A bright, modern new room in a Suffolk heritage centre has been named in honour of a humble local historian, who died in 2012 leaving a £3million legacy to causes close to his heart.
Sudbury stalwart Anthony Wheeler, known in his home town as Tony, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 84.
Friends of the retired schoolmaster, who was described as the “perfect gentleman”, were surprised when it was revealed that he had left close to £3m in his will, with nearly half bequeathed to 16 local organisations and a similar amount to national or county charitable bodies.
Among the beneficiaries was Sudbury Museum Trust, which received £105,000. And now almost three years after his death, the money has been used to bring the town’s heritage centre into the 21st century.
Sudbury Heritage Centre, which is tucked away in rooms behind the Town Hall, originally opened in 2006. In 2013, there were suggestions that it could be moved to the library building, on Market Hill, but eventually plans were drawn up to expand the centre into a vacant room at the Town Hall previously occupied by the tourist information centre.
It has taken months of design work and planning, but the new-look facility finally opened to the public at the weekend.
Alongside the historical artefacts, a digital touch-screen system has been installed to make local history research available to a wider audience. Visitors can enter the centre through the Gaol Lane doors, pass through a ‘time tunnel’ and emerge into the “Anthony Wheeler Room” which is bright and equipped for the digital age.
David Burnett, secretary of the Sudbury Museum Trust, believes Mr Wheeler would have approved of the refit.
He said: “The internal work has all been funded out of Tony’s legacy so the room is in his memory and there’s a plaque on the wall dedicated to him.
“Tony was a local historian and very much interested in the town. Just a while before he died, we worked with him on a book about the origin of Sudbury street names.
“He had a long, distinguished teaching career at Royal Worcester Grammar School but came back home to Sudbury.
“He did a lot of research on the Zeppelin raid in East Street during 1916 and we hope to be able to put together a PowerPoint presentation of his work, which could be developed as a teaching pack for schools. Tony would definitely have approved of that.”
In addition, the Museum Trust hopes to be able to make the centre available to parties of schoolchildren as a resource – and to open to the public on Saturdays.
A local archaeology enthusiast will be on hand to look at any finds the public should bring in, volunteers will be available to accept items into the local collection and extra show cases will enable the trust to display interesting pieces that have been languishing in the basement.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here