GENEROUS DONATION ALLOWS MUSEUM TO CELEBRATE ATHELSTAN 1100 IN ANGLO SAXON STYLE.
A generous donation from an entrepreneurial couple who have adopted Malmesbury as their second home is allowing the Athelstan Museum to host amazing Anglo Saxon artefacts to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of Athelstan becoming King.
Whit and Kim Hanks, the owners of the Old Bell Hotel and Abbey House in the town, have donated £5,000 to the Athelstan Museum. This means that the team can give a temporary home to some stunning artifacts including:
Donation Allows Museum to Celebrate – the Athelstan museum team
The charter of Athelstan to the burgesses of Malmesbury
This is the earliest known version of a charter by which Athelstan is supposed to have granted common land of about 600 acres to the burgesses of Malmesbury.
Bede the Venerable, Two Lives of St Cuthbert
The first two pages including the famous picture of Athelstan presenting the book to St. Cuthbert.
The Abingdon Sword – a hilt and sword fragment of a late Anglo Saxon c875AD
Many and varied celebrations
The town of Malmesbury is celebrating throughout the summer of 2024 as it’s 1100 years since Athelstan became the first King of England. And Malmesbury was central to his life and reign. He chose the Abbey as his buriel place. Though the exact location is a mystery as someone moved his remains 200 years after his death.
There are a range of celebrations and events going on across the town. And the Athelstan Museum is holding an exhibition as part of those activities. They’ll be showcasing items on loan from The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the British Library and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Chairman of the Trustees Sharon Nolan said: ‘The items are wonderful and are being loaned to us free of charge. But there are insurance and security implications around hosting them and that is why we need to raise funds. We’re very grateful to Whit and Kim Hanks for being our main sponsors for the exhibition.’
Whit and Kim love the Athelstan Museum. It’s home to the ‘Hanks’ clock, made by a relative of Whit’s whose seventh great grandfather, Benjamin Hanks came from Malmesbury. He left for America in 1699.
A Malmesbury love affair
The couple, who live and run their own hospitality company in Dripping Springs, Texas, have fallen in love with Malmesbury.
‘We’re so thrilled to be able to support this exhibition at the Athelstan museum. And also in doing so, support a whole range of activities planned across the summer in the town. We cannot wait to be part of the celebrations,’ Kim said.
Extra funds to meet the strict requirements around hosting the artifacts have come from the King Athelstan Memorial Fund (anyone else) and some private donors who are friends of the museum. Volunteers will be giving extra time over the summer to keep the museum open to welcome an upswell of visitors who they expect to flock to Malmesbury over the summer months.
Introducing Swindon Heritage Preservation – otherwise known as the Mechanics’ Institution Trust.
The Mechanics’ Institution Trust has rebranded with a new public-facing name: Swindon Heritage Preservation. Our new slogan is ‘Conserving What Matters to Our Community’. Along with our new logo, we’re working with a local graphic designer to develop a new visual identity. An identity that includes all the buildings we currently operate, as well as some important heritage buildings and features of Swindon railway village and the WORKS area.
Introducing Swindon Heritage Preservation – otherwise known as the Mechanics’ Institution Trust.
The Mechanics’ Institution Trust has rebranded with a new public-facing name: Swindon Heritage Preservation. Our new slogan is ‘Conserving What Matters to Our Community’. Along with our new logo, we’re working with a local graphic designer to develop a new visual identity. An identity that includes all the buildings we currently operate, as well as some important heritage buildings and features of Swindon railway village and the WORKS area.
We’ll be rolling this branding out over the coming months, so watch this space…
Introducing Swindon Heritage Preservation – otherwise known as the Mechanics’ Institution Trust.
The Mechanics’ Institution Trust has rebranded with a new public-facing name: Swindon Heritage Preservation. Our new slogan is ‘Conserving What Matters to Our Community’. Along with our new logo, we’re working with a local graphic designer to develop a new visual identity. An identity that includes all the buildings we currently operate, as well as some important heritage buildings and features of Swindon railway village and the WORKS area.
Introducing Swindon Heritage Preservation – logo
Branding
Our new brand is important because it represents our identity, current operations, and future ambitions. Since our formation in 1995, we’ve transformed from a campaign group focused exclusively on the Mechanics’ Institution into a building preservation trust. An organisation dedicated to championing Swindon’s heritage and empowering our community.
Our new name also reflects our status as Swindon’s only building preservation trust. The Trust combines building restoration, conservation and history. And also community spaces, social enterprise, and private hire. We further operate various events, activities and groups, including:
Our award-winning global gardeners programme
Annual heritage open days
Educational visits to the railway village museum
Heritage lectures
Tours of the railway village
A model-making club and much, much more.
Our buildings
We currently operate four Grade II listed buildings in the railway village. They are:
Central community centre
The railway village museum
the Cricketers …
… and the Bakers
Further we remain a powerful advocate for the rescue and restoration of the Mechanics’ Institution. We aspire to grow even further. With significant progress achieved in the past five years, we’re well-placed to play a leading role in the regeneration and reuse of Swindon’s heritage across the borough.
Why Swindon Heritage Preservation?
‘Swindon’ places us geographically. It connects us to our town and community. It also reflects our commitment to offering advice and services across the town and championing all communities and people.
‘Heritage’ represents our core identity. It further establishes the parameters of our work. It’s our firm belief that heritage includes natural and built landscapes. Also buildings, memories and ideas. Not forgetting art and expression, artefacts and books, and traditions and conservation. We’re interested in collecting, celebrating, sharing, promoting and preserving Swindon’s rich and diverse history and heritage.
‘Preservation’ signifies the work we do to conserve, protect, restore and promote all aspects of Swindon’s heritage. And the preservation of our buildings serves as our main priority.
The Mechanics’ Institution
The Mechanics’ Institue
Our trust formed in 1995 with one sole purpose: to save the Mechanics’ Institution as a community heritage asset for the future generations of Swindon. Since then we’ve championed the conservation of the Mechanics’. We believe that, with commitment and perseverance, we cn secure the sustainable public reuse of the building in the near future.
Changes
In the past five years, the Trust has undergone significant changes. We’re now a building preservation trust with ambitions to grow our future operations in, and beyond, the railway village conservation area. Yet we remain committed to the rescue and restoration of the Mechanics’ Institution. We continue to work with our strategic partners, including Swindon Borough Council, Historic England, and the Theatre’s Trust to secure a sustainable future for the building.
1. reviewing and updating the 2020 viability study
2. Identifying an achievable funding strategy …
3. … and addressing the ownership issue.
Backing the strategy is an initial budget of £110,000, with an option to raise a further £100,00 if needs be.
It’s our belief that the cabinet proposals are the best chance that Swindon has had to deliver a restored Mechanics’ in many, many years. Hence we’ll continue to work closely with the Council to ensure the implementation of the route map, and the long-awaited restoration of the Mechanics’.
Bob Wright, Acting Chair of Swindon Heritage Preservation, said:
‘The decision to adopt Swindon Heritage Preservation as our public-facing name represents an important moment in the history of the Trust. We’ve grown from a campaign group with a sole focus to a community-focused organisation. One tasked with championing all Swindon’s unique heritage for the benefit of all Swindonians.
We’re proud to be playing a leading role in the regeneration and conservation of Swindon’s historic Railway Village and have aspirations to grow further. We remain dedicated to the rescue, restoration and reuse of the Mechanics’. We believe that a resolution on the building’s sustainable future is within reach.
Whether it be:
Our work in restoring the historic Cricketers building
Or our community-led programme of events and activities or …
… our package of educational and skills-based opportunities, we’re turning words into action and bringing back Swindon’s heritage.’
If you share our passion for heritage, and want to be a part of our journey, you can become a member from as little as £1 (plus donation) per year or join us as a volunteer.
LARGE colourful doors covered in street art by noted urban artists are for sale at a Wiltshire auction house. Salvaged from the famous Camden Market in London the doors date from 2014 and a project organised by The Real Art of Street Art. The advocacy group provides walls and other surfaces for artists to spray paint.
In an unusual move, the striking doors are for sale through online bidding only via the-saleroom.com over a two-week period from Monday May 21, to Sunday June 2 (early evening). Each set of doors measures 216cm wide and 205cm high.
Camden Lock
Set up in 1975, on the site of an old timber yard, Camden Lock Market is one of the most popular visitor attractions in London. Following a fire that tore through the market in 2009, the local council repopulated the Lock area with wooden sheds. They put the sheds there for the traders to sell from in Camden Lock Village, along the side of the Regent’s Canal.
Auctioneer Edd Thomas said: ‘The sheds did the job but lacked any of the unique character which drew people to Camden. Roll forward to 2014, and ‘The Real Art of Street Art’ secured permission to repaint the market sheds.
‘Each artist had free rein to choose their own design. None who took part got paid, and they each got the same basic shed front to reimagine. Less than two years later came a decision to redevelop the site. And with that the removal of the wooden sheds.’
The doors include art by:
Captain Kris
The Real Dill
Fan HC
Secle Style (who now lives in Barcelona)
Zena (from Norway)
Seeds One
Winston The Whale – tattoo artist who now lives in Oregon in the USA
Panik (aka Jack Murray and lives in Lisbon).
Some of the doors have no attribution.
For Sale: Camden Street Art – trio of shed doors with murals
A reputation to maintain
Despite their reputation, the doors were destined for the scrap heap when Camden Lock closed for redevelopment in 2015. These doors are a few of those known to have survived and saved. The site is now a hip shopping centre with luxury apartments.
It was at the end of last year that a private collector contacted RWB Auctions. This collector owned 15 of the surviving doors. They’re going on public display from Thursday May 23 to Saturday June 1 at The View Gallery. That’s part of RWB Auctions in the High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett.
Often referred to as The White House this Grade II listed property deserves a place in Swindon in 50 More Buildings for more than one reason. And not least of which is that it’s a striking building on a generous plot with an actual stable block and coach house to its rear!
Granville House Old Town 1860 – in the snow
Historic England
Built circa 1880, according to Historic England,* this house is a substantial and unusual home with a host of wonderful features. And, rather wonderfully, the incumbents of the house are retaining as many of them as they can. Fair play! That said, it’s a listed building so – y’know.
*Local Studies, in the central library, have the house’s date of building as being circa 1878 – at least that’s when it first appears in listings. Also, there’s an announcement in the Swindon Advertiser in June 1878 that one Dr Powne was the first resident and intended to move his surgery from Wood Street to Granville House. They further tell me that W.H Read is a possible candidate for being the builder of this house, given that he constructed two villas on Bath road in 1878. But that’s far from being a certainty as there’s no further information to support that theory.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a tour of the house and it is rather super.
But it’s not only for the original metal stairs to the garden, the servant’s entrance and staircase, the dumb waiter and the gorgeous stained-glass window on the west wall (and I’ll come back to that) that this ‘ole house is interesting. It’s also, arguably more so, of note for some of the people that have lived there.
Swindon Advertiser advert when Granville House went up for sale in 1878
Levi Lapper Morse
In the first instance, well after the aforementioned Dr Powne anyway, we have one Levi Lapper Morse, Mayor & Justice of the Peace for Swindon living there. And it doesn’t get much more ‘of note’ than Levi Lapper to be honest.
If you want to know more about our man Morse this post about Stratton Methodist Church links to a site with further info on him – well the Morse family. But if you follow Swindon history at all, you’ll know (or at least you ought to) that Levi Lapper founded Morse’s department store on Regent Street. Educated at the High School, Swindon, LL Morse was Swindon’s mayor in 1901 and Liberal MP for Wilton, Wiltshire from 1906 to 1910.
Levi Lapper Morse – his photo in the civic offices – he looks rather stern doesn’t he?
After Morse, came Mr J B Cole, outfitter of New Swindon. He bought the property in 1896 and he it was who installed the stained-glass window to the west wall – next door to the Bath Road Methodist church. There’s a delightful little story attached to this window. The deeds of the house state that, whosoever lives there must pay to the church £1 per year for the use of God’s sunshine coming through the window! LOVE that!
Interior view of the stained glass window on the west wall of Granville HouseExterior view of the stained glass window on the west wall of Granville House
1901 saw James Carson Rattray MD living in this house. Sounding a little like a certain Gilbert & Sullivan song that refers to ‘… along with his sisters and his cousins and his aunts’, Dr Rattray shared Granville House with: his brother Sam (also a doctor); Pat (another brother), a dental student, and sisters Bella who served as his housekeeper – and Mary. Phew!
During the 1930s the property underwent significant change, The White House as it became known became a doctor’s surgery until the 1960s when a dental practice took over.
The current residents bought it somewhere round 2012 – the dentist had been retired for about seven years then.
During their renovations of the house, the present incumbents found these ‘autographs’ left by builders in 1933. As they’ve been there so long they’re going to leave them there and frame them. What a wonderful bit of Swindon history that is.
1930s builder’s names left on the wall
Some random shots of a few of the wonderful features in this fab house
Gorgeous little windowWrought iron stairs from aboveWrought iron stairs from belowAn actual dumb waiter – not the Harold Pinter play
It’s crystal clear that the family now living in Granville House adore it. What’s more they’re passionate about its history and want to preserve it as much as they can. As demonstrated by their intention to save and to frame the names left on the wall by the 1930s builders. I love that. That’s one example alone of what a labour of love for them this building is.
Lis’ third novel The Identity Enigma is written and awaiting a late 2024 publication date. Thus proving that Lis, resident of Royal Wootton Bassett, continues to captivate readers with her compelling storytelling.
Real-life inspiration
Drawing inspiration from a poignant family tragedy, ‘Echoes of Drowning’ touches on the historical backdrop of the sinking of the HMS Lusitania in 1915.
Lis’s great-uncle, Will, and his wife, Amy, were passengers aboard the ill-fated vessel. It met its demise off the Irish coast when U-boat fire sank it. Will perished along with 1,198 others. Amy survived though & lived out her days in Llandudno in Wales, overlooking the sea that claimed her husband.
Long shrouded in mystery and controversy, the sinking of the Lusitania has long fuelled conspiracy theories.
Lis’s novel does not seek to retell the historical event. Instead, she crafts a fictional narrative that explores themes of enduring love and the enigmatic circumstances surrounding the tragedy that affected her own family.
‘I’m drawn to stories of relationships and love,’ Lis explains. ‘The idea of Amy’s unwavering devotion to her husband amidst the chaos of the sinking resonated with me. While I’m not a historian, I felt compelled to explore this aspect of the Lusitania’s legacy through fiction.’
Her novel tells a gripping tale of mystery, love, grief and intrigue. By blending fact with fiction, she invites audiences to ponder the complexities of human emotion. And the enduring impact of tragedies through the generations.
The launch
Wiltshire Author Launches Second Novel – Lis McDermot at the launch
I’d would like to thank Arthur for hosting the launch at his amazing house. It provided a stunning backdrop that delighted all those who attended,” Lis said.
Lis is a prolific writer. To date she’s written eight books including two novels, four books of poetry and two factual books. She also mentors and supports others who wish to publish their own stories. To learn more about Lis and her latest novel visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-Drowning-Lis-McDermott/dp/1739450744
