Spring 2020 and Summer 2021

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we are closed (as a museum) at present. We are taking this opportunty to further expand our floor space, and catch up with online data entry and recording of information so that we'll be even more ready for you when we re-open. 

We remain very much open online.

Welcome

The Well House Collection is is comprised of documents, ephemera, books, photographs and audio/visual files that chronicle the history of Melksham and surrounding villages in Wiltshire, England.

Acquisitions are privately funded, donated and loaned to be freely seen and used for study by members of the public.

The collection is housed at Well House Manor, and many of these items can be viewed on this website. Documents, maps, books and transcribed censuses can be freely downloaded by clicking the links on the right sidebar. These files will be a treasured source of information for you researching your family roots, your house history, or just learning about the Melksham area in general and the remarkable people who once lived here.

We also have volunteers who will be happy to help you in your research; please do stop by or get in touch for anything we can help you with.

Do you have items you think would be interesting to others? We accept donations and take items on temporary loan. Do you have old photographs of Melksham? We are happy to scan them for you so your treasures can be enjoyed without the originals becoming damaged.

The Well House Collection is passionate about Melksham history, and if you are too, and enjoy puzzles, forensics, research and learning, you might want to consider volunteering to help!

See us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thewellhousecollection

Including daily updates of "On this day ..." An interesting collection of births, marriages and deaths of people relating to Melksham and surrounding villages. This also features several in-depth biographies, newspaper accounts, photos and interesting information of those listed.

Current projects

Updated Wednesday, 21 July 2021

Please forgive the absence of updates in the last year. Two major projects are now complete, and we can again focus on the following:
  • REOPENING SOON: We moved to a room that more than doubles our size. This took a bit of construction and re-organising. Items have been coming in since and require some cateloging. If you don't mind a small bit of chaos, then please do make an appoitnment to visit. Once we've caught up, we'll re-open to the public.
  • RESEARCH: Adding to the database has been ongoing and we're now up to almost 45,0000 local names. This will increase by a large number when the 1921 census has been released. It will also give us many answers to "whatever happened to...?" from the Melksham Remembers project. Look for the transcription of 1922 around the end of 2022.
    • BOOK: Dare I even mention a book I have been wanting to write for the past seven years? This was the year I've been committing to myself that I would finally organise and publish the results of all the research into an infamous Melksham event that happened more than 100 years ago. Watch this space.
    • UPDATED CENSUSES: The updated versions are complete now, and contain transcription notes which reflect more accurate information, based on additional research. These notes are highlighted in purple and/or include an asterisk to set them apart from the original census details.

    Please note: We are constantly making changes to the census transcriptions, so there might be changes not reflected in the latest upload. We are also anxious to hear from you for any corrections to be made. Please get in touch!