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Family historians are missing out!

Many family historians are missing out on additional information available to them at the History Centre. Take a look to discover what it could possibly be...

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17 January 2012

Wiltshire Council Conservation Service and BMI The Bath Clinic are helping uncover the secrets locked inside five ancient burial urns dating back to the Roman conquest found at the site of Linden Homes’ King Harry Lane development in St Albans.

Foundations Archaeology, which has been working on the site for some time, has enlisted the help of council experts to determine whether the remains inside the cremation urns belong to adults or children and to find out more detail about their lives.

Kelly Abbott, contract conservator with the Wiltshire Council Conservation Service said: “Unlocking the mystery of these urns could provide a fascinating glimpse of life during the time of the Roman Conquest. BMI The Bath Clinic in Bath has kindly agreed to allow us to use their CT scanner. This will help determine if the cremations inside can be identified as either adults or children.

"The site which the urns came from can be dated back to the Roman Conquest in 43AD. Information has already been gleaned from the archaeological dig and other finds from the site. The images from the CT scan will provide a much more detailed picture of what the urns contain and will be used by the conservators at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre to help reveal their contents.”

Rod Mason, executive director of BMI The Bath Clinic said: “We’re delighted to donate the use of our scanner for this project. It’s state of the art technology and it has proved invaluable in helping us provide our patients with more accurate and speedy diagnoses.

“It’s very exciting to think that the technology can also be used to help unlock the mysteries of the Roman Conquest and life in Britain at that point in history.”

As part of the redevelopment of the King Harry Lane site, Linden Homes has established a detailed archaeological brief. Jeremy Alden, Linden Homes technical director, noted: “We have spent a great deal of time liaising with  archaeologists to ensure a robust dig was successfully concluded as part of the redevelopment process. We are delighted that finds of such significance have been uncovered intact and with the help of  Foundations Archaeology and the Wiltshire Conservation Service can be properly interpreted and lead to a greater understanding of our past.”

Using the CT images to guide them, the conservators at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre will excavate the urns on a microscopic scale, detailing their contents and making the finds stable. Once the cremations have been removed from the urns, the bones will be cleaned and dried under laboratory conditions. The information gathered from this micro-excavation will then be sent to the archaeologists who will be able to interpret the evidence alongside the archaeology already discovered.

Archaeologists have determined that the site King Harry Lane, was of significant importance. The cremation urns were found at a burial ground, located at the entrance to a late Iron Age ‘oppidum’ or defended settlement . St Albans, known as Verulamium, was a key site in the Roman period and as such, these cremation urns, along with the other archaeology on the site, are seen to be nationally important.

7 October 2011

Open Day a great success

Over 900 people spent the hottest ever October day at the History Centre enjoying our Royal themed open day. Knights battled in the heat, families enjoyed picnics in the sun and staff in costumes tried to stay cool.

Children came in costume as knights, kings and princesses - other made helmets and princess hats with the Scrapstore so they could dress up too. Medals were made in the conservation labs and many a game of royal top trumps were played with the museum service. Visitors played Tudor instruments and formed a band to accompany those joining in with courtly dances. Royal documents from Henry VIII, George III and  Queen Victoria were on display and visitors explored behind the scenes to see how the documents are stored in ideal conditions in our strongrooms. The conservators were on hand to show how ancient documents are conserved and the damage that can be caused by damp, rodents and over-enthusiastic stamp collectors! Adults and children alike tried to guess the object from its x-ray, a technique the object conservators use to help them to identify and safely work on metal objects from archaeological excavations.

A fantastic free day was had by all. Now the planning for next year begins!

History Centre officially one of the best in the country

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre has been officially recognised as providing one of the best Archive services in the country. It has been awarded a maximum four stars in a recent assessment by The National Archives, which acts as the government watchdog for Archives. The History Centre, funded by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council, is listed in the top ten Archives in England and Wales out of a total of 124 services across the country.

Stuart Wheeler, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, sport and Culture said:

“Before the History Centre was built and opened in 2007, the National Archives told us that our facility for archives was not fit for purpose. Today, not only do we now have a modern state of the art History Centre, but also a service that is officially recognised as one of the best in the country and it confirms what our customers have been telling us. To reach this position in such a short space time, providing both excellence and value for money, is an outstanding achievement by everyone involved with the History Centre and Wiltshire is very proud of its Archive service.”

As well as considering the excellent facilities at the History Centre, the assessment looked at how the service performed during 2009-10, such as how it makes the wealth of material contained in over 8 miles of archives available to family and local history researchers, at the History Centre, and through a service point in Swindon Central Library, material provided at Salisbury Library and online services, including over 200,000 downloadable images of Wiltshire wills; and high standards of customer care, notably a 100% successful score in a national customer survey. It also recognised the Centre’s exciting programmes of activities and events; its innovative partnerships with local communities and organisations, such as the Heritage Lottery funded SEEME Wiltshire Black History Project; and pioneering work with schools and young people through a heritage education service that has been nationally recognised for its involvement as the South West regional champion for the British Library / MLA funded Campaign Make and Impact scheme. The service has been delivered to more than 21,000 customers, 10,000 remote enquiries and 300,000 online page views each year.