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Sarsen stone cutters goggles
Read moreThese steel framed goggles were used by the Free family who had a sarsen stone cutting business at Fyfield from the 1850s to 1939. Sarsen-working
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Map of Wiltshire – John Speed
Read moreOur Archive and Library houses an intricate 1610 map of Wiltshire by famous cartographer John Speed (1552-1629). Speed's visually impressive maps of both county and
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Phil Harding’s Scout Uniform
Read moreA Scout Uniform, Shalbourne (Marlborough) Troop, which once belonged to archaeologist and TV broadcaster, Phil Harding. Alongside a picture of Phil and a friend in
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WW2 in Devizes: The Home Front
Read moreThis remarkable photograph shows the Parade held to celebrate 'Salute the Soldier Week' in early June 1944. US troops from their baseon the outskirts of
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WW2 in Devizes: Prisoner of War Diary
Read moreAlthough referred to as a diary, it is more accurately described as a humorous account of the daily life of a prisoner, written in rhyming
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Upton Lovell Shaman
Read moreBuried in a barrow at Upton Lovell, the Shaman was a metalworker and religious leader, in touch with the spirit world. He was buried in
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Lacock Cup
Read moreThe Lacock Cup was originally made as a drinking cup for feasting in the late medieval period and was subsequently used as a chalice at
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Women’s Land Army
Read morePhotograph of 'Land Girls' on a Wiltshire farm close to Devizes. The Women's Land Army boosted agricultural production during the Second World War as men
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Wiltshire Words – Dartnell and Goddard
Read moreA Glossary of Words used in the County of Wiltshire by George Edward Dartnell and the Rev. Edward Hungerford Goddard, MA, published for the English
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Wiltshire’s Grape Cups
Read moreThe Museum has in its collection several small pottery vessels that belong to a category of small ceramic containers found with Bronze Age burials, known
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Mammoth Tooth
Read moreWe have several mammoth teeth in the Museum collection. A couple of these discovered in Westbury were from a baby mammoth. The tooth pictured is
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Devizes 18th Century Annual Cucumber Feast
Read moreNo person shall be permitted to shew cucumbers raised in hot houses or stoves; they must prove the cucumbers to be of their own raising.
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West Kennet Beaker
Read moreThis Beaker was one of two placed upside-down in the filling of one of the chambers of West Kennet long barrow, and dates to about
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Balloonomania in 18th Century Wiltshire
Read more"At last we see the Balloon making its way slowly amongst the stars . . . like a Star of the 2nd Magnitude" Balloonmania began
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World Book Day 2020
Read moreWhen you think of World Book Day, you wouldn't necessarily associate it with music... However, books come in all shapes and sizes. This World Book
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Wiltshire’s Women Writers
Read moreFor Women’s History Month, we're taking a look back at famous female writers in Wiltshire. One of our Library volunteers has been digging through our
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Handmade Valentine’s Card
Read more“Would you draw fair Eden nearer and to Earth the angels bring you must seek the magic mirror of a golden wedding ring” In the
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Wiltshire’s famous female authors: Daphne Fielding
Read moreOur volunteers have been delving through our Library stacks to shine a light on Wiltshire's famous female authors. We were amazed at how many women
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George Eliot and Devizes
Read moreDuring work in our Library and Archive, one of our volunteers discovered some interesting connections between George Eliot and Devizes. Newspaper cuttings of Eliot’s visit
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Battle of Roundway Down
Read moreEngland. 1642. The First English Civil War has just begun with King Charles I of England and VI of Scotland fleeing London to Oxford after
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Thomas Lawrence – the ‘go to’ Georgian portrait painter from Devizes
Read moreThomas Lawrence was born in Bristol in 1769 and moved to Devizes in 1773, when his father became landlord of the Bear Hotel. Devizes was
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Bush Barrow dagger
Read moreThis dagger was buried with the Bush Barrow Chieftain who died in about 1950BC. The blade is made of bronze but the pommel is one
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Musical instrument made from human tibia
Read moreWorked bone tube, recently identified as being a musical instrument. It is made from a human femur which has been significantly scraped out. There was
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First use of a trowel in Archaeology – Bush Barrow
Read moreWhen asked about the first use of a trowel by an archaeologist, we had to tell the fascinating story of the excavation of Bush Barrow,
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Richard Sandell’s Bracket clock
Read moreThis bracket clock has pride of place in the Long Room of our Library. It has not worked for many years, but has been restored
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