A contractor A D Williams was appointed by the Tavistock Town Council earlier this month and they have now started work on the dry rot repairs at the Tavistock Museum. The scope of work involves removing a timber beam supporting a masonry wall and replacing it with a steel beam, replacing several timber window lintels with concrete, and replacing any timber floor joists affected by the dry rot.
The contractor’s working area includes the front entrance, audio-visual room, two small first-floor rooms and part of a main gallery. All these have had to be cleared and the museum objects transferred into storage areas in less than three weeks. A task completed by the museum volunteers.
Roderick Martin, museum manager and trustee, said that everyone involved with the museum is extremely pleased the work has now been started. The trustees were very grateful to the Tavistock Town Council, owners of the building, who are financing the work. The museum is expected to be fully re-open by October but for the rest of this season there will be only be a limited opening of its exhibition gallery using the archway door from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm Wednesdays to Saturdays.