Hello, my name is Terry Bracher, Archives and Local Studies Manager and along with my colleague Laurel Miller, who is our Heritage Education Officer, one of my favourite jobs is to help co-ordinate one of the History Centre’s big annual events, which is our Open Day. It takes place on Saturday 1st October from 10am – 4pm. Last year we had over a thousand people visit the History Centre at our Open Day participating in a range of family fun activities and this year looks like being as popular.

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Of course, a lot of planning goes into the event, but did you know that we start almost once the previous Open Day has ended? First we have to review the activities that took place and look at your wonderful and informative feedback to see what was successful and if anything worked less well, so that we can make improvements the following year.

Comment (0) Read More...

I am currently researching items for my forthcoming talk at the History Centre on Crime and Punishment in Wiltshire (Thursday 14^th April) and come across a wonderful woodcut engraving of the pillory at Marlborough in an article on obsolete punishments by Llewellyn Jewitt in “The Reliquary” Quarterly Journal, January 1861.

The pillory was used for a range of moral and political crimes, most notably for dishonest trading - the modern equivalent of implementing trading standards.  Its use dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was known as “Healsfang” or “catch-neck”. In France it was called the pillorie.  It was well established as a use of punishment after the Conquest.  It was considered to be a degrading punishment with offenders standing in the pillory for several hours to be abused by fellow citizens, sometimes being pelted with all manner of organic material such as rotten eggs, mud and filth. If that was not enough, sometimes the offender was drawn to the pillory on a hurdle, accompanied by minstrels and a paper sign hung around his or her head displaying the offence committed.

Comment (0) Read More...

Hello, my name is Terry Bracher and I am the Archives and Local Studies Manager here at the History Centre. Since joining the team in 2007 one of most interesting aspects of my work is being introduced to the wonderful array of archives that are held in our building by the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives Service. But when I was asked to choose my favourite document, from a selection of eight miles of historic records, it appeared an impossible task. I am always drawn to documents that show how ordinary people help shape national and international events, or the way our diverse communities have evolved. The documents I keep returning to are those that on the surface tell a simple story, but actually give us a far deeper insight into events of a particular period of our history. One such document, and my current favourite, is the terms of surrender at the end of the first siege of Wardour Castle on the 8^th May 1643, during the English Civil War.

Terms of surrender, Wardour Castle 8th May 1643

Comment (0) Read More...