New acquisition- a medieval lion

New acquisition- a medieval lion

Bradford on Avon Museum, Wiltshire .

Despite being surrounded by medieval buildings, Bradford on Avon Museum is a little short on medieval objects. So, we are delighted to have received a small stone carving of a lion from early in the period. He was carved out of fine oolitic limestone and has been dated to the 13th/14th centuries- confirmed...

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Great War exhibition success

Wiltshire at War exhibition

 

Bradford on Avon Museum’s exhibition about the Great War has now closed and has been a great success. Just under a thousand visitors were counted during the times when a Steward was on duty and there must have been many more uncounted when it was not stewarded too.

A special event was the opportunity for children to dress up in military and nursing...

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Great War exhibition extended

Wiltshire at War exhibition

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Over the August Bank Holiday weekend there will be two extra opportunities to see the the Wiltshire at War -Community Stories exhibition, which is being hosted by Bradford on Avon Museum.

Both the exhibition and the Museum will be open on the afternoons of Sunday 27th and Bank Holiday Monday 28th August in addition to the...

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Wiltshire at War exhibition

Wiltshire at War exhibition

. The Museum will be holding a special exhibition about how communities in Wiltshire were affected by the Great War, 1914-1918. It features display material from “Wiltshire At War – Community Stories” that has been put together at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre and we will showing items and photographs from our own collection...

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New book: a history of the rubber industry

New book: a history of the rubber industry

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Riding on rubber” is the Museum’s biggest publication to date, produced in collaboration with Ex Libris Press. A history of Bradford on Avon’s rubber industry, which was so important to the town’s economy until recently, has long been needed. Dan Farrell of the Moulton Bicycle Company has admirably...

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Millennium Embroidery film

Millennium Embroidery film

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A video that was filmed at the opening exhibition of Bradford on Avon Museum’s Millennium Embroidery in 2003 has now been put on the web.

You can watch it by clicking here -this is a link to the YouTube site and opens in a new tab.

 

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Films about the Avon rubber works

Films about the Avon rubber works

The films that were shown in the Vaults at the events connected to the unveiling of the Iron Duke are now available on line:

Remembering the Avon -reminiscences of people who worked at the factories in Bradford on Avon- can be seen here.

The Iron Duke film can be seen here.

Both links are to the Vimeo website and open in...

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Bradford on Avon Fire Brigade

Bradford on Avon Fire Brigade

The Museum has added to its collection of items relating to the history of the fire service in Bradford with a new donation. We have received helmets, one of the Wiltshire County Brigade and another two from the previous Bradford Urban District Brigade, an axe with its leather case that would have been clipped to a belt, a heavy jacket with county brigade buttons and a county cap.There are...

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The Iron Duke unveiled

The Iron Duke restored

At last, the culmination of so much work and fund raising, on Saturday 24th September the historic Iron Duke rubber calender machine was unveiled. A large crowd, amongst whom were were many who worked at the rubber factory, watched as the curtain fell.

Associated with the ceremony were activities in the Vaults, including films of ex-workers’ memories and a history of the machine...

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The Iron Duke is glazed

The Iron Duke is glazed

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The historic Iron Duke rubber calender machine has now received its partial glazing. The 15mm-thick toughened glass was carefully measured  and manufactured to fit under the COR-TEN roof and delivered from Bristol. The left side went smoothly, but the rough ground on the other side presented some difficulty.

The roof and glass give...

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The Iron Duke has his hat on

After years of planning, fund-raising and conservation work the historic Iron Duke calender machine has finally been reassembled by Dorothea Restorations of Bristol. It now sits on its concrete plinth next to Kingston House, in Kingston Road.

It sat out in the rain for a few days, but now has its stylish roof of COR-TEN weathering steel that is held up by temporary steel supports. The...

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King John and the Millennium Embroidery

King John and the Millennium Embroidery

Bradford on Avon Museum’s Millennium Embroidery will be displayed in the library’s exhibition/meeting room for the whole of August.

One of the twelve panels depicts King John crossing the Town Bridge during his visit to Bradford in August 1216, so this is an 800th anniversary of the event.

The embroidery can be seen during the hours that the library is...

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Barton Farm Booklets

Barton Farm Booklets

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Latest addition to Bradford on Avon Museum’s list of publications is this booklet The buildings of Barton Farm, Bradford-on-Avon which has been written by Pam and Ivor Slocombe. It is of a slightly larger format than the usual range and is illustrated with many photographs, plans and drawings and full of scholarly...

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Building Bradford in old photographs

Building Bradford in old photographs

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Bradford on Avon Museum has recently acquired a collection of photographs and other items that relate to the Long family who, through several generations, were responsible for constructing many of the town’s 19th and 20th century buildings, especially Victorian terraces and villas.

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Roman painted plaster returns to Bradford

Roman painted plaster returns to Bradford

. When a Roman bath complex was excavated in Bradford in 1976, many jumbled pieces of painted plaster were collected. They would have fallen from the interior as the walls became ruined. They were put into Wiltshire County Council’s store along with other finds from the dig.

In 2004 volunteers from the Bradford on Avon...

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The Iron Duke is getting closer to home!

The Iron Duke is getting closer to home!

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The project to bring the Iron Duke back home to Bradford has just taken two big steps forward. We have heard that we have been awarded £55,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund and another £18,000 by the PRISM Fund (it stands for the Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material), an Arts Council fund which is administered by the Science...

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Agatha Christie in Bradford on Avon?

Agatha Christie in Bradford on Avon?

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The Christopher Pharmacy in the Museum has been used as the setting for several television programmes. Usually these have been about antiques -Antiques Road Trip and Flog It- and for British television. The latest film crew was Japanese and wanted a suitable location for part of a film about an episode in the life of crime writer Agatha Christie. Like Jane Austen, Agatha Christie is...

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New for the collection: A Roman Finger Ring

New for the collection: A Roman Finger Ring

. This ring turned up in a garden in Bradford on Avon and initially was thought to be a piece of relatively recent costume jewellery. However, seeing a similar one on display in Salisbury Museum and from subsequent research, it appears to be of Roman date. Pieces of Roman pottery and a coin have been found in the garden before. The site lies below the Iron Age hillfort of Budbury,  where a...

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New booklet: The Medieval Town

New booklet: The Medieval Town

Bradford-on-Avon: the medieval town is the latest addition to the Museum’s stable of booklets and the second of our Monograph Series, in which words take precedence over pictures and includes full references. It is the work of Ivor Slocombe, a dedicated researcher of historical archives and his wife Pamela, who draws on years of experience with the Wiltshire Buildings...

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See the Millennium Embroidery

See the Millennium Embroidery

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Bradford on Avon Museum’s Millennium Embroidery is currently on display in Holy Trinity Parish Church.

It features twelve hand-sewn panels that depict episodes from a thousand years of the town’s history and was undertaken by a group of local volunteers to celebrate the Millennium.

The church is open for...

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