Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 30, 2010
Tagged in:
www.wiltshiretreasures.org ,
Wiltshire Treasures ,
Wiltshire Council ,
website ,
star objects ,
search ,
prehistoric flint tools ,
photographic collections ,
museums ,
Mere Museum ,
Launched ,
dolls house ,
catalogues ,
CastleCombe Museum ,
art ,
2009 ,
160 ,
000 records
Launched in 2009 the Wiltshire Treasures website allows you to search the catalogues of eleven museums in Wiltshire, along with the art and photographic collections owned by Wiltshire Council.
Example of a search on Wiltshire Treasures for all items made of mahogany in Market Lavington Museum!
There are more than 160,000 records to search containing items ranging from prehistoric flint tools to a 1960’s dolls house. The site is easy to use and searches can either be carried out by keyword, topic, place, date or name.
The most recent addition has been 50 of the star objects from Mere Museum
Wiltshire Treasures collections are from: [please 'read more']
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 20, 2010
Tagged in:
WWII ,
World War I ,
World Record ,
Wisden ,
Winter Olympics ,
winner ,
Wiltshire League ,
Wiltshire Historic Photographic Collection ,
Wiltshire ,
wickets ,
white horse ,
Walter George ,
Victorian ,
victor ,
training ,
three mile ,
The Oval ,
test cricketers ,
Swindon Town ,
Swindon Museum and Art Gallery ,
superstar ,
Sunday Graphic ,
Stars ,
St. Vitus’ dance ,
sports ,
smoking ,
silver medal ,
Shelley Rudman ,
Septimus Kinneir ,
running ,
runner ,
Queen Alexandra ,
Purton Museum ,
Purton ,
pub ,
Prittie ,
Prince and Princess of Wales ,
pioneering sportswomen ,
pharmacist ,
Pewsey ,
past ,
Old Trafford ,
newspaper cuttings ,
munitions factories ,
Morgan’s Hill ,
miracle mile ,
memorabilia ,
media ,
MCC ,
Lords ,
London ,
Lillie Bridge ,
Lansdowne Monument ,
ladies football ,
King Edward ,
Jim Smith ,
James Kibblewhite ,
innings ,
injuries ,
home ground ,
GWR works ,
Football Association ,
fastest mile ,
Fanny Williams ,
era ,
English Record ,
English Ladies Football Association ,
England ,
croup ,
Cricketer ,
Corsham Cricket Club ,
Corsham ,
cigarette cards ,
child ,
Cherhill ,
Challenge Cup ,
Cedric Ivan James Smith ,
carried his bat ,
caricatured him ,
career ,
Calne ,
brine baths ,
bowls ,
bowling ,
beer drinking ,
bats ,
athletics ,
asthma ,
Ashes ,
amateur ,
2006 ,
100-up exercise
After the success of the local(ish) Amy Williams and the continued determination and perseverance from Pewsey’s 2006 silver medal winner Shelley Rudman in this year’s Winter Olympics, I thought I would bring to light another of Wiltshire’s pioneering sportswomen. Fanny Williams played for Swindon Town ladies football team in the 1920s. Ladies football developed during World War I when the employees of munitions factories formed teams to play each other. The Football Association banned ladies football on their grounds but the English Ladies Football Association was formed in 1921. A national Challenge Cup competition was begun in 1925. Fanny’s boots are kept at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.
Wiltshire can also be said to possess famous athletics stars of the past. Purton produced a famous athlete in James Kibblewhite, born in 1866.
James Kiblewhite running for Spartan Harriers in the two mile NCAA Championship, Manchester, 1890 Ref: P18380 Wiltshire Historic Photographic Collection, reproduced with kind permission from Purton Museum
He began his athletics career in 1884 and enjoyed great success for over 10 years. In 1890 he was selected to run in London in front of King Edward and Queen Alexandra (then the Prince and Princess of Wales). He won many medals but one of his greatest achievements was breaking the three mile English Record and World Record in London. He was employed by the GWR works in Swindon by 1916 and had a son who was also a promising athlete. Purton Museum holds many items of memorabilia relating to James Kibblewhite, including trophies, medals, gold chain and watch, and newspaper cuttings of his career which are well worth having a look at.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 17, 2010
Tagged in:
tradition ,
spring ,
pagan ,
new lif ,
goddess ,
gift ,
feast ,
Eoste ,
eggs ,
Easter ,
countryside
Easter was the feast of the pagan goddess of spring, Eoste. It was a tradition to give a gift of coloured eggs which represented the new life of the countryside.
Hot cross buns were baked on Good Friday and were ‘carefully hung up in the inglenook, and kept for medicinal purposes’! A small piece of the dried bun was grated and mixed with water – it was drunk as a cure for diarrhoea, but to work it must be hand baked on a Good Friday! The provision of hot cross buns on Good Friday is thought to be one of the strongest surviving symbols of pre-reformation England.
Wiltshire Times, March 26th, 1910; front and second page
It has been said that to wash clothes on Good Friday was considered an 'awful sin'. A story is told ‘A young woman went a –washing on Good Friday. As she were about it, up comes a gentleman, and he asks the way somewhers, most pleasant like’. While he stands talking, the woman chances to look at his feet, and discovers he has a cloven foot; so she answers him very shortly, and refuses the money he offers her. ‘Whereupon the gentleman, who, of course, is the Devil, walks away, and the woman, in a fright, puts aside her washing’. You should always wear something new on Easter Sunday, ‘for good fortune’. A new pair of gloves was the luckiest item, and these were often given as an Easter present. Told by A. Clark in 1893.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 10, 2010
Tagged in:
wooden coffin ,
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre ,
Walcot Street ,
tests ,
teeth ,
Syria ,
St Swithuns' Yard ,
skeleton ,
series ,
Roman Baths Museum ,
reinterpret ,
redisplay ,
reconstruction ,
Project ,
preserved ,
Planning ,
Objects Conservation Laboratory ,
Museum of London ,
Meet the Ancestors ,
man’s face ,
male ,
local ,
lead coffin lining ,
late 4th century ,
Julian Richards ,
filmed ,
female ,
exhibitionmuseum ,
excavation ,
eastern Mediterranean ,
discovered ,
development plan ,
conservation work ,
conservation equipment ,
conservation ,
collection ,
coffins ,
clay ,
buried ,
bones ,
BBC ,
ancestors ,
analysis ,
analysis ,
5 year ,
45 years old ,
25 years old ,
1999
The coffin lining was discovered in 1999 at the St Swithuns' Yard site on Walcot Street, Bath. The original excavation and conservation work was undertaken by the Museum of London and the project was filmed as part of the BBC series ‘Meet the Ancestors’ with Julian Richards.
Two coffins were found at the site. They were buried by the side of an alley way in the late 4th century. One coffin belonged to a male, 45 years of age and a height of 5”8. He was buried next to a female who was local to the area. She was approximately 25 years old and had been buried in a wooden coffin. Unfortunately the female skeleton was not well preserved.
Coffin lining before treatment
The coffin lining and the skeleton were taken to the Museum of London where a number of tests were carried out. Analysis revealed that there was no obvious cause of death. DNA results showed that his maternal ancestors came from the eastern Mediterranean and further analysis of his bones and teeth suggested he had probably spent his youth in Syria. Please 'read more' to find out about the conservation work taking place...
