New group calls for Acton Scott Working Farm to be saved

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Wednesday, 26 January 2022 07:39

Credit: Llewellyn Family of Ford, Shrewsbury.

A new group is calling for Acton Scott Farm Museum to be saved as Shropshire Council ponders its future.

Friends of Acton Scott Farm Museum are campaigning to prevent the permanent closure of the heritage venue near Church Stretton.

The council have operated the site for over 40 years but are now looking at options for its future.

Following huge community support for the farm in the face of its problems the Friends of Acton Scott Farm Museum are raising awareness of the museum's current situation.

The historic working farm is a multifaceted and valuable resource for the South Shropshire area and indeed the UK, due to its unique heritage.

Leader of the Friends, Alice Walker said: “Without places such as Acton Scott providing a venue, these skills would be at even greater risk of dying out. Acton Scott Museum has also featured many times on television and a series of heritage programmes have been created on location on the listed farmyard - parts of which date to c.1767. The Farm Museum has educated and entertained for over 40 years and we see it thriving again in the future. It enjoys a great community atmosphere and has been a most successful tourist destination (until the pandemic) – in fact a hub for those with knowledge to share and those who want to learn. Ecology and conservation are vitally important and the farm is already near to complete Carbon neutral status. We want to ensure that it will meet people’s expectations for safeguarding the environment”.

"We are urging anyone who wants to save the museum to contact us and also invite people to engage with Shropshire Council’s consultation (Clare Featherstone, Shropshire Council’s Head of Culture, Leisure and Tourism) on actonscottengagement@shropshire.gov.uk"

The farm museum shut in the summer after two cases of E.coli were confirmed, and has not reopened.