Don’t forget to visit this wonderful touring exhibition inspired by the British Museum and telling the story of Wiltshire in 100 objects. Supported by the Arts Council England and managed by Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, the project showcases the varied nature of objects held throughout Wiltshire by its museums. These museums range from military collections, industrial sites, art galleries, heritage centres and small village museums as well as national collections.

The 100 objects are diverse and each gives an insight into the rich history of Wiltshire. They have been classified amongst ten major themes...

The third archaeology conference looks to be an exciting day showcasing some of the new discoveries and research over the last year in Wiltshire which is to be held on 18 April at the Corn Exchange in Devizes. It coincides with the International Day for Monuments and Sites, the theme of which is The Heritage of Commemoration. Some members of our team will be there on the day with displays so come say hello and find out about ways of getting involved such as volunteering opportunities in the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site

During some research I’ve come across a wonderful woodcut engraving of the pillory at Marlborough in an article on obsolete punishments by Llewellyn Jewitt in “The Reliquary” Quarterly Journal, January 1861.

The pillory was used for a range of moral and political crimes, most notably for dishonest trading - the modern equivalent of implementing trading standards. Its use dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was known as “Healsfang” or “catch-neck”. In France it was called the pillorie. It was well established as a use of punishment after the Conquest. It was considered to be a degrading punishment with offenders standing in the pillory for several hours to be abused by fellow citizens, sometimes being pelted with all manner of organic material such as rotten eggs, mud and filth. If that was not enough, sometimes the offender was drawn to the pillory on a hurdle, accompanied by minstrels and a paper sign hung around his or her head displaying the offence committed.

Yes, you did read the title correctly. For all you keen cricket lovers who have been following the ups and downs of the England cricket team, Alistair Cook’s batting form, Jimmy Anderson’s swing bowling and the furore over Kevin Pietersen’s omission from the team; well here at last is some cheering news. Unfortunately we do have to travel back to … 1900.

Cricket in Wiltshire actually dates back to the mid eighteenth century. Now we like to think we are a pioneering lot in Wiltshire and one of the earliest matches involved 11 married women versus 11 single women at Upham near Aldbourne in 1768. Other early matches include the tradesmen of Marlborough playing their counterparts from Devizes in 1774 on Beckhampton Down and several matches near Stonehenge. Around 50 years later a Stonehenge Club had been formed and their ground was much admired (now we know what the stone circle was really used for!). For fans of ‘sledging’ (for the uninitiated that means trying to put your opponent off through pointed and sometimes humorous verbal interaction) in 1783 a Westbury cricket team were reprimanded for ‘conduct unworthy of true players’ in their match against Devizes.

Some of the most popular talks I give are those dealing with the meaning of inn and pub names. Currently we don’t have a great variety of pub names in Wiltshire but we do still have some interesting ones. The Green Dragon at Alderbury was used by Charles Dickens in Martin Chuzzlewitt, as he was staying nearby while writing this novel. Dickens used many hostelries in his books and in this case he renamed it the Blue Dragon; perhaps the sign was somewhat faded to a pale blue and he misinterpreted it as it would have been unlikely that the name was on the building.

The green dragon came from the earls of Pembroke and many of the early names used the badges of great families. The red lion of John of Gaunt, the black bear of the earls of Warwick and the white hart of Richard II are still common today. From the 18th century the full coat of arms was often used so that in Fovant we have the Pembroke Arms. The association with the badge or coat of arms often indicated that the family owned the property or were the chief landowners in the area.

In April 2012 the Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) Project was launched. The intention of the project was to study the whole county and to identify the historic and archaeological processes which have influenced the modern landscape.

This work should help in understanding the evolution of the settlements and countryside and to identify what we can see that is typical and what is unusual.

 Now, two years into the project, real progress is being made in analysing the areas where we live, work and visit within Wiltshire. Currently, an area of c.194,000 ha (1940 km²) has been characterised. This includes many of the well-known urban and rural landscapes that we all know and enjoy – such as Salisbury Plain and Swindon. Data exists for many of the parishes, and the coverage is expanding all the time!