The King’s Cliffe Heritage Centre opened at the end of April with help from East Northamptonshire Council who awarded £7,530 to the project from its Community Facilities Fund.

The King’s Cliffe Heritage Group has been researching, collecting and cataloguing the signifi cant heritage of this ancient village since 1999, but now their fi ne collections, which include wood-ware made in the village over 100 hundred years ago, has been put on display in the Old School Room in Bridge Street. The School Room will also become a centre for study for those with an interest in the area and its crafts, allowing visitors to trace the history of the village through artefacts, photographs and published articles.

Sue Trow-Smith, Chair of the King’s Cliffe Heritage Group, is delighted with the new Heritage Centre and excited about the better public access to complement the website. The permanent displays focus on the village’s woodturning heritage, the history of the village itself, and on the small historic boys’ schoolroom which is set up in the Heritage Centre. In addition, visitors can search the photo archive and watch slides shows on various aspects of King’s Cliffe past.

The regular opening times are the fourth Sunday of each month from 2pm to 5pm, but visits at other times can be arranged by contacting the centre through the website. From time to time there will be special displays, and the fi rst of these will be on the August Bank Holiday Weekend, both Sunday 24th and Monday 25th from 2-5pm, when the focus will be on King’s Cliffe and the First World War.

Visitors to the Heritage Centre can hire a village audio tour called ‘Village Voices of King’s Cliffe’. The commentary guides you through 24 places of interest in the village, pausing to listen to memories about these places as recorded by village people. The hire charge per audio tour handset is £2.50. Entrance to the Heritage Centre is free but donations are always welcome.

At present, there is no level access for wheelchair users, nor toilet facilities at the Heritage Centre, but this should be rectifi ed in the coming months. A hanging sign above the pavement of the Heritage Centre will indicate that it is open. Parking is available on the roadside along Bridge Street.

Further details about the Heritage Centre can be found at www.kingscliffeheritage.org

King’s Cliffe Heritage Centre

King’s Cliffe Heritage Centre

King’s Cliffe Heritage Centre