We get a great many visitors passing through our doors, honing in on those invaluable parish registers, wills, non-conformist records etc. Some venture further, taking a look at what else the History Centre has to offer, but for many, little do they realise that they are missing out on some essential information – the contextual evidence that brings life to those ancestors they are searching so long and hard to find.

The Wiltshire Local Studies Collection is a unique resource available at the History Centre which can do just that. I have searched the shelves to give you just a taste of what is on offer if you have a little extra time to look whilst you are here. If not, many of our books are available to loan via your local library, all you need to do is put in a request.

Memoirs

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Over the last couple of months I have been travelling regularly to North Swindon Library to meet with some young people from the Swindon Underground Youth Centre as part of our ongoing work as regional champion, South West Region, for the British Library and Museums, Libraries and Archives Council funded project called Campaign Make an Impact. Readers may recall from earlier blogs that this is a scheme where we are using history to inspire young people into active citizenship. Young people research historical campaigns and use the techniques they have learned to create their own modern campaign on issues important to them.

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Over 100 people attended two key events organised by the Archaeology Service as part of the annual Festival of British Archaeology fortnight.

Barbury Castle Iron Age hillfort
The first, on 31^st July, centred on Barbury Castle Iron Age hillfort near Wroughton, followed by a guided 5km walk along the historic Ridgeway to the white horse hill figure on Hackpen Hill.


Hackpen Hill.

The chalk and downland landscape in this part of Wiltshire boasts a rich mix of prehistoric and medieval archaeology and provided plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion from the 30-strong group, as well as endless photo opportunities. Informative and enjoyable, this walk through time, from the Neolithic to Queen Victoria, showed how nature and heritage combine to give Wiltshire its very special environment.


Littlecote Roman villa

The following day, some 70 people joined a guided tour of Littlecote Roman villa near Hungerford. A guided talk focussed on the famous “Orpheus” mosaic, influenced by the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as fine examples of Roman villa architecture, resulting in plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” at this very photogenic private site. The group included a broad range of ages and backgrounds, united by their appreciation of the very special archaeological features on display, all brought to life through this event. The site was fully excavated between 1978-1991, with publication of the results due out soon. To find out more, please 'read more'...

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The Festival of British Archaeology is a nationwide, annual event that aims to promote archaeology. It has been running for twenty years, and has evolved from a single day to two whole weeks. As in previous years the Wiltshire Archaeology Service are actively involved and this year we will be doing not one but two exciting days out. Both events are free!

Aerial view of Barbury Castle

The first event is an exciting guided walk around Barbury Castle followed by a walk down the Ridgeway (approximately 2.6 km) to see some of the amazing prehistoric features of the Marlborough Downs. Barbury Castle is an impressive Iron Age Hillfort with enormous ramparts that overlooks Wroughton, Swindon and the surrounding countryside. David Vaughan, Assistant County Archaeologist will be leading this walk at 2pm on Saturday 31^st July. To book your place or to find out more information see the contact details below via 'read more'.

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Documents in WSA suggest that the famous Time Lord may have spent time in Malmesbury in the mid 17^th century.

A Dr Qui [the Latin for who] is mentioned several times between 1657 and 1675, and was an important person in the town. He was described as a surgeon in his marriage licence bond, when aged 40 he took a bride aged 26 from Wroughton. In Easter 1673 he signed a letter filed in the Quarter Sessions records as Alderman (Mayor) of Malmesbury.

He was buried in Malmesbury abbey church yard 1675, and his will was proved in the following year. However as fans of the TV series know only too well the Doctor has been re-incarnated at least ten times so evidence of his death may well have been exaggerated.

Alderton deeds saved for Wiltshire
Although most of the archives placed in our care are deposited on loan or outright gift, we do purchase material of particular importance. In August we were alerted to sale of about 150 medieval deeds relating to the estates of the Gore family of Alderton, a small parish in North West Wiltshire. Unfortunately in order to maximise the vendor’s profit they were broken up into many separate lots. Principal archivist Claire Skinner spent a stressful but exciting morning bidding by telephone at an auction taking place in Norfolk, and managed to purchase about half of the lots (95 deeds) which covered the earliest documents. This was achieved by a combination of our own budget and generous contributions from the Friends of the National Libraries, and Wiltshire Family History Society.

Close-up of the earliest Alderton deed purchased in 2009 – reference 3815/1/1
Grant by William Lycame of Alderton (spelt Aldrynton here) to John Bovetoun and Christine his wife, of the rent of a grain of wheat for a tenement, dated 1332. The deed is in Latin, which was the language of the law until 1733.

Many of the deeds have seals attached which illustrate the craftsmanship and vitality of medieval small scale sculpture. A good example is the punning seal of William Gore which has a bull’s head between his initials. To find out more and see if you can help us with identifying a family and church in some photographs dating back to the 1950s please 'read more'...

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10 am - 4 pm, Free Admission

Hello, my name is Terry Bracher and I am the Archives and Local Studies Manager at the History Centre. This month some of my time has been spent preparing for our annual Open Day on Saturday 26^th September. This will be our third Open Day; the first two saw over 1300 visitors come to the Centre to enjoy looking behind the scenes and take part in our family activities.

 
This Deed of Properties given to Jane Seymour by Henry VIII will be one of those on show 

So what is happening this year? Well, there will be lots of fun activities with a Tudor theme. Find out about life on Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose. Members of the crew will be on hand to tell you about life onboard and there will be lots of objects and costume to see (and try on!).  Will you hit the target at one of the king’s favourite pastimes, shooting with a longbow? (Small charge for this activity). See real Tudor documents from our archives, including the marriage deed of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and a family tree of the Seymour family twenty feet long (Steve, one of our archivists, has the job of unfolding this!). How much do you know about Henry’s Wiltshire connections? Try our quiz and find out. Can you identify Tudor objects with our Museums Advisory Team?

Take a behind the scenes tour of our strong rooms to see how the archives are stored. Visit the labs to watch objects and archives being conserved. Have a go at glass painting or writing with a quill pen, or some of our other craft activities for children. Read on to find out what else is happening....

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