Haverfordwest museum opens its doors for summer with new exhibitions

A ceremonial mayor’s mace, dated to the early nineteenth century, has been put on display at the museum after a fundraising campaign helped to raise the money to buy it from a private owner.

Simon Hancock, the curator of the museum, thanked everyone who had donated to the fundraising campaign and said the mace now belonged to the people of Haverfordwest.

“The office of mayor in Haverfordwest is an ancient one. 1479 was the first recorded mayor,” said Mr Hancock.

“We know the first official mayor’s chain was made in 1887, but before that the old Haverfordwest town council would have provided their own civic regalia, and we believe this mace was one such object,” he added.

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The mace was the property of James Higgon, acording to an engraving on the brass knob at the top of the mace, the mayor of Haverfordwest in 1827 and 1838.

The Higgons were an old gentry family who served in many important local roles including four High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire, and Scolton Manor was built for the family between 1840 and 1842.

The mace was bought from a private owner following a fundraising campaign which saw local people give their own money towards the artefact.

It now sits proudly as part of a display on the civic history of Pembrokeshire’s county town, alongside information about the first woman to sit as Haverfordwest’s mayor in 1940, Cllr Mary Thomas.

The museum also had a new exhibition on the railways of Pembrokeshire, which from the 1850s onwards changed the way people travelled across the county of beyond.

Haverfordwest town museum is open between 10am and 4pm Monday to Saturday, including bank holidays, until September.