02/09/2016
The last year has seen us trail around the county, taking in 27 different venues where we’ve been capturing your stories, speaking to the public, and getting all kinds of interesting curios passed to us. It all began on January 19th, when an intrepid duo visited Polesworth Tithe Barn to speak to the North Warwickshire History Forum.
17/08/2016
Upon returning to Warwickshire after attending a conference, I decided to have a look and see how much of a challenge it is to access LGBTQ+ history here. I tried to find any records on LGBTQ+ history, simply by searching for modern day terms on the record office website, the online catalogue and the Our Warwickshire site.
03/08/2016
The Market Hall is one of many older buildings in the centre of Warwick to have been constructed from locally sourced sandstone. This rock can be distinguished by its pale, buff colour, and its tendency to weather quite badly, especially on the corners of buildings where it can take on a crumbly and rather dusty appearance.
28/07/2016
Scaffolding was erected around the building to give access to the workmen who are renovating the exterior, but it was noted that the resident House Martins (Delichon urbica), who have made the eaves of the building their home for many years were still currently nesting, and their young had not yet fledged.
15/07/2016
John Bland is a member of the Our Warwickshire Steering Group and Chairman of the Warwickshire Local History Society.
02/06/2016
I bet you're wondering how we're getting along in the Market Hall with the refit, what with all the blinds being closed? It's a bit of a mystery isn't it? Well, make no mistake, it's pretty drastic, you won't recognise the place.
29/04/2016
Don't ignore the letters pages of newspapers, for much can be gleaned about people who otherwise struggle for a voice when 'official' histories are written. And don't ignore newspapers as a whole, or what's seemingly chip wrapping paper.
20/04/2016
Two artists were recently appointed as part of the Our Warwickshire project and their remit was to host creative workshops with local community groups, exploring, showcasing and promoting Warwickshire's heritage.
29/03/2016
In 1967, the Women’s Institute conducted a photographic survey of Warwickshire villages and, from my point of view, this has proved a godsend. I come from Stretton on Dunsmore, a small village near Rugby, and my parents have lived there since 1967... coincidentally the year of the photographic survey!
10/03/2016
As part of the Our Warwickshire Community Engagement programme, Storyteller Dave Pickering will be meeting with and talking to a wide range of community groups and individuals living across Warwickshire - sharing and discussing stories and memories, around the themes of 'Living Here', 'Made Here' and 'Getting Here'.
10/03/2016
During the Market Hall Museum closure period, Heritage and Culture Warwickshire (HCW) will deliver five community engagement programmes across the county. These programmes will explore Warwickshire’s heritage and culture (past, ...
10/03/2016
The Our Warwickshire project is in full swing taking place across the county, with all ages getting involved in activities ranging from community workshops with professional artists to intergenerational website workshops.
01/03/2016
This was just a few days. The coming weeks see more website events, more pop-up museums, and more sessions. Let it not be said that we’re not getting out and about!
25/02/2016
Warwickshire Museum’s collections consist of items either from our county or with a strong local connection.
Compton Verney
A particular item of interest shown to me from the collection was part of ...
14/02/2016
We can't be sure how long the Wilmcote plesiosaur skeleton has been on display at the Market Hall Museum, but it's certainly been for at least a hundred years. As part of the 'Our Warwickshire' refurbishment, we had the skeleton taken down from its mount, in October 2015.
26/01/2016
Specialising in Archaeology, Sara has worked for the museum for 17 years and now manages all of the collections relating to Human History, from the earliest archaeological evidence showing the presence of hominids through to the present day.
11/12/2015
Iain Hodgson, our Learning and Community Engagement Trainee was 'volunteered' to contribute to our blog. We extend a warm welcome to Iain, who has already been a great help during our redevelopment and no doubt he will feature in one of our future 'Five Minutes with...' blog posts. So, without further ado, here he is discussing the market stall we will be running during the museum's closure.
12/11/2015
The Wilmcote Plesiosaur has always been an impressive sight; discovered in the early 19th century at Wilmcote, near Stratford-upon-Avon, it has been a fixture in the museum for over 100 ...
23/10/2015
Workhaus is a museum exhibition fitting company; they started up in 2001 and are based near Leeds. They had heard the name Redman Design for years, knew of them as ...
08/10/2015
There are a few objects in our museum which hold special significance, firstly to the people of the county, secondly to us and thirdly because they are some of the ...
24/09/2015
It’s finally here; the closing date for the museum is Saturday the 26th September. After then the doors will be closed until spring 2016, so if you want to see the old galleries and remember what they look like before they are gone forever then now is your last chance.
10/09/2015
On the morning of the 9th September our tame bee keeper came to take the bees on holiday while we are having our refit. The bee keeper is taking them to his garden, where he will put them in a standard hive to keep them cosy for the winter.
27/08/2015
So how did our museum start, how did we end up with the collections we have today? Originally there was the Warwick and Leamington Spa Phrenological Society. In 1836, the name changed to the Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological Society, to encourage more members to join. At the Society’s first meeting, the foundation of a museum was identified as one of its primary aims.
13/08/2015
Soon we will be closing our doors to the public and moving our collections into storage while we await the redevelopment of the galleries. We can’t just shove everything in a box; just like your fine china or favourite ornaments, we have to pack our objects carefully so that they don’t get damaged.
