Hop along to visit museum

© Marlborough Gazette & Herald, 14 February 2002

More than 10,000 frogs will be featured at the opening of what is believed to be the first frog museum in Britain, if not the world.

On May 12th, Sheila Crown will open the doors of her home at Baydon, in Marlborough, from 11 am to 4 pm to display her vast collection of frogs.

It includes paintings, pottery, leather, lipstick, jewellery, jigsaws, cards and clothes. The frogs range from a two-millimetre silver one to a two-metre one playing netball.

Mrs Crown's favourite one is the frog that, when kissed, turns into a prince.

She has been an avid collector since 1979 when she thought a frog ornament would look nice in the green study of her London home. By 1999 she had 8,000 and she and her husband were forced to move to somewhere larger.

Now a 2,690 sq ft granary houses the collection. It took removal men seven days to pack up the frogs and four months for Mrs Crown to unpack all 10,454 of them.

She said: 'The FrogsGalore Museum marks the culmination of my collecting ambitions. I hope it will give as much pleasure to fellow frogophiles as it has to me.'

After the opening day the museum will be open by appointment.