The Heritage Collection Museum

In East End village, the Heritage Collection compresses Anguilla into rooms of devoted accumulation: collector Colville Petty's life work gathers Amerindian shell tools and pottery, salt-industry gear from the pond-raking centuries, schooner-era photographs of the boat-building trade, and the 1967 Revolution's improvised story - the island's peaceful secession drama - told in artefacts and clippings with participant memory close behind the glass. The museum's scale is parlour-personal, the labelling handmade and heartfelt, and an hour here rethreads every beach and salt pond the island shows afterwards.

What you actually see

• The Amerindian cases - shell tools and pottery of the first islanders.
• The salt-pond gear - the raking industry's working relics.
• The schooner photographs - the boat-building island under sail.
• The Revolution room - 1967's peaceful drama in artefacts.

When to go

The museum closed in March 2024, its collection handed to the government to seed the planned Anguilla National Museum at the Old Court House - check current status locally before visiting; pair with the east end's bays and Big Spring.

Honest expectations

It is personal-collection scale - charm and depth over polish; air conditioning negotiates. The entrance fee sustains a genuine labour of love.

Nearby

East End's ponds, Island Harbour and Savannah Bay.