Shaftesbury museum expansion plan approved for Gold Hill

Sun and Moon Cottage sits alongside Shaftesbury's Gold Hill Museum

An 18th Century cottage on one of Dorset's most familiar streets is to become an extension for a museum.

Sun and Moon Cottage stands at 1 Gold Hill, the street in Shaftesbury made famous by a 1970s Hovis bread advert.

Dorset Council has approved plans to allow it to be used to provide exhibition space, an office and sales area for the Gold Hill Museum.

The museum's trustees said integrating the cottage would allow an "expansion of display and storage" at the museum.

The Shaftesbury and District Historical Society wanted to use the Grade II listed cottage, most recently used a shop, for the museum extension.

The property is located at the top of Gold Hill, which became famous after appearing in the 1973 Hovis advert

It was once a priest's house before later becoming the Sun and Moon Inn.

Creating the new museum space would mainly involve only internal alterations to the 65sq m (700sq ft) premises.

The museum, which opened as the Town Museum in 1957, was renamed the Gold Hill Museum following refurbishments in 2011 and last year attracted 18,600 visitors.

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