Wiltshire Heritage Museum
Encyclopedia
The Wiltshire Heritage Museum, formerly known as Devizes Museum, is a museum
, archive and library
and art gallery
in Devizes
, Wiltshire
, England
. The museum was established and is still run by, the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society
(WANHS), a registered charity founded in 1853. After the purchase of an old grammar school the museum was opened in 1873. Subsequently it expanded into two Georgian
houses on either side and still occupies this location today.
The museum maintains a collection covering the archaeology
, art
, history
and natural history
of Wiltshire
. This collection covers periods of history from as far back as the Palaeolithic and also includes Neolithic
, Bronze Age
, Roman
, Saxon, Mediaeval and more recent historical artefacts. Among the prehistoric collections are items from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Several of the collections have been designated
as being a significant part of England’s cultural heritage
.
One of the most important collections at the museum is the finds from Bush Barrow
, an early Bronze Age burial mound
in Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The barrow was excavated by William Cunnington
in 1808 and produced the richest and most important finds from a Bronze Age grave in the Stonehenge Landscape to date. The finds were acquired by the museum in 1883 and were displayed there until 1922 when they were indefinitely loaned to the British Museum
. After a controversial restoration of the largest piece that may not reflect its original finish, the pieces were returned to Devizes in 1985. Replicas are on permanent display in the museum but the original artefacts themselves are kept in a bank vault
due to their priceless nature. The original pieces were exhibited for a weekend in 2008 to celebrate the bicentenary
of their discovery. The Museum is currently raising funds to be able to create new Neolithic and Bronze Age displays, that will include the Bronze Age gold. English Heritage
have announced that they are working in partnership with Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
in the development of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.
The natural history collection includes remains of a plesiosaur
called Bathyspondylus
found at Swindon
in 1774. Bathyspondylus swindoniensis was first described in 1982 from the Museum's specimens.
The Museum has launched a community bus service, the Henge Hopper, linking Avebury
with Amesbury
and Stonehenge
.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, archive and library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
in Devizes
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The museum was established and is still run by, the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society
Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society
The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society was founded in 1853, and is one of the largest county-based archaeological societies in the UK. It runs the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes, Wiltshire which has the best Bronze Age collections in Britain, including finds from Avebury...
(WANHS), a registered charity founded in 1853. After the purchase of an old grammar school the museum was opened in 1873. Subsequently it expanded into two Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
houses on either side and still occupies this location today.
The museum maintains a collection covering the archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. This collection covers periods of history from as far back as the Palaeolithic and also includes Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Saxon, Mediaeval and more recent historical artefacts. Among the prehistoric collections are items from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Several of the collections have been designated
Designation Scheme
The Designation Scheme is an English system that awards "designated status" to museums and library collections considered to be of great importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council . As of 2009, 125 collections are officially recognized...
as being a significant part of England’s cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
.
One of the most important collections at the museum is the finds from Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age , at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex. It was excavated in 1808 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington...
, an early Bronze Age burial mound
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
in Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The barrow was excavated by William Cunnington
William Cunnington
William Cunnington was a pioneering English antiquarian and archaeologist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. His work centred on excavating the barrows of Salisbury Plain. The first recorded excavations at Stonehenge were done by William Cunnington & Richard Colt Hoare in 1798...
in 1808 and produced the richest and most important finds from a Bronze Age grave in the Stonehenge Landscape to date. The finds were acquired by the museum in 1883 and were displayed there until 1922 when they were indefinitely loaned to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. After a controversial restoration of the largest piece that may not reflect its original finish, the pieces were returned to Devizes in 1985. Replicas are on permanent display in the museum but the original artefacts themselves are kept in a bank vault
Bank vault
A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents can be stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, just like a safe...
due to their priceless nature. The original pieces were exhibited for a weekend in 2008 to celebrate the bicentenary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of their discovery. The Museum is currently raising funds to be able to create new Neolithic and Bronze Age displays, that will include the Bronze Age gold. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
have announced that they are working in partnership with Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, commonly known as Salisbury Museum is a museum in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It houses one of the best collections relating to Stonehenge and local archaeology....
in the development of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.
The natural history collection includes remains of a plesiosaur
Plesiosaur
Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods...
called Bathyspondylus
Bathyspondylus
Bathyspondylus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur. It was first described in 1982 from a specimen originally found in 1774, now housed at the Devizes Museum...
found at Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
in 1774. Bathyspondylus swindoniensis was first described in 1982 from the Museum's specimens.
The Museum has launched a community bus service, the Henge Hopper, linking Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
with Amesbury
Amesbury
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
and Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
.
See also
- Bush BarrowBush BarrowBush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age , at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex. It was excavated in 1808 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington...
- Cunetio hoardCunetio HoardThe Cunetio Hoard is the largest hoard of Roman coins found in Britain. It was discovered in 1978 at Mildenhall, Wiltshire, and consisted of 54,951 low value coins. The coins were contained in a large pot and a container which had been constructed from lead...
- Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site
- Salisbury and South Wiltshire MuseumSalisbury and South Wiltshire MuseumSalisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, commonly known as Salisbury Museum is a museum in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It houses one of the best collections relating to Stonehenge and local archaeology....
- Wiltshire Record SocietyWiltshire Record SocietyThe Wiltshire Record Society is a publishing association in Wiltshire, England, which edits and publishes historic documents concerned with the history of Wiltshire.-History:...
External links
- Wiltshire Heritage Museum website, including admission charges and opening times.