Historian and CovSoc member, Peter James, tells us about a Coventry doctor who found fame with a museum in Lyme Regis. Peter writes….
Joseph Wingrave was a chemist and photographer with premises on Coventry’s High Street. He gave his son the unusual name of Vitruvius after the Roman architect and engineer who served under Julius Caesar. Vitruvius Harold Wyatt Wingrave was born on 24th April 1857 in Coventry and grew up to become a keen sportsman.
Sporting Interests
He was a member of the Coventry Godiva Bicycle Club and came fourth in Heat 4 of the One Mile event at the Styvechale Track in Earlsdon on 12th June 1878. This was shortly after the track opened. Rugby football was his main interest and while living in Coventry he became a member of Coventry Rugby Club. During his training at Middlesex Hospital he rowed in the bow of a boat that on one occasion beat all other London Hospitals.
Medical Career
After qualifying he spent 30 years as a specialist at the Royal National ENT Hospital in Huntley Street London. During this time he lectured there and at the London School of Anatomy. Harold spent WW1 as a pathologist working at five different London hospitals. His research into the link between nasal disease and tuberculosis earned him recognition by the British Laryngological Society which made him president. He also presented a paper on rheumatoid arthritis to the Royal College of Surgeons at the Hunterian Museum in 1928.
Move to Lyme Regis
When he retired in 1920 Harold moved to Lyme Regis in West Dorset, having holidayed there on a number of occasions. On those visits he had explored the area and collected a number of fossils. In 1913 while on holiday he investigated a site where a bridge was being widened and some dilapidated cottages were being demolished. There he discovered the remains of a religious building including an arched recess in the south wall which may have been an aumbry (recessed cupboard for storing sacred vessels etc.) This suggested that the building was a priest’s chamber where its occupant carried out religious duties and collected bridge tolls for the Abbot of Sherbourne. The matter was later settled by a 16th century will referring to “a chamber in which our Lady’s Priest sometime dwelled in.”
Lyme Regis Museum
The museum was built in 1900-1901 by Thomas Philpot but it stood empty for around 20 years. It was used as a Red Cross depot during the First World War. In 1920 his niece Caroline donated the building to the Borough of Lyme. Harold Wingrave became involved in March 1921 and was appointed the first honorary curator. He arranged the exhibits into two rooms devoting one to geology and the other to archaeology. By 1923 he had produced both a report and museum guide and later began giving lectures to visitors and school parties. An infection contracted during his medical career left him blind in one eye, deaf and partially paralysed. When he was no longer able to travel school parties were taken to his cottage where he would speak about local history and display his collection of fossils.
Final Years
In 1935 poor health forced him to resign as a museum trustee. His work was recognised when he received the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Lyme Regis. In 1938 shortly before his death he became a freeman of the City of Coventry largely in recognition of his research and his book “Coventry Past and Passing. “ He died at his home at The Cobb in Lyme Regis on 1st June 1938 aged 80 and was buried at London Road Cemetery in Coventry. This was after a funeral service at Coventry Cathedral where civic representatives from Coventry and Lyme Regis attended. A memorial service was later held at Lyme Regis where the Town Clerk Mr. G. Atterbury represented the Mayor.
Legacy
The museum experienced mixed fortunes over the years but redevelopment in 1997 culminated in the museum winning the top national museum prize, the Gulbenkian in 1999.
The Lyme Regis Museum was awarded Designated Status by the Arts Council in February 2026 recognising the importance of its collection reflecting on the history, science and geology of the Jurassic Coast.