Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Oct 27, 2009
Tagged in:
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre ,
waterlogged wood ,
visitors ,
Tudors ,
Tudor badge making ,
thousand people ,
The Other Boleyn Girl ,
technology ,
strong rooms ,
Stone Age hand axes ,
signed letter from Elizabeth I ,
shoot arrows ,
Science Museum; giant interactive Tudor Quiz ,
school ,
recent events ,
rarest documents ,
quill pen ,
original artefacts ,
naval ship ,
Mary Rose ,
Mary Queen of Scots ,
marriage deed of Henry VIII to Jane Seymour ,
magnetic wall ,
longbow ,
King Henry VIII ,
ideas. ,
Great Chalfield Manor ,
glass painting ,
fun ,
freeze dry ,
film ,
emergency car-park duty ,
dressed as Tudors ,
dress up ,
crew ,
craft activities ,
courtiers ,
Conservators ,
conservation laboratories ,
comment ,
children ,
celebrate ,
26th September ,
2010 Open Day
Wow, what a day! Over a thousand people came along to meet the Tudors at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, on Saturday 26th 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....
