GORY relics, gruesome artefacts and fascinating tales from a town’s past are all there to discover as Liskeard’s museum opens for the coming season.

New for this year is an exhibit about the history of medicine. The room is jam packed with real life equipment and instruments from the 19th century thanks to a loan from Liskeard’s Rosedean Surgery, which first treated patients in 1864. Vials and bottles, glass syringes, and an alarming item known as a ‘Probang’ (used to remove obstructions from the throat) are on display. Even the original operating table from the surgery is part of the exhibit, calling to mind the many thousands of painful procedures carried out on townspeople through the years.

New augmented reality points throughout the museum are being developed with local company Studio Wallop, and while three or four will be in place for the half term opening, they will all be fully functional by Easter.

Using their own smartphones or the museum’s tablets, visitors will be able to see exhibits spring to life in animation, bringing an extra dimension to the experience.

The new attractions are all part of making the museum as valuable a resource as possible for local people, says volunteer Jayne Buchanan.

‘The augmented reality gives people the opportunity to interact with the exhibition in a very different way,’ she said.

‘The In Sickness and in Health exhibition is linked to the GCSE history of medicine syllabus, and we’re hoping it really will help local students to come and have a look.

‘We’re very lucky here, we not only have a beautiful building, but it’s a wonderful community resource. Lots of museums do charge, but we’re able not to, because we’re supported by the Town Council.’

Other long standing exhibitions, such as the Mines and Minerals display and the Vintage Toy room, have been updated for the new season. And a new display in the balcony room has a focus on health and wellbeing, and the women of Liskeard who have had an influence in this field.

Women such as the Foster sisters, Dorothy and Cecily, who were noted for their bravery and dedication during the First World War, and who went on to play a role in establishing the Girl Guide movement in Liskeard.

And Gladys Hitchens, whose idea to stage a pantomime show with young evacuees during the Second World War became a dance school that endured into the 1970s.

Liskeard and District Museum is now open 10am – 4pm weekdays and 10am – 1pm on Saturdays.