More than 200 visit Sidmouth Museum for tribute to Peter Orlando Hutchinson

MORE than 200 people attended Sidmouth Museum’s one-day special tribute to the town’s Victorian antiquarian, Peter Orlando Hutchinson.

Considerable interest was shown of the many artefacts found in the area by POH; who lived from 1819 to1897, and brought along to display by Tom Cadbury, curator of antiquities at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.

Museum spokeswoman Hilary Briers said: “Among many finds shown were some mosaics, along with Mediterranean pottery dating back to about 600AD, found on Peak Hill by POH.”

Philippe Planel, heritage officer for East Devon AONB partnership, who is running the In the Footsteps of POH project, was on hand in the museum gallery with the fieldwork carried out by schools in the area, including Sidmouth College, as part of the project.

A superb collection of paintings by Northleigh Arts Group, depicting areas recorded by POH, was also on display.

Hilary said: “This highly successful day provided a good opportunity for visitors to discuss the work of Sidmouth’s famous antiquarian work with experts.”