AGRICULTURAL implements dating back to the 19th century that were saved from the scrap heap will go on display in Highworth.

The Highworth Historical Society will rehome the objects which were discovered in a scrap metal yard after Swindon Borough Council sold them on last year.

The group Save Swindon's Heritage worked with the scrap metal dealer to raise £600 to rescue them and move them to a nearby location.

Highworth has a strong connection to the haul, one of them is labelled "Made in Highworth", possibly in connection with the family-run agricultural machinery firm WL Bartrop, which closed in 1988 after going since1776.

Heritage campaigner Sally Hawson explained why it the equipment should be on public display.

She said: "For me it's a really happy ending. Some of that machinery was made in Highworth so it's kind of fitting. It's going home.

"I didn't want it to go massively out of the area or to go into a private collection, they are for everybody, and because of the Highworth connection there will be a lot of interest there.

"It was a crying shame that it was going to be crushed."

Paul Newton-Smith said part of the community centre in Highworth would be turned into a permanent agricultural museum for people to come and see the artefacts in the next few weeks.

He added: "Bartrops had a shop on the high street, they did everything from potato riddlers to big combine harvesters."

The objects were owned by the Agricultural Museum at Coate which burnt down in 2017 and had been stored while the council tried to re-home them with collectors and nearby museums.

Special thanks was paid to Kay Lacey for generously storing the items in her barn for 11 months, forklift driver Steve Gough, and Steve Bowers of Swindon Metal Recycling for generously taking the items and moving them to the barn free of charge.