Yelverton Paperweight Centre

The museum began as the private collection of Bernard Broughton, the postmaster of St Tudy in Cornwall. Broughton's wife was bequeathed a French paperweight in a family member's will, and this inspired Broughton to begin collecting paperweights.[1][3] When his personal collection had grown, he began to open it for public viewings in his post office building.[3] In 1978, Broughton moved to Yelverton and continued giving the public access to his collection.[1] At the point of his death in 1984, he had amassed 850 paperweights.[3]

Between 1984 and 1997, the Paperweight Centre was managed by Kay Bolster, who had been assistant to Broughton since his move to Yelverton. During this time, the collection became a more popular tourist attraction. In 1997, the centre was taken over by David Hunter.[3]

The centre closed some time after that.

In total, the centre had approximately 1,200 paperweights; some from the Broughton collection, others acquired by its subsequent owners. The collection contained examples of paperweights from many different countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy and China.[3] Some were from paperweight studios, such as Caithness Glass or Whitefriars Glass, while others were the work of individual artists. The centre also featured watercolour scenes of Dartmoor.[4]

The centre was a dedicated commercial supplier of paperweights.[3] Additionally, Bernard Broughton commissioned two series of paperweights, in a limited edition, from Isle of Wight Studio Glass. The first series in 1979 had a 'PO 79' embossed logo on the base. PO was a reference to Post Office. The second series had 'Y 1981' embossed on the base, a reference to Yelverton and the year they were made. The second series paperweights contain pieces of quartz collected from Bodmin Moor to add to the local interest.