Somerset's surprise legacy

The future of the Somerset Cricket Museum in Taunton has been secured on the eve of its 21st birthday, after it was bequeathed £250,000 in the will of a club supporter, Miss Patricia Watts, who died in August.

The museum, located in the Grade II listed Old Priory Barn at the County Ground, is run as an independent organisation and is a registered charity, and was opened in 1989 after a team of volunteers raised an initial sum of £100,000.

That figure has now been significantly boosted thanks to Miss Watts’ legacy. “We think that in 2004 Mr David Watts, an active club member, died and left his estate to his sister with the understanding that when she died the Cricket Museum would be one of her beneficiaries,” said the chairman, Charles Clive Ponsonby-Fane.

“Next year will be the museum’s 21st birthday. This generous gift will allow us all a wonderful opportunity to look back on all that has been achieved and explore our aspirations for the future. It is my hope that we can safeguard the wellbeing of the Somerset Cricket Museum for the generations to come.”