Yeovil Town's Museum of South Somerset Wins prestigious accreditation.

The museum was awarded a 'full accreditation' from the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council – placing it amongst the top museums in the country for its good practice in looking after artefacts and providing excellent visitor facilities.

David Hill, Visitor Services Manager at South Somerset District Council -which runs the museum - said, "We are very pleased to get recognition for the work we do to preserve history for future generations to see. We take a great deal of care in looking after our collections and making sure that we are adding to our collection all the time.

"The accreditation is about providing opportunities for people to use, enjoy and learn from the collections we have on display, making sure we safely keep artefacts in the right conditions, and striving to get people interested in our local heritage and history.

"What people may not know about the Museum of South Somerset is that we have a secondary museum facility that is, in fact, a storage area for all the 20,000 artefacts that are not currently on display – at the Community Heritage and Access Centre at the council's 'Lufton depot' in Yeovil where groups can also book guided tours or make use of our archiving and research facilities."

To get the accreditation, museums have to meet a set of standards in caring for and documenting their collections, governing and managing them, and in the level of information and services they offer to their users.

Cllr Sylvia Seal, South Somerset's Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Well Being says, "Well done to the heritage team who work hard to provide a top-class museum service for our visitors. We also have some dedicated volunteers who help us document our collections – which range from old deeds to Victorian clothing, Westland aircraft artefacts and typing machines from the Western Gazette in years past.

"I would recommend our museum and CHAC to anyone."

To find out more about the Museum of South Somerset, CHAC and other heritage facilities in South Somerset visit the heritage pages or contact Clare Robinson on 01935 462855. or link through to their page Community Heritage Access Centre