NCBPT: The Museum at The Folly: Temporary Exhibition 2011

The exhibition will explore the history of The Folly over the past 350 years against the backdrop of what was happening in North Craven and further afield during the same period.

Our main exhibition, occupying the ground floor and main rooms on the first and second floors, considers some of the ways in which The Folly itself and North Craven as a whole have responded and are continuing to respond to change - both good and bad - over the best part of four centuries. To do this we are looking at a range of themes against the backdrop of a national timeline. Topics include markets and fairs, family business, agriculture, travel, building development and many others. The exhibition is rich in objects as well as photographs and includes many interesting artefacts made in or associated with North Craven. A reconstruction of Settle smithy in the time of the late Alf Limmer will occupy the first floor alcove which last year contained the 'washing' display. The upper staircase walls will be used for the exhibition of portrait photographs of Settle people in Victorian times and again in 1953.

As a result of our ongoing research into The Folly itself, the existing panels in the parlour are being completely updated and will include more detail about the North Range. The opportunity is also being taken to display information and photographs about the work of the North Craven Building Preservation Trust over its 40-year history and these panels will occupy space on the first staircase and landing walls.

The 18 display panels from the exhibition "Challenge and Change" give an interesting taste of the exhibition, and give an excellent narrative of the history of various aspects of the local area; the boards are available in PDF and as a standard web page:

There is a review of the exhibition by the Craven Herald (of 12 May 2011): pdf (1.2Mb) , reproduced by permission of and with thanks to The Craven Herald http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/. The text of the Review is:

Whether you are from a long-established Settle family, a visitor curious to find out more about the place or, like myself, an "offcumden" who has chosen to make their home in the area, there is something to interest and intrigue you in this exhibition, which charts how the town has evolved over the centuries. The exhibition is dedicated to the late Ian Roberts, a solicitor and local historian who was an active supporter of the Folly museum. He would surely have been proud of the way in which the exhibition draws together artefacts donated by families and businesses. A highlight is the reconstruction of Alf Limmer's smithy, which not only incorporates authentic tools donated by his family, but also has photographs of Alf at work. From the wealth of written material on display, it would seem record-keeping played a large part in local life as there are a range of diaries and ledgers to browse through which give intriguing insights into earlier lives. Particularly moving was the request for assistance written on behalf of an illiterate family, explaining how they were surviving on less than five shillings most weeks because of the eyesight problems which prevented them from weaving. The exhibition also highlights how economic developments in national life impacted on the town, and there is information on how the arrival of the railways impacted on the locality. Display boards chart how Clapham shunned the railway, choosing instead to preserve the way of life on the estates. whereas Hellifield thrived with the arrival of the station which led to an increase in population and trade. Watching over the displays are photographs of citizens from earlier times. Among the artefacts are a range of incredible curios: details of arval cakes, also known as funeral biscuits (these were made in Settle as late as the 1820s although were unknown in other parts of the country); a pottery puzzle jug; an intricate diagram detailing how to improve your memory devised in 1827 by a local educationalist; a photograph of elephants and camels parading through Settle Market Place and a poignant reminder of World War One in the form of an embroidered birthday card sent from the front. The exhibition is a treasure trove, demonstrating local resilience and adaptability and concluding with details of how forward thinking continues to shape the area.

You may like to review the events for 2011 on the Events page, which gives details of events through the season related to the exhibition.

Temporary Exhibitions for other years may be found by clicking on the relevant links below:

Museum of North Craven Life at The Folly, Settle

Temporary Exhibitions 2011