Little is known about the Tomato Museum, which is said to have closed in 1989. Hudson and Nicholls’ Directory, an invaluable resource for museum researchers, describes it in 1985:
History of tomato-growing on the island, in [a] group of glasshouses built at various dates between the 1890s and 1970s. Crops illustrating the history of the glasshouse industry in Guernsey. Tomato-growing equipment, including an early soil-steamer.
Guernsey tomatoes were an important part of the island’s economy, and in 2003 the Guernsey Museum staged an exhibition about the industry, which might give us a flavour of what the now-lost tomato museum was like.
Image via The Dabbler.
One reply on “Guernsey Tomato Museum”
We went to Guernsey 2-9 September 1988, staying at Spes Bona Hotel, Les Verdes. We hired a car. On the 5th, we drove to the Butterfly Museum and then on to the Tomato Museum. We were pleasantly surprised by the Tomato Museum. Its contents were displayed very well, in good space and good light. We both enjoyed the economic history of Guernsey tomato growing (especially as we taught economic history and history at Birmingham and Nottingham Universities). There was a display of tomato wine. We tasted a sample and bought four bottles, two for us and two for friends. We enjoyed our visit, second only to Victor Hugo House.