CHIPPENHAM Museum and Heritage Centre is celebrating the opening of an education centre and new display galleries on Monday.

Visitors will be able to see the four new galleries on the first floor, along with the education room/lecture theatre and the new research room, when doors are opened to the public at 10am.

Coun June Wood, chairman of Chippenham Town Council's Museum and Heritage Centre management committee, said: "This is a very exciting time in the growth of the museum and heritage centre and the culmination of eight years of hard work and commitment to the project.

"We are delighted with the second phase of the development and I am sure visitors will be pleased with the results."

The temporary exhibition room has a dark-out feature, which will allow watercolours, prints and old maps to be displayed, and exhibitions will be changed every three months. Displays will carry themes including the 17th century Civil War and Second World War, featuring life-sized mannequins in Land Army, Home Guard and ARP uniforms.

Chippenham's silver will be on show, and a Made in Chippenham exhibition will feature brewing, clock making, butter churning and engineering companies from Brunel's time to 1982.

The highlight of this particular gallery will be the large working scale model of the Town Mill.

An exhibition on the history of the High Street and Market Place, charting ownership and business and the changing architecture from the present day back to the Tudor period, will also be displayed.

For details on exhibitions or the education room and research facility contact the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, 9-11 Market Place, Chippenham, SN15 3HF.