Newsletterdec2014

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M O N T H LY N E W S L E T T E R

MUSEUM OF OXFORD Volunteer Newsletter

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f e s t iv a l C h r is t m a s l ig h t oxford at museum of

We lc o m e Merry Christmas everybody and Happy New Year! Welcome to the December/January edition of the volunteer newsletter. In this issue we are given an insight into Oxford as a medieval town, and we answer some of your more burning questions, as well as welcoming the new members of the volunteering family. Joan Bellinger is in the Mayor’s Chair and I explain a bit about the new exhibition in the gallery.

If you would like to get involved with the newsletter, or indeed any aspect of the Museum, please contact David Juler.

The Volunteer Forum

Page 3 Medieval Oxford’s Development As Seen Through Its Walls and Castle

Page 4 ‘Oxford through Our Eyes’ – This Exhibition is Definitely Worth a Look!

Page 5 In The Mayor’s Chair Joan Bellinger

Page 5 MoOFs’ Progress

Page 6 Event Repor t: Christmas Light Festival

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The Volunteer Forum Chris Rogers This section the newsletter focuses on the issues that volunteers encounter while working with visitors at the Museum of Oxford.

It will also address topics related to the volunteer family. Your input is welcomed! Please respond by email to David or fill out a comment blank and drop it off in the Gift Shop. Please identify as “volunteer forum”.

New Volunteers welcome!

We have some new faces in the volunteer family!

Please meet:

gie

Mag

Martin

Hatice

Mic hel

a

Coral

John

Lilian

Jane

Noemi

Car mi

ne

Jihee

Andre

Livvy Hannah

Alison

Rebc ca

Tom Megan

Simon

Alexander

Welcome to the Museum of Oxford volunteer team, we hope you enjoy your time with us!

What does Camera mean (as in Radcliffe Camera)?

It is from the Latin meaning a small room.

Did Oliver Cromwell have a daughter?

Yes; he had four!

(Thanks Karin!)

T he Explore Oxford galleries used to be working offices in the Town Hall. When where they last used as offices and for which department or official?

T hey belonged, just before the space was designated to the museum, to the Policy, Culture and Communication team of the city council who were moved, to offices off the drill hall corridor.

Prior to that, the space served as the elections office.

Who were the councillors who championed Explore Oxford when the City opted to close the Museum? Council leader Bob Price h as alw ay s b e en p ar ti c u l arl y supportive and spoke at the opening of Explore Oxford so he probably has had a massive influence ov e r t h e M u s e u m remaining in existence.

other questions then please do share your knowledge with us, we’d love to hear about it! If you do want to get in touch, just email David.

Engaging visitors!

W here were the Quarterboys made?

Are there any strategies that y o u u s e wh e n t a l k i n g t o visitors? I generally ask (at some point) if they know how the city got its name. I am constantly surprised by the number who have no clue including visitors who live here or in Oxfordshire.

W h o wa s Wi l l i a m Morris (the car manufacturer) apprenticed to when he made bicycles?

Any tips or strategies that you use for engaging visitors, and are willing to share would be most welcome!

What did the Transport Museum used to be called?

We are unsure about the answers for the last three questions, but if any of the volunteers have any knowledge or information regarding them, or the

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Medieval Oxford’s development as seen through its walls and Castle Prue Drew

E arly

Views of the walls at New College

Nor man Oxford, from 1066, saw the construction both of the castle, essential for Oxford’s growth as an administrative and trading centre, and of Grandpoint, a long causeway across flood land either side of the ‘oxenford’ which allowed much freer movement of people and goods through the town.

Before this time, Oxford had been a well-defended settlement - vital for the infamous massacres between Anglo-Saxon and Danish forces in the early 11th century - with a grid of streets of roughly north-south routes and surrounded by a defensive ditch and palisade. The town was in fact, a palisaded burh with blocks of streets for landowners as well as large open spaces. Oxford thus became a significant English town, with four major councils of Kings and powerful nobles held between 1015 and 1065.

The north wall, viewed from inside

Following an economic decline of about twenty years after 1066, Oxford, with its central geographic position, played an increasingly important role nationally from the 12th into the early 13th centuries. Its development, both locally and nationally, was through trade, particularly of wool and cloth. By 1272 Oxford ranked third in the country for prosperity, according to the tax (tallage) it had to pay, behind only London and York.

Appropriate improvements were frequently made to the defences of the castle and the town. Late in the 12th century the older wall was overhauled, and the Saxon town rampart rebuilt as a massive free-standing stone wall. In the 13th century a second wall 10 metres beyond the original Saxon one was built round part of the east and north boundaries. A long stretch of the main wall and the position of the outer one can still be seen at New College today. An area of approximately 115 acres was enclosed within the wall with its internal wall walk and at least 21 semi-circular towers or bastions; its circumference was approximately two miles.

So by the early 13th century, all four main roads into Oxford were through a gate that led to Carfax (Quadrifurcus, a place where four roads meet). Each of these gates had its own church dedicated to St Michael in the north and south, and to St Peter in the east and west.

• North Gate, spanning Cornmarket just north of Ship Street (with St Michel at the Northgate Church);

• South Gate, spanning St Aldate’s (with St Michael-at-the-Southgate Church, demolished to make way for Christ Church);

• East Gate, spanning the High Street, just to the east of Merton Street (with St Peter-in-the-East Church);

Detail of the rampart walk, with surviving stone steps, inside the wall

• West Gate and the junction of the present Castle and Paradise Street (with St Peter-le-Bailey Church which then stood at Bonn Square).

There were four other smaller gates:

• Smith Gate, spanning Catte Street beside the former octagonal chapel;

• Turl Gate, a small postern gate spanning Turl Street;

• an unnamed gate in the south wall at the point where it turned south to enclose St Frideswide Priory;

• Little Gate (or Little South Gate) spanning the north end of Littlegate Street.

Thus streets such as Magdalen Street, Long Wall Street, George Street, Holywell Street, and Broad Street that are today thought of as being in Oxford’s centre are actually outside the medieval wall. (Central colleges, built later, such as Balliol, Magdalen, Trinity, Wadham, and St John’s and most of the St Aldate’s and St Ebbe’s area from Pembroke Street southwards - were not part of medieval Oxford.) The re-formed medieval town had no proper west wall, with both the north wall and the south wall tapering inwards to meet at the boundary of the large castle site; the positioning of New Road (‘new’ since it was only created in the 1770s) makes it difficult to envisage the extent of the castle wall, which in fact stretched as far as Bulwarks Lane.

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Note, in conclusion, the old Oxford rhyme: At North-gate and at South-gate too St Michael guards the way, While o-er the east and o’er the West St Peter holds his sway.

‘OXFORD THROUGH OUR EYES’ – THIS EXHIBITION IS DEFINITELY WORTH A LOOK! Felicity Hammond

T his

November, I was involved in helping to set up the new exhibition with the title of ‘Oxford through Our Eyes’. Given the broad scope of this theme, the exhibits are rather eclectic.

Immediately as you enter, there is a display of items provided by two of Oxford’s traveller communities, which links to a complementary exhibition at the Pitt Rivers, as part of the Oxfordshire Travellers’ Stories Project.

There is a section of artwork and clothing pertaining to the Oxford carnival and the Cowley Road Car nival Creative Signposting Project. Then there is the Oxford roller derby exhibit, along with paintings and photography by members of local community groups and young people, showing their personal experiences of the city of Oxford.

Lastly, there is the section dedicated to the Lost Voices of Oxford’s Great War Project.

Among the many interesting items, there was one particular case which I found the most interesting. This contained a number of items, discovered by an Oxford resident in her attic – a sword belonging to one of her relatives who fought in the First World War, a book of newspaper style magazines called ‘The Great War Illustrated’, which were printed at the time and a handwritten letter from a soldier. The sword is adorned, all along the blade with intricate designs, as was the decorative hand guard which strongly suggests that it was a

ceremonial sword belonging to officer, rather than one used in hand to hand combat. However, I still felt that placing it next to an article in one of the ‘The Great War Illustrated’ magazines, which included a cartoon of hand to hand combat with bayonets, was poignant.

Other artefacts which caught my attention were the trench art shields. Trench art is comprised of pieces made by soldiers, usually when they were injured or waiting between combat periods, out of scraps of material, often metal.

However that does not mean that all trench art came out of actual trenches. The shields were most likely, according to expert advice we received, made out of the side of one of the oil drums, which were being distributed to people on the home front by soldiers. They have coats of arms painted on them – one is the Oxford city coat of arms, one is the coat of arms for the university and one is a regimental coat of arms.

It is impossible to give an impression of the whole range of items on display, so you really should come and see for yourself !

I n t h e m ayo r’ s c hai r J oa n b e ll i ng e r

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Follow us for More !

Peter Simpson

When Joan was at Buckingham Palace meeting the Duke of Edinburgh she noticed his striking blue eyes and gentle handshake. Joan had been invited there to collect her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from the man himself.

Joan was born in Oxford and has lived there ever since. She grew up in East Oxford, and attended East Oxford School and later Milham Ford School in Marston Road. One of Joan’s favourite subjects was biology which, after a short spell in the civil service, led to the main part of her working life as a laboratory technician.

Joan worked for several years at the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research during which she studied part time to gain an HNC in Applied Biology at the Oxford College of Technology – now Brookes. She later moved to the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the John Radcliffe. Following marriage and the births of her two boys a number of years were in part time employment. Eventually she became full time in the In vitro Fertilisation Unit (IVF ) which was an integral part of the department. Sometimes if asked where she worked she would reply – in a bank. However this was a bank with a difference – it was a donor bank! It was just one part of the Infertility Service.

Oxford was a unit that took part in a European collaborative study on infertility and Joan finally moved to a research position with this project.

Joan has always enjoyed sports especially cricket. As part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award she played for Oxford Ladies and in one match pitted her bowling skills against the future English cricket captain Rachel Heyhoe-Flint.

When Joan retired she got a part time job working at the Museum of Oxford – this was before the volunteers arrived. When they did start working there Joan transferred to the Tourist Information Centre. Later Joan returned to the Museum of Oxford as a volunteer and was involved in setting up two exhibitions in the gallery, working within Outreach and is now involved in the museum’s new development group.

Joan’s main hobby is photography and she is treasurer for the Kidlington Camera Club. Joan is also involved as an invigilator at the Cherwell School and thoroughly enjoys her health walks every Tuesday.

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In the last newsletter, you read about the beginnings of the Museum of Oxford Friends (MoOFs), which is to provide support for and promote our important Museum. Since then, we have made positive progress.

The interim Steering Group has been formalised and are liaising with Museum Staff.

We are busy researching and gathering as much information from different sources as we can. This is to help us set up our Friends’ group so that it will be sustainable into the future with a positive impact on heritage, people and communities.

In small sub-groups, we are looking into different funding opportunities and are beginning to prepare fund applications, whilst also looking into the opportunities that we might be able to offer future MoOFs. Next year, the Museum is 40 years old and we intend to launch MoOFs officially as part of the celebrations.

We aim to have a group that is lively, supportive and inclusive and hope that many of you will chose to join MoOFs in the future.

Please look out for more information in future newsletters.

Judith Price

Chair of MoOFs

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Chr i s tmas li gh t f e st iv al “Great family fun!”

I y love mrn! lante

Mulled wine and Mince pies Photography by Yi Wu

What’s On THE MUSEUM Christmas Family Trail Saturday 6 December - Friday 2nd January, £1 (tickets available from Museum gift shop), 10am – 4:30pm Monday to Saturday.

Come and explore the fun and festive Christmas family trail around the Explore Oxford galleries – it’s great for all the family (?)

Anglo Saxon family trail Saturday 10 January - Friday 13 March, 10am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday, £1 This is a fun family trail around the Explore Oxford galleries. Come and explore!

Tickets are available from the gift shop.

ELSEWHERE The Blake Exhibition 4th December – 1st March 2015, 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays, £9 – standard, £7 – concession, The Ashmolean This exhibition focuses on the extraordinary life and work of William Blake (1757–1827), who was a printmaker, painter and revolutionary poet. It examines his formation as an artist, including his apprenticeship as an engraver, and his maturity during the 1790s when he was at the height of his powers as both an artist and revolutionary poet. The exhibition also explores his influence on the young artist-printmakers such as Samuel Palmer, George Richmond and Edward Calvert.

Wind in the Willows Creation Theatre, 5th Dec-10th january, 7.30pm, £13.50-£27, North wall arts centre, South Parade Come and enjoy a production of the Wind in the Willows, it’s fun for everyone! Don’t miss Moley, Ratty, Badger, and of course Mr Toad - Poop Poop!

Contributors: Chris Rogers, Prue Drew, Felicity Hammond, Peter Simpson Art Editor: Yi Wu Editor: Felicity Hammond