Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum will open their new exhibition ‘Margaret Lorenz: a Head of her Time’, celebrating the first female headteacher in Devon.

The Cookworthy Museum will be open for the 2018 season from Monday, March 26, and the volunteers have been busy working on new and different exhibitions and look forward to displaying them once the museum is open.

Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum said: “This year’s new exhibition is ‘Margaret Lorenz: a Head of her Time’. Margaret Lorenz was a familiar figure in Kingsbridge for many years – and always ‘Miss Lorenz’, however long ago she had taught you!

“She was the first female head of a comprehensive school in Devon when the Grammar and Secondary Modern schools were combined to form Kingsbridge School. She also served on the Exeter University Council.

“She was an energetic figure in many community projects and had a long association with the museum as a founder member and later as chairman. The exhibition also explores her earlier life and family background, and reveals some unexpected elements behind the public face.”?The museum’s other exhibition, ‘William Cookworthy: Pioneer of Porcelain’ has been revised and updated, with a chance to see a new selection of the beautiful porcelain on loan from the Plymouth History Centre.

The emphasis this year is on Cookworthy’s notable acquaintances, who included John Smeaton, of lighthouse fame, and Dr Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first English dictionary. Dr Johnson’s House Trust in London has arranged to lend a first edition of the ‘Dictionary’ and the good doctor’s walking stick as part of the exhibition, and there is also an elegant dress typical of the period courtesy of the Theatre Royal costume department in Plymouth.

Then there is the rest of the museum to explore, with the history of Kingsbridge in the 17th century panelled schoolroom, the Victorian Kitchen with all its utensils and the huge iron range, the agricultural collection in the Farm Gallery, all this in a unique listed building and peaceful walled garden.

It’s your museum – go and visit soon!