What’s the best bit about your job? As Conservation and Museum Manager, the best thing about mine is getting out and about to the museums in Wiltshire, talking to inspirational and enthusiastic staff and volunteers about how they run their museums, looking at new exhibitions and taking a sneaky peak behind the scenes.

There are over forty museums and historic collections across the county – twenty-one of these are Accredited, meaning that they meet the nationally agreed standards for museums. Many of them tell the story of their local communities and are volunteer run or have a strong team of volunteers to support the museum staff – if you’re looking for an interesting volunteering role, why not contact your local museum to see what’s available?

Working with Museum Development South West, I support museums in Wiltshire with all areas of museum standards and operations – looking after collections, volunteering, applying for grant funding, forward planning and attracting a diverse range of visitors, to name a few.

Over the last two or three weeks I’ve visited a small selection of the county’s wonderful museums, here’s a roundup some highlights I’ve seen on my recent travels in the hope you will be inspired to visit your local museum!

First up is Chippenham Museum, which tells the fascinating story of this historic market town from its prehistoric origins to the present day. I really enjoyed their current temporary exhibition ‘Threads: Clothing Memory and Identity’, a celebration all things fashion, exploring ideas of memory and identity through the clothes we wear. From Roman jewellery to a beautifully embroidered 18^th century waistcoat to headpieces designed locally for Lady Gaga, the exhibition has a carefully selected items spanning hundreds of years.

Another great temporary exhibition currently showing is ‘The Sheep ate up the Fairies’ at Trowbridge Museum. Billed as ‘the unwhimsy, unmagic, anti-fairytale of Trowbridge Folklore’ this is a fascinating exploration of how the town’s industrial past reshaped its folklore. At the Museum, housed across two floors of the town’s last working woollen cloth mill, you can also discover the story of the town and its residents and even have a go at weaving.

The Merchant’s House on Marlborough’s High Street, is a beautifully preserved grade II* star listed Tudor building, which was once the home of silk trader Thomas Bayly and his family.  Furnished to reflect domestic life in the 17^th century, you can wander the house taking in the panelled room, bedchambers and kitchen. There are also displays telling the history of Marlborough.

Located in the same building as the town library, Bradford on Avon Museum is another local history gem. Packed full of objects from the town’s Roman past, all the way through to the story of Moulton Bicycles, the Museum also displays a recreation of a Victorian chemist shop including a dizzying array of old bottles.

And finally… if you like a bit of bling (and who doesn’t) you can see wonderful gold items from the time of Stonehenge at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. Through their archaeology collection, which has been Designated as being of national importance, you can find out about the earliest period in the county’s pre-history, following the story up to the present day. I’m looking forward to visiting their new exhibition ‘Downland: art and the archaeological imagination in Wiltshire’ due to open at the beginning of October.

If you want to see behind the scenes at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, join us for our Heritage Open Day Architecture in the Archives event tomorrow Saturday, 20^th September. We’ll be open from 10am – 4pm and you’ll be able to see gems from the archive relating to architecture, design and engineering. The conservation laboratories too from 10am to 1pm, where you can talk to our conservators and have a chat about how they look after historic archives and objects.

Heather Perry, Conservation and Museum Manager

Based at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, the Conservation and Museums Advisory Service (CMAS) aims to promote excellence in the care and use of collections by providing conservation advice and practical treatments to heritage organisations and the public. It also supports museums in Wiltshire to meet professional standards and become sustainable, resilient organisations in order to preserve the County’s heritage for the benefit of local communities and visitors.

If you have a conservation query, want a quotation to carry out some work, or would like to book a free appointment for one of our conservation surgeries, we would love to hear from you! You can contact the team by email cmas@wiltshire.gov.uk or why not follow us on LinkedIn: Conservation and Museums Advisory Service