What can you see inside...
Exhibitions in the Museum tell the history of the Town, of the Lords and Ladies who once lived in Clare, and of the ordinary people who lived and worked here. The Museum features computerised records providing information for those interested in genealogy, the history of the Town, its people and buildings. In 2007 our exhibits featured the Clare Reliquary Cross, a famous medieval artifact which was found in the grounds of Clare Castle. In 2008-09 we focused on the history of Clare Common with its remains of an Iron Age fort and the medieval farm of Erbury Manor.
For 2010 our exhibition is on how the churches of Clare adjusted to the religious and political upheavals that happened over the centuries. Above you can see the Introductory panel locating the current and historic church buildings, together with the panel on the destruction of Clare Priory at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. See the News & Events section for more information.
The Clare War Memorial. Alison Krohn, a resident of Clare, spent over 10 years studying the histories of Clare people who were killed in action in both World Wars. The details she gathered include their family backgrounds, where they lost their lives and where they are buried. To view these findings, visit the Museum and ask to view our data base.
Publications about Clare available from the Museum
David Hatton, Clare Suffolk, 2007, 96 pp. £10.00 + p&p £1.50
Walter Perry, The Common at Clare 1870, 2002, 47 pp. £3.50 + p&p
Deborah Ridley, A Clare View: Ten Sketches £1.00 + p&p
David Ridley, Clare: Annals of the Borough 1550-1700, n.d., 32 pp. £2.00 + p&p
David Ridley, Clare: Annals of the Borough 1605-1610 The Land War, n.d., 16 pp. £2.00 + p&p
David Ridley, Clare: Annals of the Borough 1700-1800, n.d. £2.00 + p&p
David Ridley, Clare: Annals of the Borough 1800-1850, n.d. 32 pp. £2.00 + p&p
David Ridley, Clare Baptist Church, the First 200 Years, n.d. £2.00 + p&p
[Peggy Smith], The Clare Reliquary, 2007, 6 pp. £1.00 + p&p
Poster for the 1906 re-opening of the Clare Congregational Church
Local printer E. Coe kept a sample book, now in the Museum. The Church later became part of the United Reformed Church.
Poster by Coe to raise funds for the Baptist minister's house.
An ancester of the Crows listed on the Committee was Francis Crow, featured in the 2010 Exhibition.
Manuscript of the Litany.
This Victorian example of a medieval form is on loan from Clare Parish Church.
