NEW volunteers are needed to help run Porlock’s Dovery Manor Museum.

Museum stewards and gardeners are needed to work at the 15th Century manor, the village’s oldest secular building.

A £¼m Heritage Lottery Fund grant allowed the museum to be renovated in 2009.

New display cabinets, a bridge leading to the garden, new lighting and rewiring, and a kitchen and toilet were installed.

Curator Lita Stramp said: “Works of art by prominent local painters Richard Phelps and Alexander Caruthers Gould are displayed, along with rare images of transport and its mishaps on the infamous Porlock Hill.

“It has also allowed for the fullest public access and appreciation of Porlock’s heritage.

“Naturally, there is museum ghost, but he is very polite and always knocks before entering a room.”

The museum is also used as a venue for plays, music, special exhibitions and lectures throughout the year, and the garden is filled with shrubs and flowers known to have been in England when the manor was built.

The museum is staffed solely by volunteers and relies on visitor donations for funding.

Anyone who wants to volunteer can visit the museum on Doverhay Street during opening hours – Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm or Saturday 10.30am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 4pm.