Hi, I’m Ange Green and, suffice to say, no two days are ever the same on Reception as our valued visitors hail from all over the country and abroad. Some visitors are on a long mission and some on a whistle stop tour. Visitors come from all walks of life to research all sorts of facts which our experienced and talented colleagues in the Search Room are only to happy to assist with. Some of our visitors are Record Office aficionados whilst others are still ‘in training’. We are also fortunate to have some very dedicated volunteers and very faithful regulars. We were very proud to celebrate our 50,000^th visitor earlier this year.

The Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre

Programmes like ‘Who do you think you are?’ have brought History and Heritage to the Nation’s attention and certainly help in promoting surges of interest in the facilities at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre. We are delighted when children and young people also come along as they are our future. We’d like to see more of them visit.

A warm welcome from staff at our reception desk

In Reception my colleagues and I from the Customer and Business Support team, aim to offer you a warm welcome, help you register quickly and settle in, and then open that door, the door to the Search Room, the point of no return but where the magic happens. It seems that visitors become entranced, certainly engrossed, and are often surprised to learn that hours have passed by in what seems like moments and they’ve forgotten to have lunch! It’s really important to take regular breaks away from the search room, both for your physical well being and your sanity when facts are eluding you! Please feel free to bring your own refreshments, especially if you are planning to be here for some length of time. We have vending machines and seating in the reception area and also outside picnic benches. Just in case you miss the lunch van (Tues – Fri) the Station café is 5 minutes up the road.

We would like to stress that we are closed to the public on Mondays. Unfortunately, many visitors have found out the hard way - our own website and the Wiltshire Council website state clear opening times but regrettably we cannot edit all external advertising agencies – we have tried. It really does matter to us that you have a positive visit – we have compliments, complaints and comments forms available and also a Visitors Book on Reception. Please do let us know if there is anything that would make a difference to your visit.


                               We really look forward to seeing you some time.

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Following on from our glimpse into Victorian school life, school today seems so different to the experience of Victorian pupils. Computers, interactive white boards and televisions would certainly seem as foreign to those children as slates and dipping pens would to today’s students. However, a recent trawl through the delightful school log book collection for extracts to show teachers also found some things in common.  All the teachers agreed that whether it was bad weather, uniform, behaviour in class or the challenges of teaching maths and English, parts of school life from 140 years ago seemed very familiar.

 
Swallowcliffe Schoolchildren

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Wow, what a day! Over a thousand people came along to meet the Tudors at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, on Saturday 26^th September. King Henry VIII and his courtiers were on hand to greet visitors as they joined in the fun, meeting the crew from the Mary Rose and looking at original artefacts from Henry’s great naval ship; learning how to shoot arrows with a longbow and dress as a Tudor; and viewing some of the History Centre’s rarest documents from the Tudor period including the marriage deed of Henry VIII to Jane Seymour and a signed letter from Elizabeth I about her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, just some of the thousands of historic documents about the county contained in the History Centre.

King Henry VIII looking at his marriage deed

They were also able to check out Tudor technology with the Science Museum; have a go at our giant interactive Tudor Quiz; see how the film ”The other Boleyn Girl” was made at Great Chalfield Manor; write with a quill pen and find out how conservators freeze dry waterlogged wood. Glass painting, Tudor badge making and other craft activities were also taken up with enthusiasm by our younger visitors. Another popular attraction and predating the Tudors by a few hundred thousand years was the Stone Age hand axes. Visitors were also able to gain exclusive behind the scenes access to conservation laboratories and strong rooms.

 
One of the strongrooms only accessible during the Open Day

We were really pleased that more than 400 of the visitors were children, some came dressed as Tudors. Many were learning about the Tudors at school, so hopefully we were able to bring a little bit of it to life.  Everyone was encouraged to post a comment on our magnetic wall so please take time to read them all if you are visiting the Centre in the near future. We also asked people what they did not enjoy (we are always looking to improve) and one young visitor told us that he or she “didn’t enjoy nuffing”. So there you have it! How did our staff feel about the open day and what do you think would be a good theme for next year? Please 'read more' to find out and have your say....

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Our Roman family event was enjoyed by nearly 100 people at the beginning of the school holidays. Running as part of the Festival of British Archaeology visitors enjoyed the opportunity to find out more about the Roman period in Wiltshire. A soldier from the Ermine Street Guard told us all about life in the Roman army and impressed visitors with his weapons and armour. A household slave told tales of life in a villa working for wealthy owners. Local archaeologists brought along a range of roman finds from recent excavations for people to see and handle. The finds officer was kept busy identifying finds brought in by visitors and those cleaned by enthusiastic children in the finds washing activity.

 Finds Washing

Read on to discover our visitors' comments:

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Would the life of a Roman soldier suit you - free uniform, good rations, chance to travel? Perhaps you would prefer the life of a mosaicist, travelling from villa to villa to complete mosaics of the latest fashion for the owners? What if you were a household slave travelling with her mistress to Bath to take the waters - would a life of servitude be a good choice? Come to our Roman Family Fun day on Monday 27^th July 2009 and you can find out what it was like for people living in Wiltshire when it was part of the Roman Empire. Read on to find out more......

Excavation at St. Laurence School, Bradford on Avon

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