DCMVOX #030 June 2018

#030 June 2018 Dorset County Museum Volunteer Newsletter Welcome to Issue No.30 of DCMVOX…

Dorset County Museum—Wessex Museums Partnership Na onal Por olio Organisa on Monday 25th June 2018 at 9.15am (prompt)—Victorian Hall (This mee ng has been rescheduled from 14th May)

The Wessex Museums Partnership is a thriving consor um of the four principal museums across Dorset and Wiltshire that tell the stories of Wessex from prehistory to now, namely, Poole Museum, Dorset County Museum, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Museum. It is an exci ng moment for the Wessex Museums Partnership as from April 2018 we are now one of the Arts Council England’s new Na onal Por olio Organisa ons. As such we have an ambi ous programme to deliver over the next four years.

All staff and volunteers are invited to join the Director for a presenta on by Kris na Broughton, Partnership Manager, to hear about what it means to be a Na onal Por olio Organisa on, details of the partnership’s programme and what it all means for DCM.

RSPV to Anna (secretary@dorsetcountymuseum.org) ‐ Thank you!

On Friday 8th June the Museum will close at 3.00pm

Tea Room Exhibi on

Thomas Hardy’s Poems in Pictures#

By Jennifer Mar ndale

An exhibi on of hand painted woodblock prints illustra ng the poetry of Thomas Hardy.

With these rus c woodblocks, hand carved, hand printed and hand coloured images, Jennifer Mar ndale has tried to share the spirit of the poems.

With the departure of Dippy we were glad to be able to celebrate the success of the whole Museum team in delivering a record‐breaking exhibi on. On Friday we hosted a Dippy Volunteer evening to celebrate and thank everyone who had worked so hard to make Dippy such a memorable experience for the visitor. Thank you to all those who a ended, we hope you had a fantas c enjoyable evening. For everyone that was unable to join us, thank you for all your me, enthusiasm and for represen ng the Museum in such a professional manner during the last few months.

The volunteer support was beyond what we ever expected and we could have not have delivered the exhibi on to such high standards without you. .

We are delighted to share we had a whopping 153,189 visitors including 8,423 school pupils. I am sure many of you will want to enjoy a well‐earned break but if you wish to con nue to volunteer with the Dorset County Museum please get in touch with Jill Minchin (volunteer@dorsetcountymuseum.org). We have plenty of exci ng events happening over summer at the museum and would love to see a few friendly faces helping us again.

For all the latest updates and news, please visit www.tomorrowsmuseumfordorset.org and sign up to the e‐newsle er for the latest developments.

Dorset County Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XA Tel: 01305 262735 ‐ www.dorsetcountymuseum.org

Visitor Quote of the Month:

ASSIZES IN THE OLDEN TIME

To mark the opening of Shire Hall in May – the Historic Courthouse Museum ‐ the Fine Arts team would like to share this image with DCMVOX readers.

This is a ‘Photograph in Printers Ink’ by John Pouncy, of an original pain ng. Unfortunate‐ ly, we do not have, or know about, the original drawing. John Pouncy (1818‐1894) was an award winning, innova ve, Victorian house painter, who was one of the first pioneers of photo‐ lithography. Photographs produced with salts of silver, easily faded, whereas those produced with print‐ ers’ ink had greater longevity.

The image depicts the arrival of the judges at Shire Hall in 1840, for the Assizes. Assizes were usually for more serious cases and here the judges are being met by the Sheriff of Dorset, one John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge‐Erle Drax of Charborough Park. In 1841, he followed a long line of Drax family members to become MP for Wareham, a ‘pocket’ cons tuency which he represented three mes between 1841 and 1880, in collabora on with John Hales Calcra . The image shows the yeomanry guard in front of Shire Hall, which was built in 1796. In 1834, it was witness to the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, whose cell can be seen beneath the Courtroom. In the bo om right hand corner of the picture, a fight is taking place amongst the crowd, and further to the right, St Peter’s church and the site of the yet unbuilt, Dorset County Museum may be seen.

Demoli on of the Cra Market building got underway on 28th of May—the first stage in the project that will lead to the deliv‐ ery of our vision for Tomorrows Museum for Dorset. Work is progressing well, and currently remains on schedule. Although our contractors are doing their best to minimise disrup on to the local community, some is inevitable, and we thank every‐ one for their pa ence and understanding. Of course, it also means we are now on the way to delivering more show‐ stopping exhibi ons like Dippy in the not too distant future!

Volunteer News As we all now re‐adjust to life a er Dippy, in what seems a very quiet environment a er our thronged few‐ months of excitement and involve‐ ment, our recruitment of regular vol‐ unteers con nues, and next month’s DCMVOX will contain a welcome to several newly accredited volunteers.

In the mean me, I have been asked by the organisers of the Inside Out Dorset Fes val, which will be from 14—23 September, to let you know

that they are seeking volunteers. To Finally a deep and hear elt thankyou to you all who have helped in any find out more informa on, please access their website at http:// way with everything that goes on at www.insideoutdorset.co.uk/ the Museum. We really can’t do taking-part/volunteers/ . This has without you, and as the Museum no connec on with the Museum so moves into a new and different any ques ons should be directed to phase of its existence, you are more that Fes val please. important than ever. Keep volun‐ teering!

A reminder that our very own Lucy

Johnston will be giving a talk on Sincerely ‘Fashion in the me of Charlo e Jill Minchin Bronte’ at St Mary’s Hall, Alexandra Volunteer Road, Dorchester DT1 2LX on Mon‐ Co‐ordinator and Trustee day 19 June at 2.30pm, entry £2.50.