Wellington Museum

Wellington Museum stands in the centre of Wellington, Somerset, in a 17th-century building once called The Squirrel Hotel. Its stone walls and bay windows still show the style of the Bluetts, a local family who once owned the land. The hotel sign came from their coat of arms, a squirrel above a holly bush. Inside, the museum traces the town’s modern story from wool to iron and banking. A display case holds an old bank note from Fox, Fowler and Company, the private bank once based here. The museum gives weight to Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, who is closely linked with the town. His family name appears on local streets and plaques around Wellington. Iron founding and agriculture also feature among the exhibits. Visitors can study tools, documents and photographs that show how the town changed over time. The building itself, with its porches and ground-floor windows, remains a Grade II listed example of 17th-century design. Upstairs, the Local History Society keeps research files open to the public. Downstairs, the town council meets in rooms that still show the hotel’s original layout. The museum shares the entrance with these offices, so visitors step past council notices and meeting rooms. From the windows, shoppers and passers-by can be seen moving through the town centre. The building’s past as a busy inn lingers in its thick walls and wide doorways.