This afternoon I find myself contemplating what the future holds for historical discovery and learning for all ages, fun and educational exhibits and events in Wiltshire; and it looks positive! Devizes is blessed to have Wiltshire Museum already, but the future looks even better, the future is…. Assizes!
Wiltshire Museum announced today, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £8.5 million towards the £14.8 million Assizes for Devizes project to transform the derelict Assize Court building into a spectacular new home for the Museum. Derelict for decades, the once huge court house of architectural distinction, on the Heritage At Risk register, The Assize Court has been a sour issue for too long, and in its current condition is sadly an eyesore. The project will restore its historic features, and breathe new life into the building; Wiltshire Museum and in turn, Devizes will thrive.
Since 1874 The Wiltshire Museum has been delighting visitors at Long Street in Devizes, and is home to nationally important designated collections, including stunning treasures from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site landscape. It also hosts many exhibits, educational events and lectures for all ages, children’s craft workshops and so much more.
Director of Wiltshire Museum David Dawson said, “we are delighted that the Heritage Fund has demonstrated its confidence in our plans to transform the former Devizes Assize Court into the new home for a reimagined Wiltshire Museum. At last we will be able to give the museum’s internationally significant collections a fitting home, while rescuing an important at-risk listed building and providing a focal point for town centre renewal. We are grateful to National Lottery players, our loyal members and our other funders, existing and future, for their commitment and support.”
Peter Troughton, CVO CBE, Chair of Devizes Assize Court Trust, which initially saved the building by purchasing it in 2018 with the support of generous donors, said, “the National Lottery Heritage Fund award to the Wiltshire Museum is fantastic news! It will transform the museum, save the historic Assize Court building and give the people of Devizes a community hub like no other. It will be an enormous help to the campaign to achieve the vision for the award-winning museum, already supported by the town, Wiltshire County Council and leading charitable foundations.”
Stuffed my dinner, scanned the brief, headlonged out the door, forgot about the road diversion into the Market Place, made a u-turn, arrived at Wiltshire Museum only two minutes late for the preview evening to their latest exhibition, convincing myself it’s often more interesting to go in blind to what the show is all about anyway!
There’s graffitied skateboards in the exhibition, embroideries, an abstract canvas, a jester’s uniform, old ledgers, ships in bottles, straw sculptures, a video of Stonehenge at summer solstice, and many other fascinating items you’d be excused for misunderstanding how they all relate if the rooms was stripped of the information boards and the exhibition’s title, Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex.
The exhibition opens at Wiltshire Museum from today, Saturday 5th April and runs until Saturday 6th September 2025; plenty of time to pay it a visit, and I recommend you do.
Fortunately for my ignorance, external curator Mellany Robinson of The Museum of British Folklore was on hand to provide a brief speech explaining the reasoning behind it. All the items on show here are bonded by one concept, that they “tell local, political, expected and entirely unexpected stories to reframe the rich heritage and vibrant present day folk cultures for modern audiences.” And as being folk culture, all the items are created by folk without the disciplines of their craft via official training or education.
Now I can relate! Although I don’t wish to discuss my short-lived art college days, my creative labours are all self-taught, save some advice from cartoonists and writers in my younger days. One piece in the exhibit in particular caught my fascination, as a punk-paste zine-maker of yesteryear; an amateurishly hand-drawn flyer for the 1979 Stonehenge Festival. I strongly suspect, whatever angle you come at this from, whether historian, antique dealer, or folk musician, counterculture artist, or possibly more simply, you hold a passing interest in the origins of local folklore, you will find many objects here on display to fascinate you.
I left feeling enlightened, and perhaps a smidgen abashed by the many things I didn’t know. A Hob-Nob is not biscuit, rather a horse-like costumed fellow in the Salisbury Giant, a midsummer procession first recorded in 1572, for example! I now understand why Great Wishford has Oak Apple Day, and what it means to proclaim, “Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely!”
A handcrafted Wiltshire sweetheart pin cushion made by a World War I veteran, a rare ship crafted entirely from straw linking to Poole’s maritime heritage, and a poignant portrait by a Nigerian artist created while seeking asylum in Swindon, are items the Museum hail are the highlights, but depending on your personal interests, I believe what will constitute the highlight will be open to interpretation, being such a timeless mixed bag of tricks held together only by this theme of folk art; I have plenty of musician friends of whom, I guess, would be fascinated by the instruments, artists who would love the artwork from a community project, and others who would cherish this Wessex folk calendar feel to the whole exhibit, from the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge to the May Day celebrations in Cerne Abbas.
Now I’m concerned by my overuse of the word “fascinating,” but the boot fits, that’s what it surprisingly is!
Curator Mellany Robinson told how the The Museum of British Folklore doesn’t have a fixed venue, and it started because founder Simon Costin was, “passionate about what museums call intangible cultural heritage, the heritage of folklore which has historically been suppressed, and overlooked. So, when people die, their works get chucked, because it isn’t considered financial value, but it is of huge personal and historic value.”
Simon Costin founded the The Museum of British Folklore by “buying an old caravan on Ebay in 2008, and travelled around the country for six months turning it into a museum, to test the response. And we need a Museum of British Folklore because we are one of the very few countries which doesn’t have one.”
This project, a collaboration with the Wessex Museum’s collections and the Museum of British Folklore, is more anti-museum than museum in the traditional sense. With many items by unknown creators and certainly all of them unprofessional, it’s more of a hobbit-hole of hidden treasures and curiosities.
“We had to share what we thought of as folk culture because lots of people think certain things of folk culture,” Mellany explained, “but our definition is; something creative not necessarily tangible, produced by someone who doesn’t have formal training in that medium.”
Again, we find Wiltshire Museum bucking the preconceived stereotypes of what constitutes traditional aspects of a museum exhibition, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have them on our doorstep here in Devizes, putting the “muse” in “museum!”
Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex opens today, and runs until Saturday 6th September. Summer Opening Times are from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Entry to the exhibition is included in the admission ticket. Tickets cost from £8.50 (concessions available,) and it’s free for under 18s. Director of Wiltshire Museum David Dawson has an online talk introducing the new exhibition on the 8th April.
Do check the Museum’s website for there are many great events upcoming, including the Curious Kids workshops for ages 3-11 and the Museum Explorers Club for 5-7 year olds, lectures, walks and stone carving courses.
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It’s just as unlikely Jimmy Page, who, it is said, designed the cover of Led Zeppelin 4, could’ve imagined Long Lot, the thatcher in a Victorian postcard discarded in an antique shop near his house in Pangbourne and used in the design, would be the central attraction in an exhibition some fifty-two years after the album was released, as the Thatcher himself would have imagined he would be the subject of a groundbreaking prog-rock album cover! I popped into the official opening of A Wiltshire Thatcher – a Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, to sepia-tone my nose….
Researcher from the Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England, Brian Edwards discovered the photograph in November and became something of an overnight sensation with the national press, and a hero to prog-rock fanatics. Now news has moved on, the fable of the uncovering the image has come home to roost, accompanied once again by the collection of its photographer, Ernest Farmer intended it to.
The photograph came from an album titled ‘Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Whitsuntide 1892,’ the remaining Victorian photographs from it are of Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset scenes and some interesting portraits of farm workers, the customary Stonehenge images, and most poignant, the aftermath of a thatch fire in Sixpenny Handley.
They are displayed in the exhibit, alongside information boards about what little we know of Farmer, the rural life he depicted in his works, and information on thatching. The latter particulars might seem odd, being few images here depict thatchers, if it wasn’t for the selling point of the show, Long Lot, who is displayed throughout the exhibit, in interesting ways, such as a model of him, a selfie opportunity, and the merch of a rock legend in the museum shop!
Despite being a leading figure in the development of photography as an art form, which clearly shows through this celebration of his works, little is known about Ernest Farmer.
Ergo, it’s a mixed bag, hinging on Long Lot but far outreaching a monoculture display. One supposes rather than modern day photographers aiming for a particular style, genre or theme, a Victorian photographer was a rarer thing therefore he captured whatever random subjects inspired him. To turn a negative into a positive, it certainly makes the exhibit diverse, and the photographs are fascinating, nonetheless.
It is, then, an exhibit of perchance, or luck, more than anything, and I guess that’s what makes it heterogeneous. Brian told me he’s working two projects down the line from this, in fact, it was never really a project at all, more chance discovery. The exhibition runs until the 1st September, at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes and would delight a number of groups, be they photographers, local historians, farmers or thatchers, anyone interested in West Country history or landscape, and of course, Led Zeppelin fans!
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November was one crazy month for our friend and researcher from the Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England, Brian Edwards. Undoubtedly our only friend from the Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England!
Brian still found the time to chat with me, despite national media hot on the story and hounding him. I didn’t follow the scoop up with a feature, at the time, as it was all over the national news before I’d put the kettle on. Something Andy Warhol apparently said about being famous for fifteen minutes, which it’s likely he didn’t, but there you are. Brian certainly was so, more than poor ol’ Lot Long, the thatcher subject of Victorian photographer Ernest Farmer, who subsequently became the both unlikely and unsuspecting cover pin-up for a Led Zeppelin album…probably on minimal wage too!
Since the national sensation has retracted somewhat, the amazing find is being brought back local, as Wiltshire Museum in Devizesopens an exhibition celebrating the work of Ernest Farmer, on April 6th, and running until the 1st September. It’s going to be an interesting one, as little is known about the photographer, despite being a leading figure in the development of photography as an art form.
A Wiltshire Thatcher – a Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex, will show how Farmer captured the spirit of people, villages and landscapes of Wiltshire and Dorset that were so much of a contrast to his life in London. While I’m sure there will be some fascinating photographs on display, of course, the kingpin to it all is this world renowned image of the elderly thatcher carrying a large bundle of sticks on his back and still coming up smiling! An iconic 1971 cover for famously featuring no words, Led Zeppelin IV has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide. The framed image in a hint of rural and urban contrasts is understood to have been discovered by Robert Plant in an antique shop near Jimmy Page’s house in Pangbourne, still its origins were unknown even to the band.
The origin of the central figure has remained a mystery for over half a century; that’s where our Brian stepped into the story. He recently discovered it in a late Victorian photograph album. His research involved monitoring everyday sources that stimulated public engagement with Wiltshire’s past. While following up on some early photographs of Stonehenge, Brian came across the Victorian photograph Led Zeppelin made familiar over half a century ago, and likely, being a bit of headbanger in his past, nearly spilled his coffee all over it in shock!! (He’s going to love me for saying that bit!)
The exhibit promises some exceptional Victorian photographs from Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset, featured in Ernest Farmer’s photograph album titled ‘Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Whitsuntide 1892. A present to Auntie from Ernest.’ There’s over a hundred architectural views and street scenes together with a few portraits of rural workers.
So, if there’s a feeling you get, when you look to the West, and your spirit is crying for leaving, do check this exhibit out; I will, and no doubt you’ll want me to report my findings. Why not strap a bundle of hazel on my back while you’re at it, and I’ll thatch your roof for you too?!!
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The exhibition, titled Wessex Airscapes: Elevating Wiltshire by artist Anna Dillon and drone photographer Hedley Thorne is certainly unique. The former being the astoundingly distinctive landscape artist whose painting turned my head ascending the stairs of the Bluestone Gallery, once of Swan Yard in Devizes. Through its unique characteristic bordering graphics, I immediately recognised her print used on an album cover by Woodbrough folk ensemble, the Yirdbards.
Something I’ve been toying with since, this dividing line between art and graphic design, for the first few terms on a graphics course in art college we were subjected to a vigorous routine of life and still life drawing to perfect sketching and painting as a fine artist, prior to exploring more graphical theories like typography and design.
Hereafter never the twain shall meet, and I wished I’d ventured down the fine art avenue rather than graphics (too late now!) Within her work, though, Anna straddles this divide; capturing the perennial spatial character of our local landscape, its topographical quiddity, yet of clear line and bold colours, a manner not usually attributed to landscape art.
The wonderful contours of the sarsen dropstone impressions, folds and rolling meadows and agricultural plough lines across the Marlborough Downs, are all depicted as the gestural line found in graphic design, and the result is extraordinary. I was dying to know how Anna defined it, as fine art or graphics.
“I’m quite a messy person in life,” Anna confessed. “But when it comes to painting it’s the neatest, so very controlled, because I was trained as a graphic designer and illustrator for about fifteen years,” she confirmed, showing me some abstract monoprints which she hoped would highlight her graphic training. “So, I think when I then became a painter, I did paintings, but not both, but now, yes, you can see the graphics side, the neatness, and I like that, I like that control, I don’t know why.”
Unaware this is Anna and Hedley’s second ‘Airscapes’ exhibition, the first, at Radley College in 2021, showcased Oxfordshire and Berkshire landscapes, I supposed the Wiltshire landscape to be perfect to capture graphically, as further west the hillsides are steeper and rugged, further east is flatter. “Ah,” she expressed, “the only regret I have is that I feel like I haven’t painted enough, there’s so much of Wiltshire, this is two years of work, but I feel like there’s so much more to explore.”
The style of this series of aerial landscapes has seen a natural progression, Anna pointing out an earlier Avebury work from 2009, “the colours are much more vibrant, I don’t think I would paint it like that now, even the trees are stylised.” Though clearly the origin of the recent paintings displayed is here; the graphic distinction is lucid, whereas now it’s much more refined, integrated with the standards of either watercolour or oil landscapes, the grass, bracken and trees details bear realism, whilst the clouds retain this solid format. “I see shapes in the clouds,” Anna expressed, “they become sculptural form, for me, and they’re estranged, so as you’re exploring it, you’re trying to go with the shapes; it’s all about shapes, colours and contrasts.”
Overall you maintain this fantastical imagery of what one could imagine to be a “toytown” version of the Wiltshire landscape, ideal for a children’s book illustration, but I say this is with the highest calibre, and compliment, of course. In fact, Anna’s work has featured in several books.
“It’s more of a subtle pallet,” was how Anna described her latest work, “I’ve used darker colours,” and she veered off onto knowing when to finish a piece and not continuously add touches, “because you get a bit blind to it, being in the studio day in day out, you can get a bit, not stale, but sometimes you can overwork a painting or underwork one too.”
See, that’s an artist who cross examines their painting in the studio for an age, not a graphic designer who, governed by the industry, is encouraged to hastily knock a piece of work out and get onto the next job. “I did like graphic design,” Anna explained, “but I didn’t find the work had any value, it’s kind of throwaway,” though she did show me her logo for a river trust, in which there was a clear relationship to that of her landscape paintings. It is so gorgeously original, it has to be seen to understand.
The exhibit is backed by Hedley Thorne’s breathtaking low altitude aerial photography the paintings are worked from, and they are joined by Anna’s father, Patrick Dillon, who has written the exhibition book, along with contributing a small display of artefacts and documents.
In all, the exhibit would excite anyone interested in heritage, local cultural-historical artefacts or geographical topography, to artists and graphic designers alike, or indeed anyone interested in viewing a different approach to a classic standard, within landscapes you will recognise, as in so much as a cartoonist’s line is akin to a signature, instantly recognisable as their own, so too are these impressive individually stylised works; well worth a visit.
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Exciting news for Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, who has received initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for an ambitious and exciting project ‘Assizes for Devizes: Unlocking Wiltshire’s Stories’. Made possible by National Lottery players, the project aims to revitalise the derelict Devizes Assize Court into a vibrant community hub and iconic new home for Wiltshire Museum and its world class collection.….
Development funding of £300,748 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help Wiltshire Museum, working closely with the Devizes Assize Court Trust, to progress plans for the project before applying for a full National Lottery grant in 2025. If successful, work would start on the Assize Court building in three- or four-years’ time, with a target opening date of 2030.
‘Assizes for Devizes’ aims to create a cultural and community destination at the heart of Wiltshire, supporting tourism and the regeneration of the local area. Essential conservation works to the Assize Court will enable the revitalisation of the building to include a multi-use community and event space, a designated learning area and innovative new museum galleries. The project will also include an exciting programme of local activities, events and volunteer opportunities.
During the two-year development phase we will be holding community days, including ‘pop-up’ exhibitions to seek the views of local people on plans as they progress. These ideas will be developed with Purcell, our appointed architects, along with adjoining owners, Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council.
Martin Nye, Chair of Wiltshire Museum, said “We are delighted that the Heritage Fund have supported our project to restore this wonderful building and give a home that is fit for purpose for the award-winning Wiltshire Museum. We are all excited by the opportunity to connect the Assize Court building to the rest of Devizes, and to create a vibrant destination for the very wide range of visitors who come from far and wide to see our marvellous collections.”
Peter Troughton, Chair of the Devizes Assize Court Trust, said “This fantastic news is a vital and hugely encouraging step on the long journey to giving a new life to this important building. The financial help that the project has received to date has been invaluable, enabling us to get to where we are today. Our thanks to Historic England, Devizes Town Council, a number of charitable trusts and individuals who have made this possible.”
Stuart McLeod, Director of England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We believe that investing in heritage means investing in the community it belongs to. It has the power to make our communities better places to live, bring a sense of pride and boost the local economy. We’re pleased to support Wilshire Museum with their Assizes for Devizes project. It will not only see a Grade II* listed building brought back to life, but also create a space for the community and a new home for the Wiltshire Museum. We look forward to working with the team to progress their plans to apply for a full grant at a later date.”
A key part of the work over the next two years will be to raise the significant additional funding required to complete the project through applications to trusts and foundations and in securing philanthropic support.
The Wiltshire Museum has been engaging visitors since 1874 in its current buildings on Long Street, Devizes and is home to Designated collections, including stunning treasures from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site landscape.
The Devizes Assize Court was built in 1835 and has been derelict since the 1980s. It has been on Historic England ‘Heritage At Risk register’ since the scheme’s inception in 1988.
Things are finally looking up for that great redundant building on Devizes’ Northgate Street, the Assize Court. You know you’ve passed it gloomily for decades, recognising its potential and hoping one day it’ll be put to good use….
Twisted in red tape, the charitable Devizes Assize Court Trust bought the building from Kamarran Mahmoud in 2018, a London merchant who gave it no attention, yet resisted Devizes Town Council’s resubmission to convert it to homes and a community centre in 2015; yeah, I dunno what all that was about neither, pal. The Trust now strive to raise £13 million to restore and refit it, for conversion into a new home for Wiltshire Museum.
The Trust are delighted to announce this week, The National Lottery Heritage Fund have accepted their ‘Expression of Interest,’ and they are now able to submit an application for funding. This means that the project is now on the first rung of the ladder.
I believe we’re lucky enough already in Devizes, to be home to the county’s museum, imagine the impact of it being in the Assize Court, the expansion potential and possible modernisation. I mean, I know right, it’s a pretty great museum as it is, but imagine buses of school children, all in pac-a-macs and carrying lunchboxes, from all over the country, pulling up there, visitors from afar, actually, like, coming to Devizes, spending money here, not just driving through looking glumly through the windows at us; in’t museums brilliant, yay!
Excuse my Paul Whitehouse-esque over-excitedness, the Trust have twelve months to submit the first-round application, and if successful, then we’re looking at two years of development phase, before a second bid. If it comes up roses, substantial funding to enable work on the building to start, the Trust hope by 2025 or 2026; I’ll be a museum piece myself by then, save my family on care costs, just stick me in glass cabinet!
Meanwhile, Wiltshire Museum continues to operate out of Long Street, with a new exhibit exploring how Thomas Hardy’s writing merged his present with the past, within this ancient landscape. Plus, an ever-growing event calendar full of walks, talks, courses and children’s activities, such as the Young Curators Club for ages 8-13.
The Trust need help developing these plans for the Devizes Assize Court, seeking new trustees who can bring diverse voices and experiences to their board. Deadline for applications is 20th June 2022.
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Literary Evenings are back in Devizes, and they’re inviting you to find out how rude they can be, though there is no bidding for you to be rude back, yet there appears to be no regulations set, so I’ll leave it up to your own artistic licence….
For the record I’m hardly ever rude, but the opening evening on 25th May at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes is at 7:30pm, on Wednesday 25th May. Devizes Books presents the evening, in which the subject of rudeness and impoliteness will be discussed and celebrated as an art, as written about by Saki, Mark Twain, Bernard Levin, Hunter S Thompson, and Jane Austen, among others. There’s a musical interlude, or should I suggest “inter-rude” by Lewis Cowen and James Harpham, nibbles and wine.
Tickets are £6 from Devizes Books, which is rude, perhaps you could shout at them as they go in! (Kidding!) They should consider the novel White Space Van Man by a certain local author if they want to delve into some deep-rooted rudeness, and not to mention, shameless plugging.
I can’t help feeling there might be some local councillors really into this event!
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Stemming from an unfinished book of Eric Ravilious’s illustrations (including that of Westbury White Horse) which resurfaced in 2012 and which museum director David Dawson collected for Wiltshire Museum, the Eric Ravilious: Downland Man exhibition has been put together by guest curator James Russell (creator of a previous Ravilious exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2015) and tells the story of the fascinating man’s life and his iconic portraits of English landscapes.
With 9 years in the works and 4 years active planning, it has already attracted around 700 pre-booked visitors from all over the country.
Featuring loans from a number of National Museums, it’s a marvelous and recognisable sight to see for any southwesterner, with Ravilious’s signature realistically vivid, painstakingly gorgeous watercolours of countryside and landmarks right on the doorstep of Devizes locals.
See it while you can. The Exhibit runs from 25th September – 30th January 2022. In memory of Eric Ravilious (1903 – 1942).
Finally opening at Wiltshire Museum on 25 September 2021 is Eric Ravilious: Downland Man, something we previewed on Devizine in October 2019, but, sadly, lockdown prevented.
This major exhibition explores for the first time the celebrated artist’s lifelong fascination for the chalk hills of southern England, particularly Wiltshire and Sussex.
The exhibition will feature more than 20 works borrowed from national collections and private collectors, including iconic watercolours such as The Westbury Horse and The Wilmington Giant, alongside other rarely-seen works. The exhibition is supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the Weston Loan Programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable smaller and local authority museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections.
Central to the exhibition are several of Ravilious’s best-loved watercolours of chalk figures made in 1939 in preparation for a children’s book, Downland Man. The book was never completed, and for many years the prototype or ‘dummy’ made by Ravilious was believed lost. When it resurfaced in 2012 this precious item was bought at auction by Wiltshire Museum. It will be included in the exhibition alongside some of the artist’s watercolours, aerial photographs, annotated Ordnance Survey maps, postcards and books that relate to the Ravilious works on show – material drawn largely from Wiltshire Museum’s own collection.
The exhibition will offer a new view of Eric Ravilious (1903-42) as a chronicler of the landscape he knew better than any other. From his student days until the last year of his life, Ravilious returned again and again to the Downs, inspired particularly by the relationship between landscape and people. Watercolours and wood engravings included in the exhibition show dew ponds and farmyards, a cement works and a field roller, modern military fortifications and ancient monuments.
Eric Ravilious: Downland Man is curated by James Russell, previously curator of the 2015 blockbuster Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery. He said ‘I studied History at Cambridge and I’m always intrigued by the social and cultural context of artists’ work. When it comes to downland history and archaeology Wiltshire Museum has an unrivalled collection, making this exhibition a unique opportunity to shed new light on Ravilious – an artist who is well-known these days but still little understood. With watercolours such as ‘Chalk Paths’ and ‘The Vale of the White Horse’ on display, visitors are in for a treat.’
Heather Ault, Exhibitions Officer said: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for Wiltshire Museum to exhibit such beautiful works by Ravilious. The exhibition will be an absolute delight’.
Sophia Weston, Trustee of the Garfield Weston Foundation, said: “We are delighted that the Weston Loan Programme has been able to support the display of these important works by Eric Ravilious in Wiltshire – an area of the country which repeatedly inspired this much-loved artist. The exhibition will bring his evocative landscapes to new audiences and shed light on material little-known by the public.”
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Our rambling reporter, T.B.D Rose, hangs up her walking boots for a moment, to enjoy a guided tour of our town gem, The Wiltshire Museum….
Opened in 1873, Wiltshire Museum, on 41 Long Street Devizes, isn’t much to look at from the front but holds a nationally renowned world of wonders in its walls.
Walking me through the basics of the museum’s most famed collections was its director of over 12 years, David Dawson.
David often finds that although the museum is the major attraction for visitors, the reception with locals is a different story: they often take a “oh yeah, I went to the museum 30 years ago, there’s not much there, it’s not for me” attitude, and that it’s as simply “a tiny museum full of cobwebs and it’s stuck in a part of town they don’t go to.”
As the age-old adage goes, it’s easier to look at the outside than it is the inside.
The Assize Court
For these reasons and to save another treasured part of local history, the museum is working with Assize Court Trust in a long-term plan to make the abandoned Devizes Assize Court the new home of Wiltshire Museum.
Following a consultation this time last year, a hundred-page report of what could engage visitors was produced. It doesn’t differ much from the current set up of the museum but will probably make it worth £2,000000 to the local economy, more than twice it’s worth currently.
Although he sees the enormous potential once the museum moves to the Assizes Court, David wants people to visit the museum now and hopes to reach our local readership.
So on to the museum!
Stonehenge and the Bronze Age
Having started our interview in a part of the building that was once a Georgian grammar school, it turns out the museum is in fact five buildings knocked together, including two Georgian town houses and a link building.
We begin on the ground floor covering the Bronze Age which was once a 1980s art gallery extension, the floor having originally been converted into the museum in 1872.
David gives me the rundown.
“What we’re best known for is our prehistory collection, particularly the Bronze Age, so that’s the time from about 2200 BC to 1500 BC, and what everyone thinks of at that time is Stonehenge.” The world-famous monument that needs no introduction.
For people looking for something closer to home, “Stonehenge seems a long way away, we do have objects from a burial on top of Roundway, Roundway down, which has the largest copper dagger ever found in Britain. And that’s a much earlier burial that’s about 2300 BC. And we think he, the chap who was buried there, probably grew up on the continent. But came across and was buried here.”
The objects he was buried with are currently in a traveling exhibition in the US, having been at four venues so far it will eventually be going to New Zealand and Australia.
“At the moment we’re also lending to two exhibitions in Germany, and that’s Stonehenge and the Bronze Age. And come early next year we’ll be lending some of our stuff to the British museum for a major exhibition about prehistoric Europe, because we have the best Bronze Age collection in the country.”
“So other museums have to come to us to cover the Bronze Age.”
As it’s important to note, David eloquently explains away a common misconception about our ancestors: “Most people think people at the time were like Fred Flintstone bashing each other over the head with clubs, no! These guys were really, really sophisticated.”
I won’t spoil it any further for you but this part of the museum is certainly the place for archaeology buffs.
The Kingdom of the Saxons
Here you can learn all about the Saxon people and the coming of Christianity and the branches of the Church, the most often noted one founded by St. Nicholas and brought to our shores by St. Augustine.
In addition to this often-referenced part of our religious development, David points out a less commonly known factor, “what everyone forgets is that the Irish Church survived from the late Roman period and there were missionaries coming across from Ireland, and so in Malmesbury for example there was an Irish monk who founded a monastery, before the St. Augustine type of missionary arrived.”
Among many other colourful characters, you can also learn the life story of a Christian woman of high status, who may have been an Abbes and possibly even the daughter of a King of Wessex.
The Story of Devizes
An aptly named section which, as David put it, “does what it says on the can.”
Beginning from, well, the earliest beginning to prehistory and the Romans (there having been Roman settlements here) through to Medieval town and castle, and a wonderful quirkily constructed model by John Girvan (our local tour guide, history buff and ghost walk host) of what the town may have looked like.
And also on show is a book of charters given to the town and made in the Tudor Period, which you’ll see is beautifully illustrated.
“We also talk about the story of The Battle of Roundway, and we’ve also got some cannon balls found in the town, musket balls found in the battle site,” etc.
There’s also a section on the old Prison (the museum even has one of its thick wooden barred doors) and the Asylum.
“There’s going to be a Channel Four program that’s going to dig up bits of the Prison from people’s back gardens,” says David, that the museum is involved in, which will start essentially in the second week of September.
Then you can see the majestic mayoral robe from the 1880s, we probably had our first mayor around 12000.
Fun fact if you’re a Devizes School Student: you’ll see a mourning ring in the cabinet beside the robe, it contains a lock of hair from the lady in the portrait that hangs in the school entrance.
In the next room David told me the heart-warming story of a boy and his toy submarine (now on display in the cabinet), made by prisoners of war who had befriended him while they were in Swindon building houses.
“This toy submarine was made by guys in the camp and given to a young lad in Swindon. The guys in the camp were being taken to Swindon to help build houses and they made friends with this lad and they gave him that as a present.”
The Library
With over 20,000 books and 20,000 archaeological journals, 30,000 photos and lots of archival material, and working with “over 30 postgraduate researchers every year and over 10 universities,” it’s not only a Library but also a research hub.
For anyone wanting to look through the archive, “pretty much everything we’ve got is searchable through our online database, it’s got images of everything, I think we’ve got about 15-20,000 images.”
The library’s archive of books, some donated by authors and others bought by the museum, covers the entire county.
I bid David adieu and thanked him for the informative tour: Bear in mind this was only a tour of the highlights, there’s far more in store for visitors.
Wiltshire Museum is funded by £12,780 in grant from Wiltshire Council and £4,000 from our Town Council, but they’re worth 3 quarters of a million pounds to the local economy, because as David illustrates, “when people come here, most of our visitors are making a special visit to Devizes to come to the Museum. Then of course they’re staying in B&Bs or hotels and spending money in pubs and shops and restaurants.”
Believe me, it’s not the boring, fuddy-duddy cobwebby museum you may remember. So, I for one reckon it’s time to show our support and appreciation for Wiltshire Museum!
Us locals ought to pay our prized museum a visit now and then, especially families so our kids can engage with the exhibits and have a sense of their history.
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Bangles not required, entertain your saucepans over the half-term with some Egyptian themed art and craft activities at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, which is linked to their current Out of Egypt exhibition.
Tuesday 27 October and Wednesday 28 October you could find out about the Ancient Egyptians through their artefacts? Find out about mummification then create a mummy mask, a golden amulet and hieroglyphic bookmark to take home. Finish your session with the chance to see some of the amazing real artefacts from the Out of Egypt Exhibition.
The museum ensures it is Covid-secure, by putting a number of measures in place; details on their website.
And on Thursday 29 October – 2pm, you can zoom like an Egyptian with a digital event for curious kids. The Museum are offering Curious Kids the chance to engage with the museum and get creative as a family, via Zoom! The session will also be inspired by their “Out of Egypt” Exhibition from Hampshire Cultural Trust.
Ideal for children ages 2 to 5 (including reception aged children) the session will last 30 minutes and will be broken up into short sections, to focus on your interaction, rather than attention to the screen.
Other craft activities you can do yourself with advice via videos created by local artist, Emma Kerr, is to make your own Egyptian mask using household items such as milk-bottles or from natural ingredients. Visit the website for more craft ideas for all the family.
Details and booking from the website. General entry to the Museum:
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday – 10am to 4pm (closed 1pm to 2pm)
• OPEN Sunday 25 October and Sunday 1 November – 11am to 3pm.
Pre-book to ensure entry, as they are continuing to limit numbers.
The exhibition, featuring genuine Egyptian artefacts, including scarabs and mummified animals, mummy masks and wrappings, shabti (a figurine found in many ancient Egyptian tombs) figures and jewellery, Out of Egypt closes on November 1st.
For the very first time Wiltshire Museum will be borrowing from major National Museums to bring an international standard art exhibition to the County. They’ve confirmed important loans from the Tate and V&A, as well as private lenders. They are also liaising with the Imperial War Museum, British Museum, National Museum of Wales and the prestigious Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne, as well as private lenders, to secure a significant range of evocative watercolours for the display.
This ground-breaking exhibition celebrates watercolour artist Eric Ravilious, and his fascination with the sweeping downland landscapes of Wiltshire and Sussex. His watercolours have such a spirit of place you can almost feel the wind on your cheeks and hear the birds above. Wiltshire Museum say, “it will appeal to art lovers across the country and to local people who love the iconic local landscapes.”
The exhibition is masterminded by guest curator, James Russell. James created the enormously successful Ravilious exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2015. He will also write an illustrated catalogue to accompany the exhibition.
The importance of the downlands to Ravilious is well documented, but this exhibition will be the first to be dedicated solely to this subject. It will explore this area of his work and relate it to the national fascination with downland landscapes, mythology and archaeology, which gripped Britain between the wars. The exhibition will include darkly menacing war-time views of the coastline, including the famous ‘White Cliffs’ of Dover.
Items from the museum’s designated collections will be included in the exhibition. A highlight will be a sketch book Ravilious created in 1939 for the ‘Puffin’ series of children’s books. Although never published, it contains delicate pencil drawings of chalk hill figures, ancient monuments and prehistoric earthworks in Wiltshire. The idea behind the series of books was to promote patriotism in the youth of England as the Second World War loomed.
Though Wiltshire Museum need your help to bring this important exhibition to life. You can support the appeal by clicking here. donations will provide invaluable match-funding for grant applications to make the exhibition possible. They have already had donations from private individuals and are seeking commercial sponsorship.
We will also be organising an events programme linked to the exhibition. If you are interested in bringing a group to see the exhibition, having a guided tour or a lecture to your group, then please get in touch with the museum.
Yes, it’s a cross between Night at the Museum and Snakes on a Plane, except neither Samuel L Jackson or Ben Stiller will be there, neither any real snakes, which may be no bad thing. This is Devizes, home to the wonderful Wiltshire Museum, where two snakes have slithered up the outside of the Museum building! The snakes were made by Wiltshire Young Carers at a workshop held in the Museum during February half-term.
This Secret lives of Snakes, family-friendly exhibition opened yesterday. No real snakes, but the exhibit contains lots of interesting facts and details about these fascinating creatures. There’s lots of wonderful photographs, skeletons and taxidermy to highlight the world of these secretive creatures.
Interactives for children include a snake trail around the Museum. Also, relating to the exhibit, the Saturday morning club for 7-14-year olds, Young WANHS have, “Sssnakes …” – snake-themed craft activities for on 9 March, from 10.15am – 12.15pm. There’s no annual fee, but pre-booking is essential to help the Museum plan the sessions. Each session costs £5 per child.
Then, on Tuesday 16th April, there’s a Jonathan’s Jungle Roadshow for younger children, suitable for age 4 and over. Children will have the amazing opportunity to find out about, handle and touch a diverse selection of fantastic live animals, including snakes. There are two sessions, 10.15am or 11.30am, each one lasts an hour and is again, £5. Accompanying adults free. Booking is essential as it’s only 15 children per session.
The exhibition runs until 28th April, normal Museum admission charges apply, but children and WANHS members are free. The Museum is now open Monday to Saturday – 10am to 5pm and Sundays – noon to 4pm. Bank Holidays may vary, check their website.
Yes, there’s stuff for the grownups too, such as lectures; Identity and Ideology during the Beaker period, by Chris Carey, University of Brighton on 30th March, is the only one not sold out. But none of them have got snakes in them! Where’s the fun in that?!
The exhibition runs until 28th April, normal Museum admission charges apply, but children and WANHS members are free. The Museum is now open Monday to Saturday – 10am to 5pm and Sundays – noon to 4pm. Bank Holidays may vary, check their 
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