Posted by: Blog Administrator
on May 17, 2011
Tagged in:
Wiltshire Local History Forum ,
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre ,
watchdog ,
Volunteer ,
The National Archives ,
Stars ,
Star Chamber ,
Sir Anthony Hungerford ,
Reach ,
public ,
property ,
Principal Archivist ,
preservation ,
plaintiff ,
photographs ,
performing ,
morris dancers ,
May Day ,
market ,
local history ,
local community ,
John Warneford ,
John Boller ,
historic maps ,
Highworth Historical Society ,
government ,
families ,
exhibition ,
enquiries ,
England ,
Elizabethan ,
Elizabeth I ,
education work ,
documents ,
costume ,
Claire Skinner ,
church ,
celebrations ,
cataloguing ,
awarded ,
assessment ,
Archivist ,
Archives ,
archive service ,
Andrew Crookston
The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre has recently been officially recognised as providing one of the best archive services in the country. It was awarded a maximum four stars overall in an assessment by The National Archives, which acts as the government watchdog for archives. We are listed as seventh out of a total of 124 services in England and Wales.
See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/self-assessment-results.htm for more details.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Jul 2, 2010
Tagged in:
Wiltshire ,
summers past ,
summer holiday ,
Summer ,
Stonehenge ,
solstice celebrations ,
school ,
rural ,
longest day ,
harvests ,
Harvest Holiday ,
grain harvest ,
families ,
county ,
Avebury ,
19th century
With the longest day and the solstice celebrations at Avebury and Stonehenge our thoughts have turned to summer and summers past. In a rural county this was an important time with a succession of harvests that involved whole families for many weeks. In the 19th century the school summer holiday was known as Harvest Holiday and was often adjusted if the grain harvest was early or late.
18th century representation of a Wiltshire shepherd
Children were often kept away from school to help in the fields, bring refreshments to their working parents or look after younger siblings. Women who apparently had no job according to census records would work long hours in the fields at such seasonal work. To find out more about how the season has made its mark on the Wiltshire landscape, please 'read more'...
