Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Newsletter 91

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Newsletter 91 - Spring 2014

George Rankin Lady of the Black Horse 1916 Courtesy Red Cross Museum and Archives and Studland Village Hall Committee

A Dorset Woman At War: Mabel Stobart and the Retreat From Serbia 1915 31 May—15 November 2014

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Dorset County Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XA 01305 262735 www.dorsetcountymuseum.org enquiries@dorsetcountymuseum.org Company No. 3362107

Charity No. 1062400

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Chairman’s Chat Many of you will have noticed the recent flurry of publicity launching the appeal for the new Collections Discovery Centre. Pictures in Dorset Life of our handsome Director wearing a maniacal expression, articles in the local press and interviews on local TV and radio.

Last August the London firm of Chartered Surveyors, Montagu Evans, completed a comprehensive study showing that it would indeed be feasible from a Town Planning perspective to build a new extension behind the museum. They recommended that the old Craft Market buildings be demolished and replaced by a purposedesigned two storey structure with a basement. This would adjoin the current building with access through connecting doors. John White’s Rectory would be refurbished and the cottages, 4 and 5 Colliton Street, sold as two residential dwellings. St Peter’s Institute will be left alone for the present. The Board accepted these recommendations in September 2013.

The new building will be used to display our collections of Natural History, Fine and Decorative Art , and Costumes, Textiles and Ceramics. There will be a much needed learning department, research facilities and a lecture theatre. We hope the basement of the new centre will provide a store for the archaeology that is currently kept in All Saints Church.

Six firms of architects have agreed to compete for the contract and will have submitted their outline designs for the Discovery Centre by the end of January 2014. The successful firm will be awarded the contract by a panel of experts in February. Meanwhile a Fund Raising group has been formed, led by Town Councillor, David Taylor. He has generously agreed to give us his time and abundant enthusiasm for the project, and he has many useful contacts within the local business community and press.

An initial pre-Christmas appeal was launched inviting people to buy a commemorative plaque for the main staircase. In return for £100, donors receive not only the plaque, but free membership for one year. (Those who are already members can apply to have a year’s sub refunded). The money raised will help to fund the costs of submitting the formal planning application to West Dorset District Council in April. Our formal appeal to raise £5million will be launched in the next few weeks but its success will ultimately depend on a favourable bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. We will be hoping for approximately £3.5 million from the HLF but competition nationally is immense. We will doing everything we can to ensure a successful bid later in the year.

2014 will also see the start of the refurbishment of the archaeological gallery. I am very excited by the plans for this which will revolutionise the display of our magnificent collection.

Finally it is a pleasure to thank the staff and volunteers for their continued support, and to welcome Nicola Berry who joined us as Education Officer last November.

Dr Peter Down - Chairman

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Director’s Diary The Society continues to try to push ahead with its development aspirations for the Dorset County Museum with all good speed. As mentioned by our Chairman elsewhere in this Newsletter, progress is being made with the plans we have to build a new Collections Discovery Centre, and fundraising and grant applications are now beginning in earnest. An important part of this this process is of course publicising our plans and garnering public support.

As a result of these efforts, and to persuade people to contribute to the first initiative in what we know will be a long Development Plan fundraising campaign, thanks to the Dorchester Life magazine I appear to have now achieved my allotted “15 minutes of fame”. I can only apologise for inflicting my face on the good folk of Dorset and make a mental note to have my hair cut more often!!

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building we try to bring the rest of the Museum up to modern standards of facilities, display and interpretation as quickly as resources allow.

Work in this regard has meant that the Victorian Gallery was closed in January to allow the parquet floor to be restored by a team of specialist historic floor conservators. This vital work is thankfully a once in a generation occurrence and the newly restored floor, which has been returned to the original vision of the architect of the Victorian Gallery, George Crickmay, now both looks splendid and sets off the space magnificently. It also brings to a conclusion our project to re-display the Victorian Gallery, which began following the end of the Pharoah: King of Egypt exhibition in February 2012, so I must take this opportunity to thank all those funders, members, volunteers and staff who have contributed to this great transformation.

The next major task, alongside the development of the Collections Discovery Centre scheme, will be to deliver the re-display of the Archaeology Gallery, beginning this autumn. Funding for this is coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund, courtesy of the South Dorset Ridgeway AONB, and work on the planning, research and design is already underway. Indeed the team has already taken inspiration from the magnificent new Prehistoric Wiltshire gallery at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes—which as a result of a reciprocal arrangement, all Society members can visit free of charge don’t forget. This is of course just one of the ways I believe DNHAS membership continues to represent superb value for money! And this final point could be the simplest and most effective way you help us this year. Ask your friends, neighbours and colleagues if they are members of the DNHAS. If they’re not, tell them all about us, the great things we do and the bright future we’re planning and persuade them that they too should get involved, join the Society and support the Dorset County Museum.

Dr Jon Murden - Director

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Meet Our New Education Officer — Nicola Berry They say that good things come to those who wait…well I feel as though I’ve waited a long time for my new role as Education Officer at the Museum so I’m thrilled to have been given such an exciting opportunity.

I joined the Royal Bank of Scotland at the age of eighteen and then moved to JP Morgan in the City but was never very happy in a banking environment so I left after six years to re-train as a primary school teacher.

Since then, I have taught at several different schools in London and Dorset but I spent the last nine years as class teacher and French subject leader at Yetminster Primary School. Leaving the teaching profession was a big step for me and I thought about it long and hard but when I saw the advertisement for the role of Education Officer at the Museum I knew that I had to go for it. I have always been interested in history and I loved teaching history topics at school. I felt that the role would allow me to share my love of history with children and to inspire them but without the ever-increasing burden of targets and assessments which is so damaging to education today. The opportunity to work with other groups of learners was also very exciting and would allow me to develop professionally.

I am married with two teenage boys and two gorgeous dogs (who are wondering where I disappear off to for such long periods several days a week). I live in Chetnole, about seven miles south of Sherborne, having moved to Dorset from London in 2003. My ambition is to live in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands but that’s something that will have to wait for a few years. In the meantime, I look forward to meeting you all and have an important and exciting job to do…

Nicola Berry - Education Officer

Wanted!

Two volunteers to help Mark North maintain the Museum Website and Social Media sites.

If you can help, please contact Mark via the Museum phone number or his email: dorsetcountymuseum@ymail.com

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Jurassic Coast Museums Photography Project Museums of all disciplines now fall under the supervision of Arts Council England, which is keen to show its interest in scientific subjects such as Geology. As a result of this in 2013 Dorset County Museum, working in partnership with Lyme Regis Museum, Bridport Museum and the Dorset County Museums Adviser, was able to win funding for a project which will create a new web site holding in the region of a thousand photographs of fossils held by the public museums covering the Jurassic Coast. The project is being supervised by G.00200 – Fish – Dapedius sp – Lyme Regis Richard Edmonds of Dorset County Council, with the idea being that if the public can see a structured set of high quality images showing the range and depth of the fossils on show in local museums, they come and see the real thing in our galleries!

Consequently the geology volunteers spent an entertaining few days before Christmas hunting through our collection – including the hundreds of boxes we have in the reserve collection - to identify suitable candidates for the camera, and assisting with the photography sessions. It has been fascinating to see how getting oblique light on a specimen from just the right angle makes a quite amazing difference to the detail you can see in it – something we need to think about for our existing displays.

At the time of writing around 400 of our specimens have been photographed, though it is likely that a further day of shooting, plus some 3D imaging work, will be scheduled to plug a few gaps in the range. Below are a couple of images showing the standard we are aiming for. Currently the hope is that the web site—whose working title is ‘Fantastic Fossil Finder’—will go live in April 2014. Once completed, the infrastructure has been designed in such a way that more of our specimens can be added to the site later as time and resources allow.

Paul Tomlinson Honorary Curator of Geology G.00023 – Turtle Skull – Dorsetocheys Delairi – Swanage

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NEW & EXCLUSIVE:

Thomas Hardy’s Master: John Hicks, Architect

by T.P.Connor Published jointly by the DNHAS and the Thomas Hardy Society The Victorian architect John Hicks has always been eclipsed by the literary fame of his infinitely more distinguished pupil Thomas Hardy. This study assesses Hicks in his own right and in so doing casts light on Hardy’s years of architectural training. Hardy’s Master is the first attempt to bring the abundant documentation available, including important local newspapers, to bear on the career of an architect who had a profound impact on many Dorset churches. It includes a comprehensive list of the architectural projects, both religious and secular, of Hicks’ practice in the county.

T.P.Connor was Head of History and the History of Art at Eton for nearly twenty years. He has written on early Palladian architecture, the Grand Tour and on a library in the English Civil war in many different journals, and took the chance of retirement to study the architecture of his new surroundings.

Now available in the Museum Shop priced £8.50.

Paul Lashmar—Honorary Editor

Notification of DNHAS Subscriptions Increase It has been a number of years since the Board of Trustees last increased the subscription rate for DNHAS members, but in the light of ever increasing costs combined with cuts in grant aid from the local authority, regrettably a small increase for 2014 has resulted. The new rates are:  

Adult Single Membership - £28 (up from £24) Adult Joint/Family Membership - £40 (up from £34)

We still strongly believedthat this represents excellent value for money and a very competeive membership offer. These changes will take effect from 1st April 2014.

Members who pay by way of direct debit will be automatically updated. We will take your payment on the existing renewal date.

Please take this as your notification of the change in DNHAS subscription rate.

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Rising to the Challenge!

Museum Development Appeal Thursday 1st December saw the launch by the DNHAS’s new trustee and star of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, Mr Paul Atterbury, of the first initiative in our fund raising campaign to support the Museum Development Appeal.

This appeal is an opportunity to donate at least £100 to the Development Appeal and get an individually personalised, brass plaque. The plaque will then be permanently installed on our beautiful staircase. You will also receive one year’s free membership to the Society as well as your name inscribed in the Development Appeal Donation Register.

At the time of writing, the scheme has raised nearly £4,000 – an outstanding result in such a short time – Thank You! Applications forms are available from the Museum or can be sent electronically by applying to secretary@dorsetcountymuseum.org .

David Taylor—Fund Raising Team Leader

Gift Aid is one of the easiest ways to make your donations more effective. The charity being supported reclaims the basic rate tax from HM Revenue and Customs. There is no extra cost to the donor and the process is simple - just make a Gift Aid declaration.

If you're a UK taxpayer, add Gift Aid whenever you make a donation or pay your annual subscription to the DNHAS and the Society can reclaim the basic rate of tax on your gift that's an amazing 25p for every £1 you give. Higher rate tax payers can claim additional tax benefits for donations they make to charity, which you can keep or pass on to any charitable organisation. Simply indicate how much you have donated when completing your tax self-assessment form.

To complete a Gift Aid declaration and further help the work of the DNHAS or for more information about Gift Aid or giving please contact: finance@dorsetcountymuseum.org

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A BROWSE THROUGH OLD REGISTERS When carrying out research at the Dorset County Museum using its old Accession Registers, (some tatty, some neat and tidy!) one cannot but help spotting odd, strikingly worded or unusual descriptions. The following list is a record of some of the most significant, interesting and obscure Accession Register entries those found during 2013. Serendipity is indeed a strange bedfellow...

1884 October Given by J.S.Udal Esq, Inner Temple. A portrait of Judge Jeffreys.

1885 September The slough of a snake, nearly 4ft long from Wool Heath. Given by Mrs Penny.

1886 May A pair of Chinese stockings made of human hair. Given by the Right Reverend G.E Moule.

Bishop in Mid China.

1896 March A fragment of Roman pavement from Victoria St London. from F.A.Burt Esq, 1 Gordon Villas, Swanage.

1891 January Copy of poll at Shaftesbury Election 1679. Given by J.E.Nightingale Esq. 1893 February Beaver bones from Tarrant Crawford.

1901 April Palestine Exploration Fund Journal for April 1901. Given by the Reverend G.E.V.Filleul, Dorchester.

1903 November On loan from F.J.Lloyd Priestley Esq. 2 hawk mummies and several small figures of Egyptian Gods etc.

1921 June Hen’s egg “freak”- chicken 1 head, 4 legs, 2 bodies. Mrs Follett, Wych Farm, Bridport.

1925 February Little Auk. Picked up in an exhausted state, near Corfe Castle.

1937 March Chimney sweep’s hook for pulling down obstructions in chimneys. Found broken in a chimney, Cornhill, Dorchester.

Some but not all of these objects may still be found in the collections of the DNHAS at the Dorset County Museum!

David Ashford - Research Enquiries & Identifications Service

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SPECIAL APPEAL:

Support the Giles Dugdale Portrait Fund The Museum has the opportunity to purchase a superb portrait of a Society member, the author Giles Dugdale. It was painted in 1923 by Wilfred De Glehn, a distinguished British Impressionist artist.

In 1949 Giles Dugdale selected and edited a book of Barnes dialect poetry. In 1953 he produced Barnes's biography.

We are indebted to him for bringing to light the literary genius of William Barnes and keeping alive the record of the language and culture of rural Dorset in early 19th century.

William Barnes is Dorset’s greatest dialect poet and co-founder of the Dorset County Museum. As Giles Dugdale brought Barnes to a wider audience, the portrait is an important part of our Dorset heritage.

The William Barnes Society has donated ÂŁ500 towards the purchase of this magnificent portrait, one of the most significant in our collection.

We are continuing to fundraise locally and are asking members to help us buy this important portrait of a distinguished Society member and ensure the portrait stays in the Dorset County Museum as it so richly deserves. please make a donation towards saving this fine portrait. For more information or to make a donation please contact Jenny Cripps at the Museum (jenny@dorsetcountymuseum.org) Marion Tait - Honorary Curator of the William Barnes Collection

Lloyd Thomas is retiring as the Honorary Treasurer of Dorset County Museum Music Society after 40 years in the post. Anyone who might be willing to consider the post and would like to find out more about it, would be welcome to talk to Lloyd in the interval or at the end of the next DCMMS concert on 19th February when the Navarra Quartet will be playing.

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FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

Free Time: Stories of Leisure Then and Now 15 February to 17 May 2014 Free Time is a brand new exhibition at Dorset County Museum showcasing the results of a contemporary collecting project studying the changing nature of our leisure time over the last 60 years.

The project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and run by digital:works in conjunction with the Dorset Partnership for Older People, Age UK, the U3A and Thomas Hardye School. Together they have captured and preserved the memories and stories of local people who used to, or still do, pursue hobbies that are much less common nowadays. The new oral history archive that has been created will be housed at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester for future generations to study.

Joe Stevens, project leader, said; “When you look at old black & white photos or films it can look like a completely different age, but what we are hearing is that life today is not that different from times past.” Joe added; “We are not just interested in people's memories from long ago, but also the recent past. We are hoping to feature a range of stories from 1945, right up to the present day.”

Working with Dorset County Museum and the Dorset History Centre, the project has enabled young people to collaborate and share with the older population in a range of activities leading up to the exhibition. As well as the archive, there will also be a website and an app for a ‘Walking Museum’ around Dorchester. Visit www.freetimeourstories.co.uk for more details on the project and some of its associated activities.

The bellringers of Whitchurch Canonicorum and Chideock have been busy restoring the bells in the churches of St.Candida and Holy Cross and St.Giles, Chideock.

A film about these events was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant and includes footage of the removal of the bells and when they were re hung. The film can now be viewed online at www.ataleoftwobelltowers.org

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FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

A Dorset Woman at War: Mabel Stobart and the Retreat from Serbia 1915 31 May to 15 November 2014

Summer 2014 will see a special exhibition at Dorset County Museum commemorating the centenary of the start of the First World War. The exhibition will focus on the story of one Dorset woman, Mabel St Clair Stobart, exploring her life and the role she played during the epic retreat of the Serbian army in 1915.

The Society holds within the collections of the Dorset Photographic Record at Dorset County Museum a unique assemblage of photographs recording Mabel Stobart’s experiences in Serbia. They trace her intrepid journey from the tented field hospital she established near the front line and the relentless 250 mile trek through the Albanian mountains to her final escape from Scutari. Her story is exceptional, not only for the adventures she experienced but because she was motivated by bettering the lot of women.

She led her mission to Serbia in the face of opposition from another famous Dorset figure, Sir Frederick Treves, who felt there was no place for women in the Serbian conflict.

The photographs of Stobart’s adventures are highly graphic and do not flinch from the horrors of war. When Kodak developed them for her subsequent lecture tour of America, they were so impressed that they were blown up, mounted and hung in the Kodak head office.

The exhibition, which also includes important objects from both private collections and the Imperial War Museum, will reveal the extraordinary story of a powerful and determined woman.

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Forthcoming Events At Dorset County Museum The following events have been included in the Museum’s public programme since the production of the 2013/14 Society Programme or the January - July 2014 Exhibitions and Events Leaflet Tuesday 18th February

A Demonstration of 3D Printing Peter Brugger will demonstrate 3D object printing using objects from the archaeological collections at Dorset County Museum. Please check www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/events for more details or call 01305 262735.

Thursday 3rd April

The Dorset Landscape and the Romantic Imagination in the 20th Century John Walker will speak on this fascinating topic in an evening lecture organised by the South Dorset Ridgeway Area of Outstanding Beauty project. Doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. Free entry—suggested donation £3.

Thursday 10th April

Lunchtime Concert - Roger Cox In an addition to our published programme of Lunchtime Concerts, Roger Cox will both play Flamenco Guitar and talk about some of its history and heritage. 1.00pm to 2.00pm. Free entry—suggested donation £3.

Thursday 24th April

Book Launch - Hardy’s Master: John Hicks Architect The scheduled Hardy Lecture on ‘Hardy, Whistler and Monet’ will be preceded by the launch of the Society’s new publication at 6.30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 22nd April

Geology Lecture - Active Faults and Ancient Places Due to unforeseen circumstances the date of this lecture by Prof Iain Stewart has had to be brought forward from the original published date of Monday 28th April. Please Note: This lecture is being held in partnership with the Thomas Hardye School as part of their Community Lecture series and will be held in the School Theatre with a 7.00pm start time.

Friday 16th May

Lunchtime Concert—The Cornertones It is with regret that due to unforeseen circumstances this Lunchtime Concert has been cancelled.

For more details and the latest information on events at Dorset County Museum call 01305 262735 or visit www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/events