cavern was closed as a show cavern in 1977.) |
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Now Brixham Heritage
Museum has created a display to offer an insight into the
fossil “bone caverns”. The display aims to explain their discovery,
exploration and contributions to our knowledge of extinct
prehistoric animals that once roamed Brixham. The display
includes fossil remains, prehistoric pottery, and a stone
axe head, with explanatory panels and a full- size cut out
of a female cave bear!
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On Saturday
9th April the New Cavern Exhibition was officially opened with
Mayor Nick Bye present and members of the Thyer family who have
donated Ice Age animal fossils forming part of the new display.
Back in 1945 when
Dennis Thyer was a teenager he found the fossils in the Windmill
Hill Cavern, and used to keep them wrapped up in tissue, inside
a Jacob's Cream Cracker Tin. Over the years, Dennis would bring
fossils out periodically, to show family. Recently Dennis's
sons and daughters decided they would contact the Brixham Heritage
Museum in order to see the fossils returned to Brixham. |
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Yvonne Hunt and Yvette Stock, Dennis's daughters, were presented
with flowers and a beautiful commemorative mug at the Exhibition
Opening, with Yvette explaining the story about her father and
said it was her brothers Aubrey and Francis Thyer that were also
responsible for the returning of the fossils. |
John Read
Vice Chairman of the Brixham Heritage Museum gave thanks to
everyone for coming to the Official Opening of the New Cavern
Exhibition and said, “This is a fantastic little Museum, where
the Volunteers' and Committee's commitment, mean it will be
a heritage for others too.”
Curator of the Brixham
Heritage Museum, Philip Armitage, went on to remind everyone
that ‘Brixham is part of the Torbay Geopark and the Caverns
are very important historically.' Philip Armitage then expressed
his thanks to the volunteer team at the Museum and to the Museum
Fundraisers for their work in making the exhibition a success.
Special mention was made to Chris Macauly and Louise Cresswell
for designing and building the display and to Rose Coulton and
John Smith for artistic expertise. He also thanked Lesley Smith
and Chris Proctor for their part in the helping create the Cavern
Exhibition.
Philip Armitage also
expressed special thanks to Graham Head who in the 1960s was
responsible for collecting the prehistoric pottery from Ash
Hole Cavern now part of the new display. Graham was presented
with an award for distinguished services to the Museum's archaeological
research.
Finally Mayor Nick
Bye said,” The art work and the display are fantastic and the
Caverns are a great part of Brixham's History.”
To see the
new display, the Museum opening times are from April 12th –
Oct 29th , 10am- 4pm, Tues day to Saturday and the Museum is
open all Bank Holidays. (Winter opening times Tuesday to Saturday
10am-1pm.) |
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Features
and Reviews 
