Thornbury & District Museum - Latest news from the Museum

We've been celebrating since the Museum received an official letter and certificate from the MLA (Museums Libraries Archives Council) saying that we have been awarded the status of an Accredited Museum.

The MLA's Accreditation Scheme sets nationally agreed standards for UK museums. To meet the requirements, we had to demonstrate that we achieve standards relating to how the museum is governed and managed, how we provide services and facilities for users of and visitors to the museum, and how we care for and manage our collection.

We are particularly proud of this achievement since Thornbury and District Museum is an entirely volunteer-staffed organisation. The whole museum operation is a team effort and we have been awarded this because of the way we all work together. Some volunteers have worked at the museum for a long time and are very experienced but new volunteers join us all the time and everyone has had a part to play in achieving this outcome. Small is beautiful - and successful! Thank you to everyone who helps out in any way at the museum!

When Mayor Chris Clifford and his wife opened My Dear Mum..., the new exhibition on wartime evacuation to Thornbury from Harwich on the Essex coast, the museum was delighted to welcome some special guests to the opening. Pauline Crane came as a six year old from Harwich to this area and was billeted with Mr and Mrs Barrett at Itchington near Thornbury. Pauline chose to stay on with the Barretts after the war and when she married at the age of 21, the now widowed Mr Barrett came to live with the newly weds. Pauline, seen above, second from right, has lived in this area ever since and spoke movingly of the welcome and affection she'd experienced here.

On the right of the picture is John Heath who, with his wife, travelled from Harwich for the opening of the exhibition. John and his brother Arthur were both evacuated to this area and spent most of the war with the Poole family who lived in the High Street. John went back to Harwich after the war but, at the exhibition opening, spoke of his strong gratitude for his time in Thornbury. Both John and his brother, before coming to Thornbury, had been victims of polio while living in Harwich. John's left leg had been affected, which left him with a severe limp. While in Thornbury, John went into Bristol Royal Infirmary and had a very successful operation on his left ankle.

Museum staff were very pleased that John and Pauline were able to be present on this special occasion.

It was standing room only at a recent Awards Ceremony for local schoolchildren! On a Saturday morning at the end of June, competitors and their families were packed into the Armstrong Hall complex to hear how they had fared in a story competition, run by the Museum in conjunction with the Thornbury People website. The challenge had been to write a tale which accurately conveyed the known facts about the Thornbury Roman Coin Hoard while imaginatively putting forward an explanation for how the coin hoard came to be buried in the first place and why it was never reclaimed.

As Sandi Shallcross of the Museum pointed out, there was no shortage of imagination in these stories! Theft, ambition, murder and general skulduggery featured large but there were also accounts of careful accumulation and untimely death. Certificates were presented and several of the authors were prepared to read their stories aloud. The audience were appreciative and could see why the judges had had such a hard time choosing between the different accounts. Congratulations to all who took part!

In mid-June, the Museum had a stand at the Volunteers Fair in the St. Mary Centre, Thornbury. The Museum is entirely staffed by volunteers and there are always a wide range of ways in which local people can get involved with their local museum. Timewise, volunteers give anything from an hour a month to several days a week! There are lots of jobs that need doing and people are encouraged to do what they are interested in and feel comfortable with. That might be: sitting in the reception area and welcoming people to the museum; making sure items in the collection are kept in the appropriate conditions; creating and maintaining records of objects, documents and photographs in the collection; helping to publicise museum activities in the local press; carrying out risk assessments for health and safety purposes; painting, carpentry and repairs; dusting and cleaning; transcribing and checking documents; working in the small courtyard garden; helping with exhibitions; contributing to research publications; and anything else that needs doing!

Volunteering in the museum is a great way of making new friends and learning new skills. It's a happy place to be involved with. Regular supplies of tea and biscuits keep us all going and we don't need much excuse to have a celebratory cake now and then... If you'd like to get involved, give us a ring or just come in and have a chat.

Thank you to South Gloucestershire Council Small Grants and to the Friends of Thornbury & District Museum who have provided funds for this project. We used the New Year period to install display panels with loop pile fabric covering in most of our exhibition rooms so that display material can be quickly and easily mounted using Velcro. So we are hoping to say goodbye to drawing pins, fishing line and tacks, staple guns, bruised fingers and broken nails!

This last part of the Thornbury Millennium Heritage Trail has now been completed and formally unveiled by our MP Steve Webb on Saturday 27th June 2009.

The bronze sculpture by Stephen Daniels shows a representation of the central part of Thornbury in the year 2000. It is cast in bronze by the 'lost wax' method and is both an attractive work of street art and a tribute to the dedication of generations of people whose community spirit created our historic town. You can find it next to the Town Hall in Silver Street, just off the High Street. The sculpture is mounted on a plinth of Forest of Dean sandstone, which is very similar to one of the stones used in many of our local walls and buildings. The plinth also contains the time capsules prepared by local schools in 2000 for future generations, not to be opened for 100 years.

New titles appear regularly, so do drop in and browse in the museum shop. Hand coloured prints of the Harry Lane tithe maps for Thornbury and other parishes are available framed to order. They, and lots of other items, would make good birthday presents. For more details, see the Museum Shop page.

The museum is proud to support Thornbury in Bloom. We are developing our Roman themed garden in our small courtyard. We have been given a sapling Olive tree by Riddifords in the High Street and some herbs for our containers by the Thornbury Garden Shop. We are growing a range of plants used by the Romans and plants brought to Britain for the first time by them.

The History Research Group meets at 7.30 pm in the URC Thornbury on the first Thursday of each month. Next meetings October 1st, November 5th.

The Thornbury Geology Group meets at The Chantry at 7.30 pm on the third Thursday of each month. Next meetings September 17th, October 15th.

The Archaeology Group meets in Oldbury or on site most weeks by arrangement. Please contact the museum if you are interested in this.

New members to all groups are welcome, just come along or contact the museum for details. Further details at the bottom of this page.

Our exhibition tells three stories, one about this special Roman Coin Hoard, 11,460 nummi, a second about how it was found in Thornbury, and a third story about the journey from discovery to display.

A hoard of 11,460 small coins, from the time of Constantine the Great, were found in a back garden in Thornbury. A small number has been loaned to us by Bristol Museum where the main bulk of the hoard can now be seen in a new display and interpretation station.

Nummi were the lowest denomination Roman coin and were made from copper alloy with a tiny trace of silver. Why were there so many in one earthenware jar? Who left them there?

What were they saved for? What would have marked the spot in the 4th century? Why did no one come back for them? Unfortunately we do not have any of these answers!

We recycle as much as possible; paper, cardboard, glass, plastic containers, metal, obsolete computer parts. We reuse envelopes, wood, computer parts, paper, anything we can find a home for. We reduce energy consumption as far as possible in an old building and reuse as much paper as possible before recycling waste. We use environmentally friendly cleaning materials and free trade coffee and walk and cycle as often as we can.

The Thornbury Museum Research Group now meets at the United Reformed Church on the first Thursday of each month at 7.30 pm to exchange, request and chat about photos, documents, snippets, anecdotes, or anything to do with the history of Thornbury, its homes and families and trades and professions. Please use the side door on Rock Street. Wheelchair access is not a problem, as we can open the main door on Chapel Street if necessary.

The Thornbury Geology Group meets at The Chantry on the third Thursday of each month at 7.30 pm. Members bring along any interesting specimens they have collected either locally or sometimes from distant countries. We discuss latest events and developments in Earth Sciences, and have a regular spot for beginners to find out more about any topic they like. We welcome beginners, amateurs and professionals equally!

The Archaeology Group has finished evaluating the finds from the excavation at The Chantry in 2006 and is now preparing a report and also investigating a new site. Please contact the museum for more details.