Wallingford Museum - latest news



						LATEST NEWS Wallingford's Medieval Fair - a Great Success Hundreds of people flocked to the Kinecroft all day for the Medieval Fair on 21 August. Attractions included: Living History camp with medieval re-enaction group Histeria. There were demos and talks so that visitors could learn what life was like - medieval knights in armour, ladies-in-waiting, a cook, a barber-surgeon, a 'dodgy' relic seller and more! The stocks! The victims who suffered the wet sponges were Revd David Rice, the Rector of St Mary's; Cllr Bernard Stone, the Mayor of Wallingford (see photo below); Ron Calcutt of Wallingford Methodist Centre; Judy Dewey, Curator of Wallingford Museum and Dr Neil Christie, Director of the Burh to Borough Project (see photo of him being pelted by Gerard, the mad monk!) Seeing that justice was done was our splendidly robed Knight Crusader, Sir Colin Imray and his equally resplendent consort, Lady Shirley. Craft and other stalls - many with 'have-a-go' opportunities. Stalls included spinning, lace-making, pottery, wood carving, basketry, jewellery-making (you could make your own Saxon bead necklace like the one below - kits for this will soon be on sale in the Museum), scrivening and the One Oak project. The Wallingford 'Bayeux Tapestry' - our very own version of the missing last part, specially designed and partly created by our own experts, was ready for children and adults to join in and complete on the day. See the photo for the brilliant result. The 'tapestry' is now displayed in the Museum. Story-telling - early medieval tales of Beowulf Pony Rides, Bouncy Castle and mini-inflatables for the children Judging of Round 1 of the Decorated Pegs competition and judging of the best junior medieval costume The inner person was served by a delicious Pig Roast and Barbeque by Gary Smith and splendid lunches for Plough Men, kindly created by Sue Brodrick. In addition the (not-very-authentic) ice cream van did a good trade! Although not always sunny, the weather held out and it was warm, if a little windy! (One huge gust destroyed a gazebo and snapped a steel loudspeaker stand - fortunately no-one was hurt.) Lots of people came in costume which made it a particularly attractive sight. Photos: The photos here of the event are just a few of those taken on the day by Stuart Emmerson. You can see them all, and order prints, by visiting his website http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stuartemmerson BunkFest specials at Wallingford Museum On Friday 3, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 September, Wallingford Museum will be offering a great 2-for-1 deal: two adults for the price of one £4 ticket (valid on day of issue only). The Museum will be open 2.00-5.00pm on Friday afternoon and 10.30am-5.00pm on the Saturday and Sunday. Don't miss out on this great opportunity. On Sunday 5 September you are invited to take a gentle stroll around the lovely historic town, ably led by members of the Wallingford Historical & Archaeological Society (TWHAS). The walk is FREE (donations are never refused!), but it would also be an excellent opportunity to combine it with a visit to the Museum to learn about the ‘Wallingford Story’. Meet for the walk at Wallingford Museum at 11am, and be back by 1pm. Historic guided walks – 11 September Back by popular demand on Saturday 11 September are two historic guided walks, which will be led by Judy Dewey (local historian and Museum curator). At 11am there will be a Castle history walk, followed by a Town history walk at 2.30pm. Both walks, lasting just over 2 hours, start at the Museum with a charge of £3 for each walk. So, why not immerse yourself in the town's rich local history for the whole day and also visit the 'Before the Town' exhibition at the Museum. No booking required. Just come along for a fascinating day! Wallingford Castle features in 2010 Conference - 9 October The Museum is once again teaming up with the Burh to Borough Project to present a third conference. This year the subject is Wallingford Castle in Context and it will be held on Saturday 9 October in the Methodist Church Centre, Wallingford. The provisional list of talks is as follows: Judy Dewey (TWHAS) - Wallingford Castle: from medieval castle to modern amenity: an historian’s perspective; David Roffe - A tale or two towns and two castles; Nottingham and Wallingford compared; Andy Norton (Oxford Archaeology) - Recent work on Oxford castle: new finds and new interpretations; Oliver Creighton & Michael Fradley (University of Exeter) - Castle landscapes in the Middle Ages: Wallingford in context; Gareth Williams (British Museum) - Power and money: interpreting Wallingford’s mint; Michael Fradley (University of Exeter) - Wallingford: castle and the urban space; Jeremy Taylor (University of Leicester) & Oliver Creighton (University of Exeter) - Surveying and interpreting Wallingford Castle's buried archaeology; Matt Edgeworth (University of Leicester) - Spectacular evidence: digging Wallingford Castle in the 1960s and 1970s and again in 2010; Andy Hyam (ULAS) - The Castle Trenches 2009 and 2010: Inner Bailey and Queen’s Arbour. To download a booking form (PDF) click here. Alternatively, if you'd like to have a booking form sent to you, please send a request to Judy Dewey at judy@piepowder.co.uk Framing the Future Delayed but Project Goes Ahead! Because of difficulties with the timing of grant decisions, the Board of Directors has regretfully decided that the build event to construct the timber-framed Annexe must be postponed - but the project will still go ahead. For details of latest developments, please click here. Now You Can Donate On-Line through JustGiving If you wish to make a donation to the Museum, your payment can now be made on-line by using this link: www.justgiving.com/wallingfordmuseum JustGiving also has other facilities, such as the ability for you to set up your own JustGiving account on behalf of the Museum or create a page in memory of someone. Browse the site for options and instructions. Museum's 2010 Season The main Special Exhibition exhibition is Wallingford Before the Town. This is our first major exploration of the area in prehistoric times, before the Saxon town was created, looking at earlier discoveries and some of the latest results from recent research and investigations. With objects ranging from the Neolithic to Bronze Age and Roman, the emphasis is on the lifestyles of the people, brought to life through a number of specially prepared reconstruction illustrations. Upstairs in our 20th Century Gallery, we are Celebrating Wallingford Schools looking at Education in and around Wallingford in the last century, with the emphasis on local schools in the 20th century. Some of the displays are by the schoolchildren themselves. Also new is an Agatha Christie shop window, with the emphasis, appropriately enough, on the author's involvement with archaeology. The other window features Time, including models of the medieval inventor Richard of Wallingford's medieval clocks. New Book Now Available: "Origins of the Borough of Wallingford" Available now from the Museum bookshop is the new British Archaeological Report called "Origins of the Borough of Wallingford - Archaeological & Historical Perspectives" edited by KSB Keats-Rohan & DR Roffe. It is largely based on papers presented at last year’s conference, Origins of Wallingford - A Reassessment, but with additional material, and covers a wide range of topics, including a comprehensive Wallingford bibliography. The recommended retail price is £28 but the Museum shop is selling them at a special discount price of £24. The Wallingford 'Burh to Borough' Project The Museum and TWHAS (see below) are involved in this major research programme led by archaeologists from the Universities of Exeter, Leicester and Oxford. It includes archival research, geophysics surveys and practical archaeology, all based in and around Wallingford. For three weeks in July 2008, there were three major excavations taking place: on the Kinecroft, Bullcroft and the Castle site. As the results emerged, they were presented in the Museum. In 2009 there were three further weeks of major archaeology with trenches on the Castle Site (inner bailey), Kinecroft and Wallingford School site. This year in April there was geophysics and an excavation on the 1960s Nicholas Brooks's site on the Castle, plus test pits in the Paddock as part of the St John's School Centenary celebrations. In July there was a bigger excavation on a major castle feature in Queen's Arbour plus excavations to try to pinpoint the whereabouts of the Priory. For details go to this page. Museum Receives Full Accreditation Status We are delighted that Wallingford Museum has now been awarded FULL ACCREDITATION status with the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council scheme. We were one of the first museums in Oxfordshire to receive Full Registration some years ago - this new stage in the process is an even more rigorous examination of the systems, governance and management of the collections and the visitor experience as whole. Only if all the standards are fully met is Accreditation granted. Like Registration before it, it is an essential requirement for successful applications for grants. Joint Publicity Venture Wallingford Museum works with four other local attractions to create a new publicity partnership - Days Out around Wallingford & the Wittenhams. The other organisations are: Pendon Museum, Project Timescape, Dorchester Abbey Museum and the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway. Each organisation helps promote the others so tourists - both local and from afar - are encouraged to "make a day of it" by visiting two or three of the attractions on the same day. Each attraction has a link to the special "Days Out" website which includes a map - click here - and we have produced a joint leaflet. TWHAS Information This website also hosts pages about our sister organisation, The Wallingford Historical and Archaeological Society. The meetings programme for 2010 can be found here. Now available for local historians and those researching their family history is the TWHAS Documents Group WALLINGFORD NAMES INDEX. For details click here.