Hidden Tenbury 

Often over-looked for local well-known market towns such as Malvern and Ludlow, Tenbury is a town rich in heritage, culture and community and is known as the international capital of Mistletoe with an annual market held in December each year. The town is also well-known for growing hops, cider apples and for the rearing of cattle and sheep, which is showcased in the annual Agricultural and Countryside Show held every August.

 

Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Tenbury Wells Museum & History Group were able to deliver in 2019 an exciting new project aimed at uncovering some of the hidden heritage of the town.
The Hidden Tenbury project is an inter-generational collaboration between Tenbury Wells Museum & History Group, local residents of Tenbury and students at Tenbury High Ormiston Academy, exploring and archiving the personal testimonials, memories, industrial and social histories into a digital map for anyone to enjoy.

 

Community members were invited over a six-month period to explore and capture hidden stories of the town and surrounding area. These stories will be brought to life via 10 digital themes, and are the basis of a self-guided digital tour of the market town. The 10 themes are:

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 1) River Teme and Teme Bridge                       6) Commerce and the Corn Exchange

 2) Music, Dance  & The Bridge Hotel            7) St Mary’s Church and Tenbury Floods

 3) Apple growing & Mistletoe Auctions         8) Market days and the Round Market

 4) Medicine and the Land Girls                       9) Hop growing          

 5) Historic Buildings                                        10) The Pump Rooms and Godson family

 

Ten plaques are situated around the town with a specific QR code (quick reader), each linked to one of the themes. These can be accessed by using your smart phone or tablet to scan the code. This will immediately bring the associated story to life through video, audio and photographic images.   Plaques are numbered one to ten for simplicity, but it isn’t necessary to start at the first plaque, which is situated on the bench half way across Teme Bridge, the entrance into Tenbury.  There is a website hiddentenbury.com to compliment the plaques, showing the same tour of the town but taken via pins on a map, as well as providing extra information and video footage.

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The project was achieved thanks to the endeavours of our local project manager, Caroline Palethorpe of CMP Consultancy, along with the vast support of local residents, community leaders, business owners and of course our very own museum volunteers. 

 

So come and explore some of the history of Tenbury through this innovative digital trail and enjoy our hidden heritage gems!