Pinhills is an old farmhouse tucked away in the heart of the Bowood Estate. It has a very interesting history. There are a number of ancient trees in the woodlands around, including at one time the pine trees which John Aubrey claimed gave the settlement its name, a corruption of ‘Pine hill’. However, the name is now thought more likely to be simply a corruption of ‘Pen’, the Celtic word for hill, reflecting the settlement’s prominent position, to which over time the repetition of ‘hill’ has been added, when understanding of the meaning of ‘pen’ faded, as has happened with Pendle Hill, in Lancashire.

 
Taken from the Calne tithe map, 1844

The manor of Pinhills was held for a long time by the Blake family, who had connections with other noble local families, such as the Goddards, Baynards and Hungerfords. Their coat of arms could be seen in a stained glass window in Calne Church until the steeple fell in on it in 1639.

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My name is Sebastian Foxley. I am a conservator working as part of the Objects Conservation team at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.  I have recently been working on a Roman vessel called a trulleus. A trulleus is a bronze sauce pan and trullei were used by Roman soldiers for cooking. Other examples have been found in Britain in Roman military camps but they are unusual in areas such as Wiltshire where there is little evidence of Roman military activity.  

The high level of workmanship and the fact that parts of the object are coated in a layer of silver suggest that this was not just a cooking pot for a common legionary.  Similar artefacts have been interpreted as belonging to officers but the item may not have belonged to a soldier at all.

 
The trulleus

The object was found as part of a hoard consisting of three trullei and two wine strainers found at Kingston Deverill in Wiltshire. The hoard and the conservation of one of the wine strainers are described in one of the case studies in the conservation page of our website www.wshc.eu/about-wshc/conservation.html.
When the items where first excavated the resources to have all five vessels cleaned and conserved were not available. Although one item was conserved the others had to wait still covered in soil from the field they were found in until they could be treated.  

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The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre has recently been officially recognised as providing one of the best archive services in the country. It was awarded a maximum four stars overall in an assessment by The National Archives, which acts as the government watchdog for archives. We are listed as seventh out of a total of 124 services in England and Wales.

See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/self-assessment-results.htm for more details.

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Dan Cruickshank has just taken a fascinating look at South Wraxall Manor, and to supplement his visit I thought I’d have a look in our archives for any quirky or unusual information on both the manor and Long family who initially made their fortune as clothiers.

P40652
South Wraxall Manor

A. C. Martin restored the gardens at South Wraxall Manor for Richardson Cox between 1900 and 1902. He laid out the gardens whilst restoring the manor. By 1968 a geometrical island and sundial had found their way into an earlier circular swimming pool.


 
947/1787/1 Gateway of South Wraxall Manor, 1860s

 
 
947/1062, 1878
Letter from Medlicott to Walter Long

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