Groups needed to help create a Giant piece of history

On Saturday, 5th and Sunday, 6th August, groups of all kinds from across Salisbury are invited to have an official photo taken with two very special and very old city residents.

To celebrate the year of King Charles III’s Coronation, Salisbury Museum is hoping to bring the Salisbury Giant and his friend HobNob the horse out of the museum for the first time in over 40 years.

In keeping with a long tradition of official photos, groups are invited to apply to have their portrait taken with the Giant and Hob-Nob, who are both more than 500 years old.

Some groups will even have the chance to decorate a sash for the Giant to wear for the occasion. These photos will be displayed near to the Giant, in a major new redisplay at Salisbury Museum, due to open in 2024.

Groups can be formal ones, like sports clubs or lunch clubs, or informal, so if you’re not part of a club but would like to get a group of friends or neighbours together, that’s welcomed too. Costumes and props are encouraged.

Before they were officially retired in the early 1980s, the Giant and Hob-Nob were brought out for all kinds of landmark processions in Salisbury’s history, from coronations to the Peace Pageant of 1919, which was held to celebrate the end of World War I.

Building work taking place at the Museum offers a unique opportunity to bring the Giant and Hob-Nob out of the Museum once again. At 14ft high and more than 500 years old, moving the Giant is no small task. He is a unique survival from medieval Britain, although there would once have been many more in Britain. His friend Hob-Nob is thought to be part-horse part-dragon, and may be even older.

“This is a really unique and historic opportunity, as well as a chance to have some fun and come away with a really special souvenir photo,” said project curator Katie Morton. “We hope to involve as wide a variety of groups as possible to get a set of photos that show 21st century Salisbury in all its diversity.”

So why are there two possible dates? If the weather is wet, or windy, it will not be possible to bring the pair out of the museum. There are two possible dates to try and catch a dry, still day.

However, with the unpredictability of the British weather there is a Plan B – to take the photos inside the museum building, with an opportunity for a sneak peak behind the scenes as a bonus.

To apply to take part in the project, contact Katie Morton at katiemorton@ salisburymuseum.org.uk or contact Salisbury Museum on 01722 332151.