A note penned in the mid-1970s by Percy Trollope (first Curator of the Warminster Dewey Museum):
Many local people had expressed the need of a museum in Warminster, which was inspired by the activities of the two historians Mr. V. Manley and Mr. H.N. Dewey. Both of them were schoolmasters, such professions lend to the pursuits of local history, including geological interests.
After the death of Mr. Dewey, the Warminster Historical Society was formed in 1971. Monthly meetings were held and lectures given on local history. This continued for about two years; it was then decided to obtain a property where all the items of hard objects and historical documents could be housed and where the general public could have access.
The Society acquired the vacant cottage behind St. Laurence’s Church, known as Curfew Cottage, from which the Curfew Bell had been tolled for more than 200 years. A considerable amount of work was done before possession, and thanks are due to the Dewey Bequest and the Trustees, which enabled the Society to become established.
There are now between two and three hundred items housed there, which include the Dewey Collection of historical documents and the Manley Collection of geological specimens.