Spalding Gentlemen's Society look after a host of artefacts.

Society to feature on BBC

Spalding Gentlemen’s Society (SGS) will be making its debut on national television on Monday November 15 when it will be showcased on Bargain Hunt at 12.15pm on BBC One.

While filming in Peterborough the Bargain Hunt team visited Spalding.

A spokesman for the SGS said: “The programme shown on October 22 featured the Chain Bridge Forge.

“They also visited the SGS museum and were amazed to discover that the Society is the oldest provincial learned society in the country and has the second oldest collection after Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

“The team were overwhelmed by the museum collection.”

Presenter, Christina Trevanion said “I spend several days a week at the V&A, this is now my second favourite museum.”
SGS was founded in 1710 by Maurice Johnson, a local barrister who lived with his family at Ayscoughfee Hall but had trained in London and became actively engaged in London’s coffee house society.

He aimed to replicate that experience in Spalding and the society attracted many famous members, including Isaac Newton, William Stukeley, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Alexander Pope.

It is now a registered charity and accredited museum.

SGS arrange regular open days for visitors and the next one will be on Sunday 21 November between 2pm and 4pm.

Entry is free and all are welcome. More information about the Society can be found at www.sgsoc.org and on Facebook.

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