Mere Museum

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Mere Museum

Preserving the Past for the Future – A New Exhibition at Mere Museum

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Jan 18, 2011

Tagged in: Wiltshire Council Conservation and Museums Advisor , Warminster , treatment , trade , tools , themed , teams , staff , Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum , preserving , photographs , past , panels , opening , Objects , Mere Museum , Future , exhibition , donated , displays , Dewey Museum , county , conserved , conservation , Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre , celebrating

Mere Museum is celebrating the start of 2011 with their new conservation themed exhibition entitled ‘Preserving the Past for the Future’ and staff from the Wiltshire Council Conservation and Museums Advisory Service teams were privileged to be invited to the opening on 4 January for a sneak preview.

A Gladstone Bag, c.1882

A Gladstone Bag, c.1882

The exhibition shows the range of objects conserved by the Conservation team for the museum over the years with photographs showing the objects before treatment alongside the actual objects after treatment, together with informative panels about the conservation treatments used.

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Has www.wiltshiretreasures.org become one of your bookmarked treasures yet?

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']

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How to banish those February blues...

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Feb 16, 2010

Tagged in: wooden building blocks , Women’s Institute and Girls Training Corps , Wiltshire , wedding dress , web page , weather , weather , Warminster Dewey Museum , Warminster , Victorian kitchen , Victor Manley , Valentine’s Day , utility coat and skirt suit , uplifted , Trowbridge Museum http://www.trowbridgemuseum.co.u , taffeta , Stourton , stone memorial , steam , St Denys Church , spring , spirits , south-west Wiltshire , Sir Winston Churchill , scrapbook , school-master’s house , Salute of the Red Army’ , Royal Albert Hall , recipe , poultry , photographs , Pewsey Heritage Centre , pathological testing kit , pancakes , New Year , Museums Advisory Service , Museums Advisory Service , museums , month , Ministry of Information , Mere Temperance Society , Mere Museum , Market Lavington Museum , Luncheon and Supper Dishes , Longleat Restaurant , local history collection , local events , killed , James Lye , Jacqueline Ramsay , inclement , Illustrated London News , http://www.pewsey-heritage-centre.org.uk/ , http://www.meremuseum.org.uk/ , http://www.marketlavingtonmuseum.org.uk/ , http://www.culture24.org.uk/sw000041 , http://www.chippenham.gov.uk/tourist-information/l , Horningsham , historical , historic museum , Helen Burke , grey , gramophone record , gloom , geology , Gardeners Chronicle , fuchsias , Frome Young Farmers , flint , fife and drum , February 1969 , February 1945. On a lighter note , February 1874 , February , entice , Edwin Townsend , dull , drama festivals , donated , Documentation Assistant , display , disinfectant , discover , diet , dance tickets , Dakota , crash , collections , Clarice Culverhouse , Chippenham Town Hall , Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre , chess match , Charles Street , Castle Combe Museum , bungalow , blue wool , blue hat , blindfold , bell-ringing , Beech Knoll , Barbara Norris , band , arrow-head , ancient , airmen , agricultural machinery , 1999

February. A month which hides between the excitement and liveliness of the New Year and the impending delights of spring. Often grey, rather dull, with only Valentine’s Day to cheer up the lucky few. However, if you are bored with the weather, frustrated with the new diet or already given up that New Year’s resolution, then a visit to one of Wiltshire’s many museums will light up the month for you. Within their varied collections lie many a fascinating item, and with that in mind, I have compiled a ‘February’ list to entice you to discover them.

February does seem to have a historical link with gloom, but how fascinating to travel to Mere Museum in south-west Wiltshire to discover the February 6^th souvenir copy of the Illustrated London News commemorating the state lying-in of Sir Winston Churchill, or the photographs showing the stone memorial built by local labour in 1999 and dedicated to the airmen killed in a Dakota crash at Beech Knoll, Stourton, on 19^th February 1945. On a lighter note, you may like to read the handwritten rules of the fife and drum band belonging to the Mere Temperance Society, February 1874 and while you are at the museum why not take a look at their six volumes of old local photographs and the local history collection.

Dakota crash memorial

Dakota crash memorial

Travel northwards to Warminster Dewey Museum and you will discover a wide range of local history material, including the Victor Manley collection of geology, and various Valentine dance tickets, such as the Frome Young Farmers dance (please contact our blog if any romance was found at the Longleat Restaurant, Horningsham, February 1969!). Whilst at the museum you might be interested in the 78 rpm gramophone record of bell-ringing at St Denys Church, Warminster, 25^th February 1960, or the scrapbook donated by Barbara Norris containing details of local events, drama festivals, Women’s Institute and Girls Training Corps, compiled from 20^th February 1946 to 8^th June 1948. 'Read more' to find out which other Wiltshire museums have items associated with the month of February...

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'Attaboy', Mere Museum!

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Jan 14, 2010

Tagged in: Wiltshire museums , trilby hat , repaired , production , original paint. , Objects , Mere Museum , local industry , glass sign , exhibition , display , design , Conservators , Conservation labs , Attaboy Hats’ , adhesive , 1930s

Many of the objects that come into the Conservation labs are from Wiltshire Museums.

This month conservators have been working on a glass sign belonging to Mere Museum. The sign, advertising ‘Attaboy Hats’, came to the labs in several pieces. The museum would like to put it on display as part of an exhibition about local industry in Mere.

The sign before repainting
The sign before repainting
To find out more please 'read more'...

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Mysterious Objects - Were Your Guesses Correct?

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Dec 9, 2009

Tagged in: www.wiltshiretreasures.org , wine , Wiltshire museums , sack hook , pistol , Pewsey Heritage Centre , open fire , muller , MP , Mere Museum , local , late 18th century , Joseph Neeld , gunpowder flask , early 19th century , display , crook , Cricklade Museum , claw , carts , beer , ale warmer , 170 , 000 items

A genuine thank you to everyone who sent us their comments; many apologies again for being unable to post them sooner. You were all right about object number one and we did get a correct answer for object number three too, so congratualtions and well done! Here are the answers:

Number 1 is a gunpowder flask from Cricklade Museum. Dating from the early 19th century this once belonged to Joseph Neeld and would have been used to prime a pistol with powder ready to fire. Joseph Neeld was MP for Chippenham from 1830 to 1856.

The Gunpowder Flask
Please 'read more' to find out about the other two objects...

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What is it Like to Volunteer with the Conservation Service?

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Sep 10, 2009

Tagged in: work placement , Wiltshire museums , Volunteer , Victorian jigsaw , Tunbridge Wells Museum. , student , stores , stabilising , seed fiddle , repairing ceramic goblets , re-packing , Purton Museum , pony harness , Objects Conservation , monitor environment , Mere Museum , Market Lavington Museum , Labs , Jo Launchbury , galleries , external clients , Conservators , Conservation Service , cleaning , Cardiff University , baby’s gas mask , Amanda

The Objects Conservation team regularly have volunteers working alongside staff in the labs who carry out valuable work for Wiltshire museums and external clients. At the moment we have two volunteers with us, working three days per week.

Jo Launchbury is a student at Cardiff University and originally came to work with the Objects team on a work placement as part of her degree course. She has since come back as a volunteer until she returns to university.

Joe working on the seed fiddle

Jo has worked on a number of projects during her time with the Conservation Service, including repairing two ceramic goblets, cleaning and re-packing a pony harness from Market Lavington Museum and cleaning and repairing a seed fiddle from Mere Museum. She has also visited a number of Wiltshire museums with the conservators, taking readings to monitor the environment in stores and galleries.

Amanda Wilkinson has just graduated from Cardiff University and is currently working with us for three days per week in order to gain work experience. Read on to find out more....