Front of the museum in 2011

The Land of Lost Content is a museum in Craven Arms, Shropshire, that collects everyday objects such as toys, magazines and packaging.[1][2]

The museum's name is taken from Poem XL in A. E. Housman's collection A Shropshire Lad.

History

The museum was founded by Stella Mitchell, who had begun collecting everyday objects while studying art in Birmingham in the 1970s.[3][4] She opened her first museum in 1991 with her husband Dave in West Sussex, before moving to Craven Arms in 2003.[3] The current premises is the town's former market hall, constructed in 1888, which the couple bought for £165,000.[5] It contains 37 separate displays spread out over four floors.[6]

In 2018, the museum was threatened with closure because it did not meet modern safety standards. The owners retrofitted the premises with additional fire doors and extinguishers.[7]

Collections

Objects in the museum include a variety of Chad Valley toys, bluebirds taken from the gates of the Blue Bird Toffee factory,[3][8] tickets from the first National Lottery in 1994 and a Sinclair C5.[5]

The museum is run without any funding or sponsorship and has relied on word of mouth to build a reputation for its collections and displays.[7] All of the museum's objects were popular and in everyday use at some point since the late Victorian era.[8] Though many items were mass-produced with no perceived value when collected by the museum, they have since acquired significance as they are attached to visitors' personal memories and a view to how people used to live.[3]

Donations

The Land of Lost Content has donated objects in its collections to various other museums and exhibitions. These include a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Festival of Britain in 2011, supplying 1930s posters to the Black Country Living Museum and furnishing a flat with contemporary objects in Balfron Tower as part of a National Trust display of Brutalist architecture in 2014.[3][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "15 UK market towns you'll want to discover". The Guardian. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Readers' tips: winter family days out". The Guardian. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Unique Shropshire museum celebrating 25 quirky years". Shropshire Star. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "Unusual museums … way out days out". The Guardian. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Unforgettable". Birmingham Mail. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Shropshire's Land of Lost Content museum opens in December for first time". Shropshire Star. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Land of lost content re-opens in Craven Arms". Shropshire Star. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 "See inside the museum crammed with Birmingham and Black Country memories". Birmingham Mail. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "National Trust opens 1960s pop-up flat in iconic tower". East London Lines. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

52°26′23″N 2°50′00″W / 52.4398°N 2.8334°W / 52.4398; -2.8334

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