Totnes Museum is contained within an authentic Elizabethan Merchant's House, which is half-timbered and built around 1575 for the Kelland family. The house retains many features dating back to the Elizabethan period and has been painstakingly restored. Collections, dating from 5,000BC, relate to the social, cultural and economic history of Totnes, and include a room dedicated to the life and work of Charles Babbage, a son of Totnes who invented the first mechanical computer. There are displays depicting the adventures of William Wills, the first man to cross Australia between North and South, and a hands-on Victorian Nursery. There is also a Courtyard and Tudor herb garden. In addition the museum houses an Archive or Study Centre, an outpost of the Devon Records Office, containing maps, wills, deeds and other historical documents to assist researchers and family history devotees. The entire record of the local newspaper, the Totnes Times, since 1860 is available on microfiche and there are printing and photocopying facilities available.