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The Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum
Welcome                                                Open on Sundays at Norden Park and Ride

NEWS  

 
2010  is the 250th anniversary of the start of trading in Dorset by the Pike Family.
Don't forget to visit the "Wants" page and the "Finance" page to see if you are able to help us with the project.

 The working models of Norden and Eldon's have been invited to various exhibitions during 2010.    Click here for details of exhibitions

Purbeck is rich in Minerals and they have been supplied across the world. They have changed the way we live. The Museum is being built to tell that story. The first aim of the museum is to create a working Ball Clay Mining Museum complex. This will include displays showing how Ball Clay has made its mark on the Industrial revolution, paid for the education of the first person to send a radio message and who went on to invent the spark plug for internal combustion engine. It will show how Ball Clay changed the eating hygiene of the nation, provided the wealth that allowed Darwin to formulate his theory on "the origin of the species". It will show a link between Guy's Hospital, St Paul's Cathedral and the Ball Clay extraction at Norden. From Corfe to Wareham, the extraction Ball Clay has been been the main employment since the mid 18th Century. The Museum will record the living conditions of the workers, and show the families of the Clay Merchants. The Museum will record that 3 narrow gauge clay lines were in Purbeck before the Swanage Railway branch was built and will relay track along the old formations at Norden as well as rebuilding some of the buildings of the Norden Complex. The visitor will be able to read about, see and hear the Mining activities now relegated to the history books.


The Norden Complex in the 1960's © Mike Day

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If you are in anyway connected to the Ball Clay Industry we would love to hear from you.

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If you have any photos or artifacts connected to the Ball Clay Industry we would love to know.

Changes to Website

Revision

Date

 Details

Revision E 10th November 2009 Harper's New Monthly  Magazine article
Revision F 17th November 2009 Models commitments for 2010 added
Revision G 21st November 2009 William Joseph Pike's love of railways
Revision H 1st December 2009 Mine construction photos updated   
Revision I 17th December 2009 Mine construction photos updated   
Revision J 19th December 2009 A book to read for Christmas 
Revision K 20th December 2009 Mine construction photos updated   
Revision L 22nd December 2009 Norden Mines Correction   
Revision M 31st December 2009 Mine construction photos updated   
Revision N 9th January 2010 A winter's view of the museum 
Revision 0 21st January 2010 Benjamin Fayle information updated 
Revision P 31st January 2010 Memories of an underground cow updated 

               
 is part of the

Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum

           

Swanage Railway Trust – Swanage Railway,    
Station House, Swanage, Dorset. BH19 1HB    
A Company Limited by Guarantee No.4115126
           Registe
red Charity 1087318 

 

 

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Contacts:-  The PMMMG Chairman (Peter Sills)    Website queries ( John Rowley)
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