The Smithy Heritage Centre

The Smithy Heritage Centre is open weekends, 1-4pm from Saturday 19th April to Sunday 21st September 2025, other times by special arrangement.

Shop Local is the theme of our exhibition for 2025, looking back at much-missed local shops, and toasting the future of those that continue to thrive.

Photographer Mark Peachey documented E. & C. Greenall’s bakery and confectioners on Duke Street before it closed, in beautiful images and interviews, on show alongside images of the shop in its heyday. John Burchall kindly allowed us to capture behind-the-scenes photos of Burchall’s in its last weeks of business for the exhibition, and shared pictures over more than a century old.

Where do you shop locally? Come and share your stories!


You can enjoy a virtual tour of the Smithy and one of our previous exhibitions, Objects of Desire. Click on the image below and you will enter a 3D rendering of the Smithy which you can navigate around by clicking on arrows. Click on the little target symbols to find out more about the objects next to them.

Image of the interior of the Smithy - there is a large display case in the foreground and the walls are lined with tools, with some even hanging from the wooden rafters and beams. There is a very large wheel to the right of the image. The image features little blue and white target symbols on key objects on display

We would like to thank Matt Dodd and The Atkinson for scanning the Smithy and enabling us to access this resource.