CLAIRE CROWTHER – MUSEUM POET IN RESIDENCE 2025
From 8th April 2025
We are delighted to be joined at the museum for 2025 by the acclaimed poet, Claire Crowther, who now lives in Frome though she still teaches Creative Writing in Oxford. Claire has had several anthologies of poems published including one when she was Poet in Residence at the Royal Mint.
Claire’s plans for her residence are twofold: firstly, to respond creatively and poetically to some of the museum’s artefacts that she is drawn to, and secondly, to engage with both visitors and volunteers with a view to eliciting personal responses.
Claire will be available every Tuesday from April 8th between 11am and 12.30pm in the Upper Gallery to talk to visitors about poetry writing and to share her impressions of certain items. In addition, she will be organising a series of free creative writing sessions that will be both educational and fun. Dates will be available on our website and Facebook pages shortly.
So, if you want to explore your response to the mystery of the Frome Hoard burial or the horrors of life in the Frome workhouse, why not pop in to the museum on a Tuesday morning or sign up for a workshop class? We are very fortunate to engage Claire Crowther for 2025, and we hope her residency will produce a permanent legacy in the form of a series of creative responses to some of our 32000-plus items.
Photo by Caroline Forbes
Major New Exhibition
A major new two-part exhibition from 11th March looks at the history of Frome’s Trinity area from the earliest times, focusing on The Great Clearance — the 1960s enforced demolition of swathes of historic properties that were considered at the time no more than worthless slums. The exhibition sheds light on a pivotal moment in Frome’s social and civic history, illustrating how these events shaped the town’s development and its sense of independent community.
Trinity, Part 1: The Great Clearance, 1962-1968 opens at Frome Museum, 1 North Parade, on Tuesday 11th March. Entry is free.
Looking for the ideal gift?
A selection of books about Frome is available to buy from the Frome Society for Local Study.
The perfect gift for local history enthusiasts!
We stock many of these books in the museum for immediate purchase. We also carry a small selection of second hand local history books relating to Frome and its surrounding area.
Interested in volunteering?
Are you interested in giving back to your community?
Contact us at info@frome-museum or org or give us a call on 01373 454611 to have a chat about how you can get involved.
Calling all researchers!
Following several years of development by a team of expert volunteers, the museum’s new online collections catalogue, with tens of thosands of records covering the history of Frome, is now available to all public researchers.
Accessible online via this website, Axiell Collections is faster in terms of searches and downloads than the previous system and will futureproof the museum with its ability to supports new technical developments in the future.
Together with this year’s refreshed branding and new approach to exhibitions and events, it strengthens the museum’s reputation as one of the most advanced small museums in the south west.
Please support your museum
Frome Museum is entirely run by a team of enthusiastic and committed volunteers.
We receive no regular funding and are dependent on the funds we raise ourselves and on donations from our visitors and supporters.
Thank you for keeping the museum at the heart of the community in Frome.
