The WW1 hut that became county's first library

Three staff members were employed in the first Wiltshire library HQ, housing 7,200 books

An exhibition and plaque are on display to celebrate the unique history of a wooden hut that became a county's first library, and has links to Winnie-the-Pooh.

The hut - named Maple Leaf Villa (MLV) - was based on Salisbury Plain from 1914 to 1919 before moving and being transformed into Wiltshire's first library HQ.

The tale came to the attention of the collection manager at Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre when a colleague, Wayne Dicker, noticed a wooden sign for MLV, which was in the Devizes library storeroom.

The former library's plaque and historic objects linked to the building are currently on display at County Hall, Trowbridge.

Ian Hicks, from the history centre, explained that the wooden huts for the Canadian soldiers came about after a very wet winter in Wiltshire, "so hundreds were created".

"They gave each hut a comical name to lighten the mood," added Mr Hicks.

The wooden sign - which inspired the re-telling of the story - was saved before the hut was eventually taken down

During that time, one Canadian soldier - Harry Colebourn - became known for his bear that he had brought to the UK. He named her after his home town, Winnipeg.

Winnie stayed with the soldiers at Salisbury Plain until they had to go to France, when she went to London Zoo.

There she met AA Milne's son Christopher Robin - who went on to write Winne-the-Pooh.

Ian Hicks from Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre found himself researching the story

Books with mould and soot

After the war, the council bought Maple Leaf Villa for £100.

It was transported from Salisbury Plain to the Adcroft School site in Trowbridge on Prospect Place and became the county's first library headquarters.

Mr Hicks explained: "The library service was in its infancy - the original service was set up to support schoolchildren."

About 7,200 books were housed in the building.

"The wet winter had made everything so damp that by March we found it impossible to keep the books from becoming covered with green mould," he added.

There were two coke fires inside, creating a lot of soot, which meant staff had to clean the books every time they were due to go out.

By 1934, a brick extension was built, with a toilet and more space. That extension is still standing.

The hut - pictured in 1925 - had two fires inside which also produced a lot of soot

It remained a library until 1969, when it was moved to a building opposite County Hall in the town.

Before staff left, they took a souvenir of the plank of wood with the library's name engraved on, and popped it on a bookshelf.

It stayed there until 2016, when operations moved to Devizes and it went to stay in a storeroom.

Now the story of this 50-year library can be viewed in Trowbridge Library.