THE Wellington Museum was declared open to the public for 2025 at an official ceremony.

Performed by the Mayor of Wellington, Cllr Janet Lloyd, and town crier, Andrew Norris, the opening welcomed local residents and staff alike who gathered outside the museum site on Fore Street for the ceremony on Monday, April 7.

Also in attendance was the chair of the Wellington Local History and Museum Society, Mark Lithgow, and the vice chair, Paddy Gray, together with museum volunteers who then welcomed the first visitors of the new season.

The popular town institution has been closed as usual over the winter months, undergoing internal work, with volunteers busy cataloguing, cleaning and sorting exhibition items for the forthcoming season.

Several new exhibitions are on offer, including the famous Wellington sampler, and a special VE Day collection to honour the upcoming May celebration.

Visitors now also have the chance to see a portrait of the Duke of Wellington, a model of the Battle of Waterloo, complete with soldiers, horses and a canon, the Fox family history and the beloved model of Wellington’s Wellesley Cinema.

The museum was established in 1983 with the help of money left over from the town’s celebrations of the queen’s silver jubilee in 1977, alongside donations from townspeople and businesses.

Run by The Wellington Local History and Museum Society, the museum is set up in the ground floor of the old Squirrel Hotel on Fore Street, which was formerly an old coaching inn, established in 1673.

From April, the museum will be open on weekdays from 10am-4pm and Saturdays from 10am-1pm until the school autumn half term. It is then only open on a Saturday morning until mid-December when it closes until the following April.

The museum can now also be accessed through the Wellington Town Council reception. Admission is free.