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....

There is also a chance to speak to my colleagues from the Archaeology Team and handle artefacts over 250,000 years old; discuss the history of houses and other buildings with the Wiltshire Buildings Record; and meet the editors of the Wiltshire Victoria County History. If that isn’t enough, we also have some guests from the Science Museum Archives and Library in Wroughton and an exhibition on the historic Great Chalfield Manor and location for the film 'The Other Boleyn Girl' starring Scarlett Johannson.

So we look forward to seeing you on Saturday 26^th September. If you can visit on that day, why not let us know what you thought of it by posting comments on this blog.


The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre