It is dedicated to researching, preserving & displaying the history of Thornbury & District Thornbury is a market town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire approximately 12 miles from Bristol. One of its main features is Thornbury Castle, a Tudor structure begun in 1511 for Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Henry VIII stayed there for ten days in 1535 with Anne Boleyn. The civil parish
includes the hamlet of Milbury Heath. It is a Britain in Bloom winner and has its own competition, Thornbury in Bloom.
1702 is the earliest record known of the building which now houses the Thornbury & District Museum when it was occupied by Innholder Anthony Powell. Later tenants were members of the Bayliss family, carriers, haulers and coal merchants. In 1888 the house was described as in Rotten Row and was occupied by William Clark a master cordwainer. From about 1891 to 1900 a basket maker, George Poole lived here. In 1901 it was purchased from the trustees of the Grammar School by Francis James Williams a surveyor and sanitary inspector. In 1907 Alfred Burrows, boot & shoe maker, lived in the house until his death in 1925. By 1926 it was occupied by the Bartlett’s who ran a butcher’s shop. In the 1950’s & early 1960’s, known tenants were Raymond Salisbury and Mildred Bayntun. The museum was started in 1986 to house a collection of artefacts bequeathed to The Thornbury Society and rapidly expanded. It is managed by the Thornbury & District Heritage Trust, a registered charity as well as a Trust company, and is supported by South Gloucestershire Council and Thornbury Town Council. It is an independent museum and financed by grants and donations.
