In August 2017, the Winchcombe Museum was contacted by the GCHQ Museum (so hush-hush that no one has heard of it) asking whether we would be interested in acquiring some Winchcombe Pottery.  Having said yes, we started to find out a little more.  

James and Diane Perry are American, and James worked for the CIA.  He got posted to GCHQ in the 1990's and they lived in Cowl Lane.  While they were living here, they started collecting Winchcombe Pottery, initially direct from the Pottery.

When they returned home to the States, they carried on collecting via the internet, now concentrating more on potters who had
trained at Winchcombe and had then set up their own potteries.

In 2017, like many retired couples they decided to downsize their home and there was no space for their collection, apart from a very few items, so they wanted it to go to a Museum where it could be kept together as a whole.

In late September a very large package arrived and the contents were very carefully unpacked to reveal the collection. Unfortunately, one egg coddler had not survived the journey, but James was able to send a replacement.  One of our volunteers was able to glue back the broken fragments.  If you look closely you can see a gap where a missing piece could not be found!  In
order to display the collection along with our existing Winchcombe Pottery, the Museum purchased three new cabinets.

We may not have the biggest collection of Winchcombe Pottery in the world, but we think we have the most varied.

So, when we are permitted to re-open please pay us a visit and see this wonderful collection in real life together with the many other local items. 

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You can watch a short video on the Perry Collection now on our YouTube Channel. Just click here