Castle Cary Museum

26/04/2026

Sunday 10th May 2026 - Cary History Society presents their second talk in 2026 'The Lost Manor of Cary' - not to be missed! Full details in the Cary History Society post below.

Our second talk in 2026 will be ** 'The Lost Manor of Cary' **, presented by Professor Will Vaughan. Cary lost its manor some time ago, however, there are still traces of it to be found around the town. This talk explores the history of the Manor and considers how it affected later developments in the community.
This illustrated talk is on Sunday 10th May @ 3 p.m at Caryford Hall, Castle Cary BA7 7JJ. Tickets are £5 from Bailey Hill Bookshop and on the door if space allows. Refreshments available. Doors open 2.30 p.m. Proceeds are in aid of the Castle Cary Museum

11/04/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our annual Coffee Morning at The Market House today and made this social get together and fund raiser a great success! We all enjoyed the delicious cakes and the raffle (thank you to the contributors) and our bookstall of Somerset & Local History publications was well patronised together with sales of our new 'Cary in the Domesday Book' Tea Towels! We We also welcomed many visitors to the Museum itself upstairs, whilst outside the Tools for Self Reliance group and in the Shambles the Textiles Exhibition enjoyed lots of visitors. It's not often the Market House has three events at the same time and everyone seemed to enjoy it all - THANK YOU!

10/04/2026

All are welcome to visit our Museum Coffee Morning tomorrow, Saturday 11th April 2026 at the The Market House, from 9.30 to 12.30. The Museum will also be Open from 10.30 to 15.30pm. We will have refreshments, cakes, a raffle and a Book Stall featuring Somerset & Local History books - come and join us!

09/04/2026

We're hosting our Museum Coffee Morning at The Market House this coming Saturday, 11th April 2026. We'll have refreshments, cakes, a Quiz, a Raffle and a Book Sale comprising secondhand, mostly local Somerset interest PLUS our Castle Cary local history books (new). Come and join us - we'd love to meet you AND the Museum itself will be open too. The Market House

25/03/2026

Our winter rest is almost over and The Museum will re-open on Saturday 28th March 2026, open Monday to Saturday 10.30am to 3.30pm until late October. We look forward to welcoming you all!
This year’s special event ‘BOTTOMS UP!’ will look at a selection of interesting objects from unusual points of view. There will be a quiz, a competition and – back by popular demand – Museum tea-towels will be for sale.
Our coffee morning is on 11th April – a date to put in your diary.
HELP NEEDED!
We are looking for volunteers who can spare a few hours a week to help run the museum. No experience is needed and training will be given if required… We are a friendly group of people
interested in old things, local history and meeting a wide variety of local people and visitors.
Please contact: [email protected]

23/03/2026

Our winter rest is almost over and The Museum will re-open on Saturday 28th March 2026, open Monday to Saturday 10.30am to 3.30pm until late October. We look forward to welcoming you all!

This year’s special event ‘BOTTOMS UP!’ will look at a selection of interesting objects from unusual points of view. There will be a quiz, a competition and – back by popular demand – Museum tea-towels will be for sale.
Our coffee morning is on 11th April – a date to put in your diary.
HELP NEEDED!
We are looking for volunteers who can spare a few hours a week to help run the museum. No experience is needed and training will be given if required… We are a friendly group of people
interested in old things, local history and meeting a wide variety of local people and visitors.
Please contact: [email protected]

25/02/2026

Cary Museum in Winter :🥶The fourth illustrated talk in our winter series will be 'Carry on Cary! A History of the Cinema in Cary' presented by Chris Culpin on Sunday 8th March 2026 In the Castle Cary Market House Shambles BA7 7AH, at 3 p.m. Doors open 2.30, Tickets are £5 from Bailey Hill Bookshop and on the door if we have space.
There will also be a chance to become a “Friend” of our museum and/or volunteer to help in other ways.
All proceeds are in aid of Castle Cary Museum which is self funded and reliant on donations.

26/01/2026

Cary Museum in Winter :🥶The third illustrated talk in our winter series will be 'An Old Fashioned Christian - The Life, Work & Ideals of Douglas Macmillan' presented by Linda Thornton on Sunday 8th February 2026 In Castle Cary Market House Shambles BA7 7AH, at 3 p.m. Doors open 2.30 – refreshments available.
Tickets are £5 from Bailey Hill Bookshop and on the door only. J
There will also be a chance to become a “Friend” of our museum and/or volunteer to help in other ways.
All proceeds are in aid of Castle Cary Museum which is self funded and reliant on donations.

01/01/2026

Cary Museum in Winter :🥶The second illustrated talk in our winter series will be 'Castle Cary Station – from Building to Bombing' by Jon Baggott on Sunday 11 January 2026 In Castle Cary Market House Shambles BA7 7AH, at 3 p.m. Doors open 2.30 – refreshments.

Tickets on the door only. Jon has permission to play an interview recorded by the BBC in 1942 – provided admission is free. However we will be asking for donations (suggest £5) to cover costs etc. Please bring cash. At the end of the talk one room of the Museum upstairs will be open providing an opportunity to see the model of Cary station which was donated by Peco for the ‘Cary Through Time in 21 Objects’ exhibition put on by the Cary History Society in 2021.
There will also be a chance to become a “Friend” of our museum and/or volunteer to help in other ways.

Three Further events to note

On Sunday 25 January Chris Culpin will give a talk on Cary’s industrial past at 3 p.m. in Caryford hall.

On Sunday 8 February Cary Museum in Winter – details to be announced.

On Sunday 22 February a concert is being planned to take place in the medieval hall at Lower Cockhill Farm – music for two lutes. Tickets will be £20 with very limited numbers.

All profits go to local good causes.

More information about these will follow in due course.

10/12/2025

's Christmas is tomorrow, Thursday 11th December 2025. Come and join us in the Museum from 5.30pm to celebrate a Victorian Christmas, including the all important Christmas dinner. See what the Victorians would have enjoyed on their Christmas table and how traditions and festivities came to be. Do you know when the first recorded pantomime was performed in Castle Cary?

We are very child friendly - Bring your children along to try out the toys that the Children of Castle Cary would have played with 150 years ago. Write your Christmas shopping list as you peruse the adverts for Castle Cary shops and businesses placed in The Visitor at the end of the 19th century. ENTRY IS AT THE REAR OF THE MUSEUM from through the door on Bailey Hill. We look forward to seeing you.

08/12/2025

Castle Cary Museum in Winter! Whilst the Museum is closed for the Winter, this event is the first in a short series of informal, 40-minute, illustrated talks each based on something in the
museum’s collection. There will be a chance to ask questions and if possible the object discussed will be on view.
Our first 'Museum in Winter' presentation is on Sunday 14th December at 3 p.m. in the Market House Shambles and is entitled “The Mystery of the Angel”. Prof Will Vaughan (Chair of Cary Museum) will discuss the medieval Angel from All Saints’ Church. Where was it found? Where was it originally? Why is it so weathered?

Tickets (£5) are now on sale in Bailey Hill bookshop and will also be available on the door if space allows. Doors open 2.30 p.m. Angelic refreshments available. Donations welcome!

There will also be the chance to become a Friend of Cary Museum and/or to volunteer to help staff it.

This event is in aid of the Museum and All Saints’ Church – which loans the Angel to our museum.