Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Feb 29, 2012
Tagged in:
Wiltshire Heritage Museum ,
Taunton ,
St James' Church ,
Sir Thomas Long ,
Perkin Warbeck ,
Knight ,
heraldic ,
helmet ,
gauntlets ,
funeral armour ,
Durham University ,
Draycot ,
Diana McCormack ,
Darrell ,
crest ,
conservation ,
Cerne
My name is Diana McCormack and I have been on work placement with the Wiltshire Conservation Service since September, as the second year of a Masters degree for Durham University, and will continue until June. While on placement, I have been given several projects to work on, involving the assessment, research and treatment of objects in need of conservation.
Conservator at work
One of these projects is to conserve some pieces of funeral armour from St James’ Church in Draycot Cerne, where they hung above the tomb of a knight named Sir Thomas Long. Long was an MP for Westbury and sometime High Sheriff of Wiltshire, who lived from 1449 – 1508, and owned a large estate around South Wraxall and across north Wiltshire. The armour is now in the care of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes, and recently came to the labs at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre for conservation work.
The tomb of Sir Thomas
As part of the research into these objects I was given the opportunity to visit the church of St James at Draycot Cerne, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. The keeper of the keys was kind enough to give me a guided tour and describe to me how the armour had been displayed above Sir Thomas’ tomb, which stands in the sunken chancel next the altar.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Nov 8, 2011
Tagged in:
workshop ,
Wiltshire Heritage Museum ,
Volunteer ,
Salisbury ,
Paul Smith ,
museum ,
Mervyn Grist ,
Mere ,
Dewey ,
Devizes ,
curator ,
Cricklade ,
conservation ,
Athelstan ,
art ,
Archives
The Archives Conservation team recently held a number of workshops for museum curators and volunteers on the care of paper and archive collections.
This was very much untried territory for the team, Paul Smith and Mervyn Grist, but was in response to requests for assistance from museums around the county. Three days (one in September and two in October) were arranged and numbers limited to six delegates per session. The programme for the sessions was devised by Paul Smith, Senior Archives Conservator. Staff and volunteers from Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes, Dewey, Cricklade, Athelstan, Mere and Salisbury Art Collections attended.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 1, 2011
Tagged in:
world’s ,
World War II ,
Wiltshire Regiment ,
Wiltshire Heritage Museum ,
Wiltshire ,
Warminster Dewey Museum ,
War Office ,
Tim Burge – Museums Officer ,
The Battle of Egypt ,
Suez ,
Stourhead ,
St Boniface College ,
souvenirs ,
soul progress ,
Somerset ,
soldiers ,
Sir John Eldon Gorst ,
Sir Charles Nicholson ,
Sgt. A Holley ,
Romans ,
publication ,
postcards ,
Port Said ,
photograph ,
Pewsey Heritage Centre ,
people ,
papyrus scroll ,
Objects ,
national ,
museum ,
media ,
Medal – Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre ,
Market Lavington Museum ,
manor ,
local ,
knife ,
jasper ,
Italy ,
international ,
India ,
images ,
HMS Superb ,
Gorst ,
Germany ,
fighting ,
February 2011 ,
famil ,
eyes ,
El Alamein ,
Egyptian Book of the Dead ,
Egypt ,
doorstep ,
documents ,
display ,
Devizes ,
country ,
collections.preserve ,
coins ,
Castle Combe ,
British protectorate ,
British consul general ,
attack ,
architect ,
Archaeological finds ,
Allied forces ,
Alexandria ,
album ,
afterlife ,
2nd World War ,
1st World War ,
1943 ,
1882
With the eyes of the world’s media currently focussed on the momentous events unfolding in Egypt I thought it would be interesting to see how this country is represented in Wiltshire’s museum collections.
Museums across the county exist to preserve and display the history of Wiltshire and its people as seen through objects, images and documents.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Jun 16, 2009
Tagged in:
Wiltshire Heritage Museum ,
Wiltshire County Council ,
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre ,
Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum ,
Organic ,
Medieval ,
Ludgershall ,
linen backed district councils ,
Inland Revenue Ordinance Survey maps ,
glass goblet ,
Devizes ,
Conservators ,
British Archaeology Festival ,
Archives labs
Conservators in the Objects labs are currently working on a glass goblet (pictured above) dating to the Medieval period. The goblet was found at Ludgershall Castle which comes under the collecting remit of Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes.
The vessel is in several pieces at the moment and will require careful cleaning before it can be reconstructed. Glass is notoriously fragile and can deteriorate very quickly in a burial environment so it is not often that whole objects are found. Conservators are hoping that analysis can be done to discover what the goblet may have been used for. Organic residues can sometimes be detected on the surface of objects which can indicate that they may have been used for eating and drinking in the past. This goblet is quite ornate so it may in fact have been a decorative piece with no other use.
