SALCOMBE Maritime Museum is appealing for storage space for items in its collection.

Since the museum was founded in 1974, it has acquired a large collection of objects of local historic interest, many of which have been stored in Salcombe Town Council’s old mortuary building due to restricted space in the museum.

Salcombe Maritime Museum have recently requested Salcombe Town Council for a grant of £3,000 towards the museum’s rent. And in last week’s meeting, the council agreed to the grant on the condition that items stored in Shadycombe mortuary are removed within a notice period of three months, if and when required.

Chairman of the Maritime Museum Roger Barrett said: ‘The town council have been very kind to us over the years, allowing us to store items in the old mortuary rent-free, but now the council is considering options for the future of the building and has asked us to clear it out.

‘The objects in store don’t have much financial value but many, such as the old Fortescue Inn sign, are important mementos of Salcombe’s past and should be saved for future generations.

‘They were all gifted to the museum by local people over the years, so we can’t simply throw them out or sell them off.

‘As a small charity run entirely by volunteers, we can’t afford to pay commercial rates for storage space so we are hoping that a kindly landowner, farmer or businessman might be willing to let us have the use of some secure storage space at a nominal or low rent.

‘A 20 foot shipping container or a dry storage building, about the same size or a bit larger, would be ideal. We would only need to obtain access two or three times a year.’If you think you can help, please contact Roger Barrett on 01548 854108 or [email protected].