Bakelite Museum
Location within Somerset and the United Kingdom | |
Location | Williton, Somerset |
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Coordinates | 51°09′25″N 3°19′38″W / 51.15702°N 3.32714°W |
Website | Bakelite Museum |
The Bakelite Museum is in Williton, Somerset, England.
The museum is housed in Orchard Mill, which has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.[1] It used to be a watermill and still has the original workings in place, including the water wheel.[2]
It is home to the personal collection of Patrick Cook, and includes vintage plastics such as radios, cameras, telephones, Bayko play bricks and a Bakelite coffin, plus a Bakelite car and vintage caravans. The Bakelite era has been captured by non-plastic objects from the early 20th century – fridges, cookers, washing-machines, toasters and comptometers.[3][4] An additional feature is the contents of one of the first, pioneering Bakelite factories in Britain, with presses, moulding machines and over 120 steel moulds.
In September 2010 a fire safety inspection found various problems which needed to be rectified if the museum was to remain open to the public and satisfy the Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order 2005.[5][6] Improved access to the museum was created in 2012 by the addition of an elegant outside staircase by a local blacksmith.
However, as of September 2018, the museum has closed in the Orchard Mill location and the collection is being packed up to move to a future location.[7]
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Interior
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Vacuum cleaners with Bakelite bodies
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Bakelite radio
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Picnic basket
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Clock
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Disused water wheel
See also
- Leo Baekeland, inventor of Bakelite (1907)
References
- ^ "Orchard Millhouse". Images of England. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Historic England. "Orchard Millhouse, Mill and Waterwheel (1174791)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ Campbell, Sophie (23 June 2007). "This is Bakelite, do not adjust your dial". Telegraph. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "Bakelite Museum". Culture 24. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "Costs 'may shut Williton Bakelite Museum'". BBC. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "Bakelite museum in Somerset tangled in red tape after fire visit". This is Somerset. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "The Bakelite Museum". The Bakelite Museum. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
External links
- Article about the museum with photos
- Article about the museum with photos
- Bakelite! (youtube)
- Other Bakelite museums