Our kitchen range is a part of the structure of the museum. As such it forms a permanent display. We believe it was installed when the cottage was built in the 1840s – and there it still is. Actually, it is not in good order, but is cosmetically OK and it certainly is a real feature of our kitchen display area.
The range in the kitchen at Market Lavington Museum
There we see it – a small, cottage sized range with rather huge saucepans on top. The range would have been in use in living memory for the Burbidge family lived there until the 1950s.
We have more clutter around the range than would have been the case. On the mantle shelf we have appropriate photos of the Burbidge family along with lamps and a candle wick trimmer. There are also various tins and trinkets.
The walls around the range have displays of items which may have been used in the kitchen area. This includes hair curlers – the house never had a bathroom.
The rug in front of the stove is made from old rags. Nothing was wasted in the domestic economy of past times. It was used in Market Lavington before coming to the museum.
Our museum reopens for 2015 on Saturday 2nd May at 2.30pm. You can come and see it for yourself then.
Market Lavington Museum 