Treasure trove evokes memories of the High Street in days gone by

Within a cluster of unassuming barns, a treasure trove of items lines floor to ceiling, evoking fond memories of trips to the High Street in decades past

In the rolling fields of Somerset, four miles from the banks of the River Severn, sit five old barns. Once home to hay and farm animals, today they have a different purpose, far removed from the familiar smells and sounds of the farmyard. Filled to the ceiling with a cornucopia of fascinating memorabilia, they have been transformed into a cluster of ‘shops’ where visitors will find themselves transported to a bygone era. To step inside is to take a trip back in time to the days before convenience stores and shopping trolleys. There are floor-to-ceiling shelves, cabinets and display cases filled with household goods and food on sale from the 1930s to the 1960s. What began as a collection of agricultural machinery has expanded to include a museum of the High Street. Grouped into themed sections, Keith Sherrell’s treasure house comprises a grocer’s, hardware store, haberdasher, chemist, off-licence and sweet shop. The grocery store has deep wooden counters on which stand traditional scales and displays of Heinz, Oxo and Camp Coffee tins. Candlewicks, light bulbs and galvanised tubs fill the hardware store, and the haberdashery is home to buttons and lace, displayed in antique curve-ended cabinets. One of the collections in the barns is the Bletchley Park Post Office, relocated there from the famous codebreaking site in 2015, as well as post boxes from the reigns of various monarchs. The original wooden units of a chemist’s shop are filled with treatments from blood purifier to poisonous coal tar inhalant. The off-licence boasts a liquor range including bottles of Old Gran’s Special Toddy and Babycham, and the sweet shop tempts with its Blue Bird liquorice rolls, Fry’s chocolate bars and fruit cake; all real. “Nothing had a sell by date back then,” says Keith. “I took a nibble from the back of a chocolate Easter egg once. Despite being 60 years old, it tasted surprisingly good.”

Growing interest

A fifth generation farmer, Keith first started collecting in the 1970s. As a means of supplementing his income from the farm, he had begun buying and selling tractors and agricultural machinery. But, as with any true collector, he started buying a bit more and selling a bit less. “The things I really loved, I kept, and it went on from there,” he says. Fortunately, there was an unused barn where he could house his growing