PLANS to extend the opening hours of Amesbury’s new museum and visitor centre are moving ahead.

Each Wednesday the newly founded Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust has been opening the doors of Melor Hall and presenting a showcase on the hidden heritage of Amesbury. The trust now wants to open the museum for longer and more often and is looking to encourage people visiting Stonehenge to also come to Amesbury.

The temporary exhibition in the former church hall includes displays of flint tools from 8,250 years ago that have been found near Amesbury in the last 12 months.

There is also information on the town’s royal heritage and a display on flight from its earliest beginnings at Larkhill to the defence work carried out at Boscombe Down today. With work underway on the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre, the trust is now looking at ways of attracting more people to the Amesbury Museum.

They have a team of volunteers and are preparing for longer opening hours, including weekends.

“We have just over a year to be prepared for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge,” said the town’s former mayor and trust founder Andy Rhind-Tutt.

“This will be a big step forward for Amesbury and one that we need to be ready for.

“At that stage people visiting Stonehenge will be kept there for one to two hours, and after they may want somewhere nearby to shop, eat and drink. “Amesbury has a golden opportunity to be put on the international map and become an obvious stopping point for thousands of tourists.”

The trust is working on a museum website and wants to extend the displays to create a larger, more permanent exhibition.

Amesbury Town Council bought Melor Hall for £285,000 last year and opened it to the public at Easter.

Although it has opened in the existing building, the council hopes to get funding from developer Bloor Homes to pay for a purpose built visitor centre on the site.

The exhibition is currently open from 11am to 3pm on Wednesdays. Refreshments are available and, weather permitting, there are craft exhibitions outside.