The original windowpane, which gave shoppers a glimpse of the goods at 148 Swan Street, has now been given a voice thanks to the volunteers at Morpeth Museum.

Instead of being propped up against a wall and viewed as nothing more than a piece of glass, the windowpane has become the focus of the latest exhibition.

Volunteers want to show the modern world what shopping was like in the 1800s and 1900s when the town was a thriving river port.

They said recreating the view of the shops from the street was the best way to connect people with that era.

The windowpane has taken centre stage in the exhibition and houses the history of the businesses that used the shop.

The site, which is now occupied by Iggy’z Patisserie, is well-known for its connection to Arnott’s bake house and Morpeth Sourdough.

It’s first businessman was Richard Chapman who was a butcher. He used it from 1851 and built a bake house behind the shop.

In 1862 David Arnott began renting the store and bake house and six years later J.H Grose sold the site to Robert Ballard, who was the licensee of Morpeth hotels, for 400 pounds. 

The shop became a saddlery and bakery from 1884 when Mayor of Morpeth and saddler William Keating brought his business to the shop.

It gained a second floor and verandah in 1889 when John Norman Elliott bought the site and it became Thomas Maynard’s boot making business from more than 30 years from 1900. 

Mr Todd said the building stayed in Mr Elliott’s family from 1889 until 2000 when his grand daughter Marjorie Pattison died and it was sold to John and Bronwyn Rademaker.

“It’s an iconic building in Morpeth and most people know it because of its connection with Arnotts,” museum volunteer Alan Todd said.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that it spent a lot of its life as a boot making business and was also a butcher.”

Another original windowpane, which framed a lolly shop in Swan Street, has also been used in the exhibition along with a display of the long-time Campbell’s Store. 

“Displaying a piece of glass is a bit difficult so we decided to recreate the shopping experience from the street,”  Mr Todd said. “It’s part of a wide range of displays we have here at the museum and we hope it will entice people to come in and have a look around.”

The museum is now offering free Wi-Fi, which it hopes will attract youth to the site.

The exhibition From Small Beginnings will be launched on April 8.