An early 20th century cheese vat is the latest acquisition for The Cheese and Dairy Room at Nantwich Museum.
Excited staff say the vat, made by W H Smith of Whitchurch around 1910, is a superb example of its type.
Such vats were widely used on local cheese-making farms for about 100 years from the mid 19th century. Some are still in use today.
The walls and bottom of the vat form a jacket which would have been filled with hot water to maintain the temperature required for the curd to form.
The vat itself would have have held about 120 gallons of milk.
There are two brass drain taps, one to drain the whey and the other the water from the jacket.
A lever on the side enabled the vat to be tipped for emptying.
Nantwich Museum manager Kate Dobson welcomed the opportunity to develop the museum’s collection.
She said it was “a superb example of an item so important for a time in the local cheese making industry”.
Admission to the museum on Pillory Street, including The Cheese and Dairy Room, is free.
Contact Nantwich Museum on [email protected], call 01270 627104, visit www.nantwichmuseum.org.uk
I would not have thought the museum has money to spend, rather that this was a donation, and items presented are for the sheer joy in preserving our local heritage, and showing generations how life was. Of far greater importance than the result of making a few quid!
I have a cheese vat exactly the same as this. are there any companies who buy them?
I have one of these cheese vats. do you restore them?