Events and Courses 2010 - Weald and Downland · Spring 2010 Events and Courses 2010 WEALD & DOWNLAND ... Effie’s guidance and tuition and ... be awarded to the category winners

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Spring 2010

Events andCourses 2010

Events andCourses 2010

Spring 2010

WEALD & DOWNLANDO P E N A I R M U S E U MWEALD & DOWNLANDO P E N A I R M U S E U M

Celebrating 40 years!

Celebrating 40 years!

The 19th century shepherd’s cottage at the heart of the Museum

The 19th century shepherd’s cottage at the heart of the Museum

The tale of the flail –discover more about this

vital ‘tool of husbandry’

The tale of the flail –discover more about this

vital ‘tool of husbandry’

2010 is the 40th anniversary ofthe opening of the Weald andDownland Open Air Museum at

Singleton, and from early beginningsit has grown to become England’sleading museum of historic build-ings and traditional rural life, set inthe heart of the new South DownsNational Park.

The Museum is planning a year ofcelebrations to mark the 40th anniver-sary of opening to the public this year.We hope as many of our visitors,Friends, volunteers and supporters aspossible will enjoy taking part. Thehighlight will be a major weekend ofactivities on 4/5 September.

Museum Chairman Paul Rigg wrotein the Autumn 2009 issue of theMuseum Magazine: “It has been aneventful journey, full of extraordinaryindividual and team contributionsthrough to the present day, in which theMuseum has consolidated a reputation

CONTENTS3 The Museum celebrates fourdecades of achievement – Ruby Anniversary Celebrations 4/5September, 40th Anniversary Commemorative Book, RubyAnniversary Ball and Friends’Grand Draw and more …

5 From the Chairman: Paul Riggon being a ‘Social Enterprise’

7 The Access Project optionsappraisal

13 Gonville cottage – a mid-19thcentury shepherd’s cottage

17 Obituaries

21 Events Diary

22 Getting the picture – how theMuseum trains its volunteers

22 Lifelong Learning section –Building Conservation andTraditional Rural Trades and Craftscourses plus Evening Talksprogramme

30 Friends’ news and grantsupdate

32 The Tale of the Flail – JonRoberts describes how heresearched this vital ‘tool ofhusbandry’ and made his ownreplica

37 News from the Schools ServicesDepartment

39 Collections Team Update –recent acquisitions and mysteryobject

2

The Museum c decades of ach

40th AnniversaryCommemorativeBookAs a lasting memento of theMuseum’s 40th anniversary theMuseum is to produce a bookcovering its development over thelast four decades. This will takethe form of a nicely producedperfect-bound publication whichyou will be proud to include onyour bookshelves.

The chapters will be themed,beginning with the early yearsand Roy Armstrong, and focusingon such areas as our site, thecollections, development andinnovation in the 1970s-1990s,learning, interpretation, theGridshell, influence in the widerworld and a look forward to thenext 40 years.

Diana Zeuner will be writing,editing and producing it, withmajor contributions fromRichard Harris, Kim Leslie,Richard Pailthorpe, RogerChampion and Carol Brinson.Others who were key to thedevelopment of the Museum inits earlier phases are also enthusi-astic about contributing.

We are also offering the oppor-tunity to all our Friends, volun-teers, staff and supporters to passon any particular memories oranecdotes you have of events,activities or occasions from thepast which you think otherswould be interested to readabout. Please keep your contribu-tions as concise as possible. Wewill not be able to publish themall in the book, but it is intendedthat a CD will be prepared withback-up material which will be ofinterest to those of us with a closerelationship to the Museum.

The aim is to produce the bookfor the anniversary weekend of4/5 September, and so we wouldbe grateful if anyone who wouldlike to send in a contributioncould do so by the end of March,preferably by email, to DianaZeuner at [email protected], or to Julie Aalen atthe Museum at [email protected]. If you would like tosend it in by post please send it tothe Museum’s address, Weald &Downland Open Air Museum,Singleton, Chichester, WestSussex PO19 0EU. Please markall contributions ‘Museum 40thAnniversary Book’.

Building ConservationComes of AgeConferenceThe Adult Learning Departmentat the Museum will mark the40th anniversary with a con-ference, Building ConservationComes of Age, a one-day event exploringbuilding conservation’s journeyfrom pioneer to main-stream.Taking place on Tuesday 28September in the JerwoodGridshell Space, the day willfeature contributions from awide range of significant

for high standards of museology andservice to the public, both nationallyand internationally.”

The Duke of Richmond and MrsSusan Pyper, Lord Lieutenant of WestSussex, have kindly agreed to be Patronsof the 40th Anniversary celebrations.

Events to mark the year include:• 4/5 September – Weekend of

Anniversary Activities• 40th Anniversary Commemorative

Book, edited by Diana Zeuner• Schools’ Memories Exhibition &

Garden Competition• Quilt Project• Friends’ Grand Draw• Volunteers’ Party – 21 July, 7.00pm• One-day Conference – Building Con-

servation Comes of Age – 28 Septemberin the Jerwood Gridshell Space

• Ruby Anniversary Charity Ball – 27November

• 40th Anniversary Gardens Project forthe 2011 Hampton Court Flower Show

Weald & Downland Open Air Museum Spring 2010 3

elebrates fourievement

individuals and organisations inthe development of buildingconservation. This includesthe part played by theMuseum in increasing publicawareness of the need topreserve historic buildings andproviding people with theknowledge and skills required.The afternoon sessions will look

at current issues and new techniques. Itpromises to be an informative andinspiring day enhanced by the atten-dance of key suppliers and contractorsavailable to talk to delegatesduring refreshment breaks. ➡

Ruby Anniversary Celebrations – 4/5 SeptemberTwo days of wonderful activities with interest for all the family,including a community carnival, arena displays, horticultural tent, musicand entertainment. There will be an evening lantern parade and bonfireparty, with lanterns made by children during Wonderful Wednesday activitydays earlier in the summer.

Local radio broadcaster Spirit FM is supporting the Museum in theperiod leading up to the Anniversary Weekend and will broadcast livefrom the Museum on Saturday, 4 September.

The Museum is pleased to announce that The Sheep Show – a humorousand educational live stage show about sheep and wool – will be a highlightof the Weekend.

Admission to the Ruby Anniversary Celebrations will be by ticket onlywhich must be purchased in advance and will be limited, so if you are oneof our key supporters, volunteers or a Friend don’t miss out – apply foryour tickets now!

Tickets can be purchased for Saturday and/or Sunday, with a 10% dis-count offered for those purchasing both. Separate tickets are also requiredfor the Saturday evening bonfire party and lantern parade.

Tickets will go on general sale beyond the immediate Museum Commu-nity on 14 May, and demand is likely to be very high. To make sure yousecure the quantity you require, apply for yours now by returning theApplication Form below complete with full payment. All orders will beacknowledged in writing and tickets sent to you later in the year. Ticketsare non-transferable and non-refundable.

Weald & Downland Open Air MuseumRUBY ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND 4 & 5 SEPTEMBER

TICKET APPLICATION FORMPlease enter number of tickets required in the boxes. Child aged 5-15 years. Under 5’s free no ticket required. All children must be accompanied by an adult.Sat 4 Sept 10.30am – 5pm: Adult £10 Qty: � Total £....................Sat 4 Sept 10.30am – 5pm: Child £4 Qty: � Total £....................Sun 5 Sept 10.30am – 5pm: Adult £10 Qty: � Tota £....................Sun 5 Sept: 10.30am – 5pm: Child £4 Qty: � Total £....................

Sub Total £....................10% discount if buying for both Sat & Sun Less 10% (if applicable) £....................

Total (Sat/Sun) £....................Sat 4 Sept evening Adult £4 Qty: � Total £....................Bonfire party/lantern paradeSat 4 Sept evening: Child £2 Qty: � Total £....................Bonfire party/lantern parade

Total (Sat eve) £....................Add postage £1 if required £1Grand Total Sat/Sun + Sat evening £....................Please post this form with full payment to: Lisa Pescott, Weald & Downland OpenAir Museum, Singleton, Chichester PO18 0EU. Payment method: cheques payableto: Weald & Downland Open Air Museum; credit/debit cards (not Amex or DinersClub). Payment may also be made by phone, call 01243 811363. All orders willbe acknowledged in writing, we would prefer to do this by email, please completebelow if applicable. Tickets will be available for collection from the Museum Shopin advance of the event, or can be posted for £1 on or after 14/5/10.

Name: .................................................. Address: ..............................................

..........................................................................................................................

...................................... Post code: .............................. Tel: ..............................

Email: ................................................................................................................

Card No: ...................................Security no: ...................................

Start date: .................. End date: .................. Issue no: (if applicable) ..................

Office use only. Date received: ........................................................

Payment processed by:.......................................... on.............../.............../2010

Card � Cheque � Acknowledgement sent by Post � Email �

on.............../.............../2010

4 Weald & Downland Open Air Museum Spring 2010

Quilt Project Effie Galletly (http://www.netherfieldgallery.net), a professional quilt makerand artist, will lead a special projectthis year to make a Museum-inspired patchwork quilt. The quiltwill be made at the Museum underEffie’s guidance and tuition and

displayed during August before being raffled to raise funds for theMuseum. If you would like to be one ofthe 12 people involved in the projectplease contact Hannah Tiplady orLaura Dyke in the InterpretationDepartment. There is no requirementfor you to be a quilt maker or indeedbe very good at sewing, but simply to

be prepared to be creative and inspiredby the Museum! You will need toattend all the sessions on these dates:Wednesday 10 March (1.00-4.00pm);Thursday 20 May (1.00-4.00pm) and Tuesday 29 June (1.00-4.00pm).Crawley Hall will be available all day on these occasions for the project.

The Anniversary Ball will be a majorfund-raising event for the Museum andwill take place in the Jerwood Space inthe award-winning Downland Grid-shell. The aim is to raise much-needed funds to build on the successof the last 40 years and to continueand develop the Museum’s valuableresearch, conservation and educationwork in support of our heritage.

The Downland Gridshell is abreathtaking location for this eventand the evening of 27 Novemberpromises to be a memorable one.We would like to invite you to attend the Ball andsupport this worthwhile cause.

➡ The Museum celebrates four decades of achievementSchools’ MemoriesExhibition and GardenCompetition

The Schools Services Department willcreate a display featuring memories ofschool visits over the last 40 years. Ifyou, people you know, or visitors youmeet at the Museum have memories of aschool visit which could be used pleasecontact the Department on 01243811028 or email [email protected]. The exhibition will runfrom March 2010, being added tothroughout the year.

We will also be running a RubyGarden Competition open to allprimary and SEN schools in WestSussex. If your school has a wildlife areaor a vegetable or flower garden or isthinking of starting one as an invaluableway of introducing children to biodiver-sity and conservation, we would likeyou to take up our challenge! Entrieswill be in three categories, best wildlifegarden, best vegetable garden and bestflower/sensory garden. The Grand Prize,announced at the Ruby AnniversaryCelebrations Weekend on 4/5 Septem-ber, will be a free visit to the Museumfor up to 60 pupils, and prizes will alsobe awarded to the category winners andrunners-up. To receive an entry packand some complimentary seeds contactthe Schools Services Department on01243 811459 or email [email protected]

Ruby Anniversary Charity Ball – 27 November

The Friends of the Museum are pro-moting this draw to raise funds for theMuseum’s work. A book of five £1tickets is enclosed with this magazineand we would very much appreciateyour support by buying tickets. Afreepost envelope is enclosed for the

return of counterfoils and cheques.Please make cheques payable to Friendsof Weald & Downland Museum. If youwould like more books please contactthe Friends’ office on 01243 811893 oremail [email protected] withyour name and address details.

Friends’ Grand Draw

1st Prize – Luxury Break for Two atThe Spread Eagle Hotel & AquilaSpa, Midhurst www.hshotels.co.uk/hotels/spread-eagle.htmEnjoy one night’s dinner, bed andbreakfast for two at this luxury historichotel. Generously donated by TheSpread Eagle Hotel & Spa. AvailableSunday to Friday in the best availablesuite. The prize includes the use of theAquila Club Spa.

Set in the historic Sussex markettown of Midhurst within its ownpicturesque grounds, the Spread EagleHotel dates back in parts to 1430 andwas once a coaching inn favoured by

the rich and famous ofthe time. Today, it is thequintessentially Englishhistoric luxury hotel,retaining its heritage,yet providing everycontemporary comfort.Relax in the comfortableleather chairs of the

15th-century lounge with its ancientoak beams and leaded-light windows,warmed by a huge open fire in thecooler months. Just above the lounge isthe Queen’s Suite, said to have accom-modated Elizabeth I when she camethis way in 1591. The sentried hallwayleads to the Restaurant with itsinglenook fireplace and stained glasswindows, where guests enjoy finedining in traditional surroundings.

The Spread Eagle’s Aquila Spa bringsa distinctly contemporary touch to thishistoric hotel with excellent facilitiesbeneath a Scandinavian-style vaultedwooden ceiling. It’s the perfect spot to

As I write this column ourcounty is in the grip of an icyblast with widespread deep

snow, disruption on our roads andto other transport services, and lossof power supplies to many homes.Indeed we lost power at home forsome 43 hours. One side effect isthat never before have we met somany of our neighbours! Themedia is full of stories of local com-munities working together to dealwith the crisis, for example toensure schools open and childrenget through to sit their exams.

The creation and maintenance of acharitable enterprise like our Museumhas depended on massive communitysupport over the years and it continuesto do so. It is ‘of the community’ andindeed could be said to have created itsown community. We have now enteredour 40th (Ruby) year of service to the public and to some extent theMuseum’s (its Trustees and manage-ment’s) energy has been focusedinwards on creating the Museumenterprise that we now have and love.

In looking forward we have beenreflecting on whether there is morethat we could do externally throughsupporting social programmes and byworking in partnership with otherbodies such as those mentioned below.There would be mutual interest insharing skills and expertise, as well aslong-term benefit from strengtheningthe Museum’s position in the widercommunity.

Organisations which have such afocus are described as ‘social enter-prises’, driven by the creation of socialand environmental benefits as well asmeeting economic targets. Well, I feel the Museum already meets thatdefinition and if this label serves tohelp meet our objectives (includingwinning valuable grant income) thenwe may use it.

In the meantime we have embarkedon a number of new partnerships inrecent months:• Youth engagement – joining with

the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) andits 21st Century Education Eventaimed at Youth Engagement. Wealso intend to engage with the WestSussex Youth Cabinet and otherproviders such as the Lodge HillCentre on involving young peoplemore in our work and perhapsgovernance

• Olympic cultural legacy – support-ing the West Sussex 2012 CulturalLegacy Board (comprising theUniversity of Chichester, WestSussex County Council, ChichesterDistrict Council and other culturalpartners) to create a post-Olympicslegacy for this region in the form ofa new teaching resource based onthe University of Chichester and theFestival Theatre

• Rural regeneration – discussionswith the University of Chichester,education authorities and privatesector partners about a possibleeducation-led economic regenerationpartnership for rural West Sussex

• South Downs National Park –preliminary talks with theembryonic National Park about ourrole as a key visitor attraction andgateway at the heart of the Park area

• Citizenship – the Museum willhost a ceremony for new Britishcitizens this Summer as a pilot forpossible future such events on oursite: the intention is to offer newcitizens one complimentary familyticket to be used in their first 12months

• Adult learning – as a partner in theWest Sussex Adult & CommunityLearning Service, a social enterpriseset up to promote informal andformal adult learning in thecommunity

• Job opportunities for young people– we were a partner in the CountyCouncil’s successful bid to theGovernment’s ‘Future Jobs Fund’.Eight new jobs will be created atthe Museum for 18-24 year olds andfunded by Government. The jobswill be spread across schoolssupport,interpretation/demonstration and site/collections work. Thesejobs are for 25 hours per week for26 weeks with an emphasis on workthat has a demonstrable benefit tothe broader community or whichcould be classified as green/socialenterprise/ care jobs.I hope that you will agree that the

wider public benefit we can achievethrough such activity does gel nicelywith, indeed go to the heart of, whatwe are about at the Museum.

Wishing you a warm and enjoyableSpring.

Paul RiggChairman of Trustees, Weald &

Downland Open Air Museum


swim, workout or enjoy a rejuvenatingbody or beauty treatment in one of the spa’s three temperature-controlledtreatment rooms.

2nd Prize – A Half-Day Coach Tour for up to 29 People withRichardson Travel Ltd.

Enjoy a half-day’s private coach touron a Sunday for yourself and up to 28friends to a destination of your choice,generously donated by RichardsonTravel Ltd of Midhurst. The Friends ofthe Museum have enjoyed a long andvery satisfactory business relationshipwith Richardson. Those of you whohave been on our spring tours or daytrips will know how clean, comfortableand reliable their coaches are. Thepersonable and professional driversguarantee satisfaction every time.And more exciting prizes . . .

Ruby Anniversary

Charity Ball in the Downland

GridshellGuests are asked to dress

with a touch of redProgramme

7.30pm – Champagne ReceptionThree-course Dinner with Wine,

Cheese and Coffee • Dance BandAuction • Silent Auction • Tree

of Fortune • EntertainmentCarriages at 1.00am

Tickets are £100 per personPlease contact Lisa Pescott atthe Museum on 01243 811011

for an application form

From the ChairmanOn being a ‘Social Enterprise’


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In preparing for our 40th Anniver-sary celebrations I have beenlooking back over the minutes of

the Museum’s Council of Manage-ment and Trustees, and came acrossdiscussion of many schemes forsolving the Museum’s problems ofparking and access. A solution hasalways been elusive, perhaps becauseof funding concerns or to giveprecedence to exhibit projects.

Two major improvements have beenmade to visitor facilities since theMuseum was established: the café in theaisled hall from Sole Street in 1991, andthe shop and ticket office in Longportfarmhouse in 1996 (the shop had previ-ously been in the building from Lavant,and tickets were sold from a kiosk at theentrance to the car parks). Both theseimprovements utilised historic buildingexhibits for practical purposes, allowingus to add to our exhibits and improvefacilities at the same time, but theunderlying problems of parking andaccess remained unsolved.

So it is not surprising that our currentefforts to solve these intractableproblems are taking time to come tofruition. If an easy solution were avail-able it would have been adopted yearsago! We are making progress, but it isimportant that whatever solution isfinally agreed has the support of theMuseum community as a whole.

Following the recommendations ofthe Landscape Conservation Manage-ment Plan, in 2008 we explored a rangeof proposals for the Access Projectthrough a feasibility study and sketchdesign process (see Museum MagazineSpring 2009). Finding the right solu-tion is of paramount importance so wedecided to move the debate beyond staffand trustees and involve the Museum’swider community by undertaking aformal review of the project. Thisincluded an intensive process of consul-tation through focus groups whichincluded staff, trustees, volunteers,neighbours and representatives of otheroutside interests. As a result of this‘challenge process’ we now have clearagreement to pursue some aspects of theproject, and a brief to go back to thedrawing board on others.

There was general agreement thatparking should be moved to thenorthern boundary of the site, and thatvisitors will enter the Museum upGonville Drive. Many people arereluctant to lose the ‘wow’ factor of the present entry by Hambrook barn,

but the balance of advantage is clearlyin favour of moving to Gonville Drive.We will commission consultants toproduce a detailed design for the park-ing areas and associated planting.

It is still unclear, however, where theticket and shop facility should be. Thescheme we developed in 2008 was for asite at the bottom (north) end ofGonville Drive, but we have now alsoconsidered sites at the top of the drive,near Gonville cottage. The advantagesand disadvantages of these sites arefinely balanced and further detailedappraisal is needed to enable us to cometo a final decision.

Another important element to consid-er is catering. In our 2008 visitor centrescheme we included a major kitchen andcafé facility, but in the review we foundmuch support for improving our exist-ing lakeside café site, so this is anotheridea that needs detailed appraisal.

We reported in the Autumn 2009magazine that we have received an offerof funding from the DCMS/WolfsonGalleries Improvement Fund for ourproposed ‘interpretive pavilions’. Thisproject is now being developed in moredetail, with a view to applying for furtherfunds – and planning permission.

Another important initiative hasarisen from work carried out by Stuart

Davies Associates for the Museum’sAudience Development Plan. We haveundertaken numerous surveys of visitorsover the years, but this time focusgroups have been used to delve deeperinto the way they use the site andexhibits. One of the main lessons wehave learned is that many visitors wouldlike the site to have a clearer structure,and a new access point on GonvilleDrive gives us an ideal opportunity toachieve that. In essence, visitors wouldturn right (to the west) to see early ruralhouses and farmsteads, and turn left (tothe east) to see the village and latertrade and craft buildings – a simplemessage to help people orientate them-selves when they first arrive.

Finally, our site development planincludes two proposed new farmyardgroups, one associated with Pendeanfarmhouse using 17th century build-ings, and the other north of Bayleafrepresenting the early 19th century.Detailed work needs to be undertakento plan these groups and chooseappropriate buildings.

Altogether these proposals make astrong and well-coordinated plan forfuture development – a formidablechallenge, certainly, but one which hasthe support of the whole Museumcommunity.


The Access Project options appraisalBy Richard Harris

Celebrating the age ofsteamThe Museum’s two-day steam festivalon 14/15 August brings togetherowners of all types of steam engines:steam rollers and working tractionengines, steam boats, the ever-popular steam-powered gallopers,and working demonstrations of timbersawing and road rolling. The eventexplores how steam power was usedin agriculture, industry, road, rail andshipping, with demonstrationsthroughout the Museum andcommentated main ring displaysthroughout the weekend.


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Open April 4th – September 30th 2010 (Sun’s in October)

‘Stitches In Time’ Needlework Exhibition May 2nd and 3rd

‘Garden Weekend’ July 10th and 11th

‘Tudor Women’ Study Day September 17th

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The Museum is one of the UK’sleading independent museums.It is a charitable trust and

receives no regular government orlocal authority funding but relies onvisitor income, voluntary effort,sponsorship and its supportiveFriends group. These are some ofthe ways in which you can help us:

Join the Friends of the MuseumAs a Friend you pay an annual subscriptionwhich entitles you to free entry to theMuseum. The Friends provide a vitalsource of support and income and makeannual grants to the Museum. To join, call

the Friends’ office on 01243 811893, [email protected] or complete theapplication form on our web site atwww.wealddown.co.uk.

Become a volunteerVolunteer helpers are vital to the Museum’soperation, whether it be stewarding thehouses, working with schools, helping run the watermill or Tudor kitchen, in thegardens or many other departments. Contact the Volunteer Coordinator on01243 811933 or email [email protected].

Leave a gift in your WillLegacies, large or small, allow us to plan

ahead so that we can protect and developthis unique Museum. Contact the HonTreasurer through the Museum office on01243 811363.

Provide an introduction to asponsor or grant-giving bodyMajor rescue and restoration work or thedevelopment of visitor facilities can only befinanced by sponsorship or donations.Contact the Museum Director on 01243811363 or [email protected].

Advertise in the Museum MagazineAdvertising space is available in thismagazine. Contact Julie Aalen on 01243811010.


How you can support the Museum

InterpretingHangletoncottage

Hangleton – the Museums’archaeological reconstruction ofa 14th century peasant building

built in 1971 – has always presentedsignificant interpretative challenges,some caused by its location at the farend of the Museum site, others bythe nature of the reconstructionitself (would a dwelling-house have alarge oven in an inner room, forexample) and others by the lack ofdocumentary evidence about thelives of the occupants and theirmaterial culture.

Despite all these challenges, the 39-year old reconstruction is now thesubject of an interpretative overhaul,

which will provide it with replicapeasant furnishings, domestic andagricultural artefacts and a programmeof demonstrations. This interpretationproject, which is being co-ordinated byDanae Tankard, is based on a review of surviving evidence, including docu-ments, contemporary illustrations (inparticular, those in the Luttrell Psalter)and archaeological evidence.

Roger Champion has already madethe furniture, which includes staked-legtables and stools, a general-purposestorage chest and a grain-ark. JonRoberts has made a flail (see also pages32-35) and will be making other itemslike fishing nets, sleeping mats andspoons as part of the demonstration pro-gramme, which is being co-ordinated by

Hannah Tiplady and Lesley Parker.Replica medieval pottery is beingcommissioned from a specialist potter,John Hudson.

Anyone who has visited Hangletonsince December will have noticed thatthe hearth has been moved closer to thepartition wall after a re-examination ofthe original excavation report.

The furniture and some of the smallerartefacts will be in place by 1 April2010; the other items will be intro-duced as they are completed over thesummer. We hope that the completionof this project will encourage morepeople to visit the building and givethem a clearer idea of what the inside ofa peasant house might have been like inthe early 14th century.

Left, Hangleton cottage. Top, a sower with seedlip, as shown in the LuttrellPsalter. Above, Roger Champion holding the seedlip he has made, based on theillustration in the Luttrell Psalter. The wattling has been omitted from the nearestside to show the construction.


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From thresher to roofAt the Autumn Countryside Show visitors were treated to a demonstration ofthatching with the Museum’s thatcher Chris Tomkins and his apprentice applyinga new roof of wheat straw to Gonville cottage, formerly a shepherd’s house andmore recently home to Museum staff (see also page 12-17). Horseman MarkBuxton and his team and Shire, Mac, were busy all weekend delivering thethatching straw to the project direct from the steam-driven threshing machine atthe lower end of the site. The wheat grown adjacent to the Museum during theyear was being threshed with the help of threshing tackle owned by ArthurThompson, with Museum Site Manager Nick Conway feeding in the material fromthe rick. In the photographs, clockwise from left, the steam-driven thresher is atwork producing the thatching straw; Mac waits patiently while the Museum’sboat wagon is loaded with the straw; Josh Metcalfe thatches Gonville cottageroof; Mark Buxton and Mac arrive with the next load of straw and Mark’s wife,Ann helps with the unloading.

Field strips and hops

In Autumn 2009 we established anew group of field strips in thepaddock between Bayleaf and

Pendean farmhouse. The originalstrips had become extremely hard tomaintain because of the damage byrabbits, pheasants, deer and badgers,but in their new position they can bemore easily protected, and moreeasily seen by visitors. They will beworked by the oxen, which nowwork as a team of four, using amedieval three-course rotation.

In place of the original strips we haveestablished three small fields which will be planted in a rotation of grass and long-straw Triticale. Triticale is awheat-rye cross that produces goodthatching straw but being awned (i.e.

with sharp spikes surrounding the ear)is resistant to badger and deer attack.This will ensure that we have a crop ofwheat to thresh at the AutumnCountryside Show, and our thatcher,Chris Tomkins, has supplied the seedand will use the crop.

Farm Manager Chris Baldwin has alsoestablished a hop garden in the field infront of Bayleaf – but taking care not toobscure the long view of the house.Hops were grown in Chiddingstone, thevillage where Bayleaf was originallysited, and Bayleaf and other local farmshad oast houses. Hops were introducedinto Kent in the early 16th century andalthough we cannot be certain, it isentirely possible that they were grownat Bayleaf at an early date.

Forging linksThe British Artist BlacksmithAssociation (BABA), whose membersproduced the iron waymarkers in theMuseum’s woodland and the memorialto Geoff Busbridge outside the Forge,was at Ironbridge Museums Trust inShropshire last year for its annual meet-ing. A number of our volunteers joinedthem, using the opportunity to publicisethe Weald & Downland Museum. Aswith the BABA annual meeting in 2006at the Museum, three hearths gave Iron-bridge visitors the opportunity to makehooks, handles and horseshoes, assistedby Robert Smith, Nigel Goodenoughand Bill Spence, with safety supportfrom Carol Smith and Penny Spence.

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Gonville cottage, within thegrounds of the Weald &Downland Open Air Museum,

lies at the western extremity of theparish of Singleton and is part of theWest Dean estate. Until 2008 it wasoccupied by people working for theMuseum but it is now vacant and weare considering a number of optionsfor its future use.

Externally it is a double-fronted flintand brick building with a thatched roof.Internally it has a central entrance andstaircase between two living rooms and a rear outshot on the ground floorand two bedrooms on the upper floor.All the rooms within the main rangehave fireplaces. It is set in a sunkenrectangular garden, now completelyscreened by trees. The Singleton tithemap of 1846-7 shows this as thelocation of a three-sided agriculturalbuilding, which had been removed by1874 when the first edition OrdnanceSurvey map was produced.

The cottage site is numbered 392 on the Singleton tithe map and theapportionment, dated 1848, describes itas a ‘cottage, garden, buildings andplantation’ 3 rods 35 perches in extent,forming ‘Part of Greenways Farm’,owned and occupied by the ReverendLeveson Vernon Harcourt. However, thecottage shown on the tithe map has adifferent footprint to the present build-ing, being longer and narrower andabutting the yard boundary on theeastern side. Unusually, because of itsproximity to the parish boundary, theproperty is also depicted on the WestDean tithe map of 1847 although thereis no accompanying entry on the appor-tionment of 1851. On this map, incontrast, the cottage has an identicalfootprint to the present building. Thismay indicate that the cottage was builtin 1847, replacing an earlier structure.

In 1850 the biggest landowners inthe parish of Singleton were the Duke ofRichmond, owner of the GoodwoodEstate, with about 3,000 acres; ColonelGeorge Wyndham of Petworth (whobecame Lord Leconfield in 1859) withsome 850 acres; and the Vernon Har-courts of West Dean who owned justover 130 acres in the parish, includingthe land on which Gonville cottage wasbuilt.

The West Dean shepherdAt the time of the 1851 census Gonvillecottage was occupied by Richard Burns,aged 56 and described as an ‘agricultur-al labourer’, his wife, Olive, aged 54,daughter Eliza, aged 24, and motherAnn Burns, aged 84 and a ‘pauper’.Richard Burns was born in East Mardenin West Sussex in 1795 and in 1826 wasliving in Bedhampton, just over the

border in Hampshire, when he marriedhis wife, Olive. His first daughter, Eliza,was born in Bedhampton in the sameyear. By 1829 he had moved to WestDean, where three more daughters wereborn: Fanny (1829), Mary (1831) andOlive (1834), and by 1851 he was livingin Gonville cottage.

Additional biographical informationabout the Burns family is provided by a‘census’ of parishioners compiled by therector of Singleton, Francis AlfredBowles, in 1851 and added to by himover the next few years as the lives of hisparishioners changed. Bowles recordedthat Richard Burns was ‘shepherd to theRevd L V Harcourt . . . a very goodshepherd and has gained many prizes atthe Goodwood agricultural association’,that his wife was ‘an invalid from abodily weakness’ and that his eldestdaughter, Eliza, ‘has a bodily weaknesslike her mother’. The 1851 decennialcensus records that Eliza was still livingat home but Bowles subsequently notedthat she ‘lives in London’. Bowlesrecorded that Richard’s mother, Ann,‘has always lived with them’ and was‘very much afflicted with rheumatism –a good old woman’, adding that shedied in November 1851. Bowles alsoused his census to record his assessmentof some of his parishioners’ moral pro-bity. For Richard’s youngest daughter,Olive, he recorded (in Latin) that shewas ‘impudica ante nuptias’ (‘unchastebefore marriage)’. In 1851 Olive, aged

16 or 17, was working as a domesticservant at Preston Farm in Binderton.How Bowles knew she was ‘unchaste’ is unclear. The obvious explanation, that she had an illegitimate pregnancy,is unproven since there is no record of a baptism or infant burial in the West Dean or Singleton parish registers.In 1853, whilst still employed at Preston Farm, she married one of her


Gonville cottage in 1974, when the newly-appointed Museum Director, ChrisZeuner, moved into it.

Photograph of a shepherd wearing atraditional shepherd’s smock, c. 1865.

From

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➡

Gonville Cottage – a mid-19thcentury shepherd’s cottageBy Danae Tankard

fellow servants, 21-year old WilliamGrainger.

As a shepherd, Richard Burns wouldhave been one of the highest paid agri-cultural workers on the West Deanestate and unlike ordinary agriculturalworkers who were employed by theweek he would have been engaged bythe year. He would also have receivedsome generous perquisites, the mostlucrative of which was living rent-free.Other benefits might include coal, beerand food at lambing time; in 1860James Ford, a shepherd at ColworthFarm in West Dean, was allowed tohave as many rabbits as he could catch.

The amount that shepherds earneddepended on the quality and size of theflock; in the Westhampnett Union inthe 1860s the average weekly wage for ashepherd was 15s. Shepherds earnedextra money during lambing (‘lambmoney’) and for washing sheep. In the1860s James Ford was receiving a £2bonus for the seven-week lambingseason. In the Thakeham Union in the1890s the Duke of Norfolk’s shepherdsreceived 6s a score for lambing and thesame price for washing sheep. Someshepherds in this part of Sussex werepaid 2d to 3d a lamb or 1s a head for alllambs in excess of ewes whilst othersreceived a lump sum for lambing whichcould be as much as £5. Additional pay-ments were also available for shearing:in the Thakeham Union in the 1890sshepherds could expect to receive about

4s 6d per score of fleeces. Althoughshepherds did not usually undertakeharvest work they might neverthelessreceive a small additional payment of £1 or £2 at harvest, known as ‘Michael-mas money’. Including additional cashpayments a shepherd could expect toearn about £50 a year. Shepherdsworked long hours in all weathers and their work could be arduous,especially during lambing, shearing andwashing.

A prize-winning shepherdBetween 1840 and 1851 Richard Burnswon eight prizes at the annual meetingsof the West Sussex Agricultural Associa-tion (what Bowles refers to as the‘Goodwood agricultural association’)under Class Q (later Class R) – ‘forshepherds or flock masters, having thecare of not less than ten score ewes[200], who have reared the greatestnumber of lambs with the least loss,regard being had to circumstances bothas to farm and flock’. In 1840, when hewon the third prize of £2, the details ofhis flock were included in the news-paper report. He had 273 ewes put toram, made up of 81 two-tooth ewes, 28four-tooth ewes and 164 six-tooth ewes(that is, 81 yearlings, 28 two-year oldsand 164 three-year olds). Two ewes haddied in lambing, four at other times and267 remained alive. 332 lambs haddropped, 17 were ‘lent’, 7 were borndead and 13 had died before weaning, sothere were 295 remaining. He had 15barren ewes and five slips. Burns wonthe first prize of £4 in 1845 and 1848and in 1849 in addition to the secondprize of £3 he was awarded the ‘whitemedal’, which was given to those whohad won premiums totalling £12 atdifferent times.

Burns won no further prizes for hisshepherding after 1851. In 1855 he wonthe third prize in Class C – ‘for labour-ers or widows whose daughters havebeen placed out at an early age, andhave remained in service with goodcharacters, and whose families havemade (by their own industry) the great-est premium in their condition in life’.His daughter’s apparent sexual miscon-duct was either overlooked or had beenforgotten.

An estate cottageGonville cottage is a good example of amid-19th century estate cottage. In1864 Dr Hunter undertook an ‘Inquiryon the state of the dwellings of rurallabourers’ as part of the Seventh Reportof the Medical Officer of the PrivyCouncil presented to Parliament in1865. He examined 5,375 occupiedhouses across England, including 99 inSussex, and found that many were

seriously overcrowded and unsanitary.Amongst the principal causes cited byDr Hunter for the deterioration in ruralliving conditions was the rapid rise inpopulation accompanied by the wide-spread destruction of cottages by‘improving’ landlords. Using censusdata from 1851 and 1861 he showedthat nationally average household sizeamongst the rural labouring classes wasincreasing. Hunter included a sample of18 Sussex parishes, all, except two, ineastern Sussex, which revealed thatbetween 1851 and 1861 the averagehousehold size had increased from 4.87to 5.62.

But this rather bleak assessment can-not be applied to all rural areas. In theparish of Singleton the number ofhouses increased from 110 in 1851 to121 in 1861. Population between thesedates decreased from 603 to 556 which meant that average household size wentdown from 5.5 to 4.6. The reason forthe increase in housing stock lies in theactions of the principal landowners, theDuke of Richmond, Lord Leconfield andthe Vernon Harcourts, all of whom wereenergetic estate improvers and cottagebuilders. In 1867 assistant parliamen-tary commissioner, James Fraser, report-ed to the Royal Commission on theEmployment of Children, Young Per-sons, and Women in Agriculture that‘the principal landowners within thearea (of the Westhampnett Union) arethe Duke of Richmond . . . and the HonMrs Vernon Harcourt. They are both ofthem large builders and improvers ofcottages’. In Singleton itself Fraserobserved that ‘the cottages are generallyin fair condition, but are much crowdedin Goodwood race week, when theirlower apartments (in the case of 16 cot-tages) are turned into boxes for race-horses. All the recently erected cottageshave three bedrooms, and others havehad their sleeping accommodation


➡ Gonville Cottage

– a mid-19th century

shepherd’s cottage

Shepherd’s hut at the Weald &Downland Open Air Museum. Thisshepherd’s hut was manufactured inthe late 19th century by the Andoverfirm of Watson & Haig. Shepherdslived in huts like these during thelambing season when they needed tobe near their flock.

Site map of the Museum showing (pinkrectangle) the area covered by thedetailed plan.

much improved. Some of the cottagesbelong to small proprietors, but themajority belong to the landowners andare let at low rents, 1s and 1s 2d a week,with about 20 rods of garden-ground.Where the garden is small, an allotmentis attached to the cottage which isincluded in the rent’.

However, in Singleton as in otherSussex parishes, there was a disparitybetween the quality of accommodation

provided by the large landowners,which was generally very good, and thatprovided by small landowners and pri-vate landlords which was often poor andexpensive. In his evidence to the RoyalCommission the rector, Francis Bowles,observed that ‘the cottages belonging tothe Duke of Richmond and Lord Lecon-field (who are both building) are wellbuilt, well ventilated, and cheaply rent-ed. Those belonging to small owners are

quite the reverse and the rent in somecases exorbitant’. This disparity in cot-tage accommodation and rents reflectsthe different motivation of large andsmall landlords. Landlords like theDuke of Richmond and Caroline VernonHarcourt did not expect to get a returnon their investment but were insteadmotivated by a philanthropic concernfor their workers as well as a desire tomaintain a stable and willing workforce.In contrast, small landowners wereinterested in maximising rental income;their cottages, if new, were cheaply built and, new or old, were poorlymaintained.

The 19th-century sheep foldThe occupation of the cottage by ashepherd means that the three-sidedagricultural building in front of the cot-tage was almost certainly a standingfold. John Ellman, famous for hisimprovements to the Southdown breedof sheep in the late 18th and early 19thcenturies, had recommended the use ofthe standing fold to sheltersheep and lambs at night

15

Detail of a plan of the West Dean estate made c 1835. It shows the sheep yard with sheds on three sides, which must havebeen fairly recently built at that time. The cottage is not shown.

Gonville cottage and yard depicted on the West Dean tithe map of 1847 (WSRO RD/W141).

Plan showing the relationship of Gonville cottage to Museum exhibit buildings andthe outline of the sheep sheds as confirmed by excavation.

Detail from the Ordnance Survey 25in= 1 mile plan of 1874, showing thecottage standing on its own, the shedshaving been demolished.

➡


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during periods of bad weather. TheReverend Arthur Young records in hisGeneral view of the agriculture of the countyof Sussex, published in 1813, thatEllman himself had three shelteredyards containing sheds which were well littered to keep them warm andcontained hay racks.

The earliest evidence for the sheepfold is from an undated map fromc.1835, which means that it was builtprior to the cottage. In 2008 theMuseum commissioned West SussexArchaeology Ltd to carry out anarchaeological evaluation of the sheepyard site. The excavation uncoveredportions of the north and south rangesof the sheep fold, showing that the base of the walls were made of chalkblocks and flint set in a grey ash mortar.No evidence was found for an innerwall, which is consistent with the

ranges being open to an interior yard.Parts of the yard had been covered byimported chalk to create a stable surface.

Richard Burns’ later yearsRichard Burns probably continued tolive in the cottage until his wife died in1859. By then he was 64 and coming tothe end of a hard working life. He hadbeen a valued and well-paid employee of the West Dean estate since 1829 but a combination of age and domesticcircumstances may have forced him to move on. At the time of the 1861census he was lodging with a family inSelsey but still working as a shepherd.In 1871 he was living with his marrieddaughter, Mary Bailey, in Merston andthe census describes him as ‘formerly ashepherd’. He died of ‘bronchitis’ on 22 April 1872 aged 77.

None of the subsequent occupants of

Gonville Cottage were shepherds and thismay be why the sheep fold was removed.

The cottage on the MuseumsiteWhen the Museum site was estab-lished in 1969 its boundary lay to thesouth of the old sheep yard, which had been removed a century before, sothe cottage benefited from having a very large garden. From the mid-1970s it was occupied by Museum staff, first the Director, Chris Zeunerand his family, and subsequently sitemanagers and stockmen. We arenow considering options for its futureuse, probably as an exhibit or interpre-tation centre.

A similar article has been published in the2009 edition of Past Matters, the heritagemagazine of Chichester District Council.


➡ Gonville Cottage – a mid-19th century shepherd’s cottage

David BiartDavid Biart, who died in Novemberin Canada, was Chairman of theMuseum from 1982 to 1987, becom-ing a Vice President in 1995.

David was senior partner at the West Sussex law company, ThomasEggar & Son, when he joined thetrustees in 1979, taking over as Chair-man from Geoffrey Godber three yearslater. Active and successful in the role,he took an interest in the wider museumsector and in 1984 and 1985 gave talksto seminars run by the Association ofIndependent Museums (AIM) on thelegal responsibilities of trustees. He also contributed to an AIM Guideline onThe Role of Trustees in IndependentMuseums.

In 1985-86, together with the Hon-orary Treasurer and Secretary, JimmyWoollings, he presided over changes tothe Museum’s constitution in responseto the substantial enterprise which the

Museum had become and in line withbest charitable company practice. Thisresulted in the former Council ofManagement being replaced byTrustees electing an Executive Boardwhose members would act as directorsof the company.

David Biart joined Thomas Eggar &Son in 1958 and became senior partnerin 1972. He oversaw the growth of thefirm from a five-partner practice to fourtimes that size in a decade, establishingit as the pre-eminent firm in Chichesterand expanding it beyond the southcoast with the creation of the Horshamoffice. He also established an office inParis. He was a stalwart in the LawSociety and a promoter of the legalprofession before such activity becamethe norm, travelling across the globe inhis role with the International BarAssociation. He retired as senior partnerin 1986 and shortly afterwards emigrat-ed to British Columbia with his thirdwife, Polly, a member of the Eggarfamily.

Thomas Eggar continues to providethe Museum with legal services and itscurrent Honorary Secretary, Neil Hart.

Obituaries

Mike DoranMike Doran, who died in November,was Honorary Treasurer of theFriends from 1990 until 1997.

A major contribution he made wasmoving the Friends’ administration andfinance from a manual system to a com-puter-based system that is still the basisof the Friends’ organisation today. He

also brought in Lisa Neville as Member-ship Secretary: she continues to run theday-to-day administration of the Friendsincluding the membership database.

Mike Doran, who had joined theFriends in 1985, was made an honorarylife member of the Friends on hisretirement.

VolunteersMichael Farr began as a volunteer atthe Museum in 1992 attending reg-ularly on Tuesdays. He soon became aguide, assisting with the many schooland adult groups, in particular partiesfrom France. When the Gridshellopened he conducted daily tours of thebuilding. Michael, 83, died following aheart operation, and leaves his wife,Janet. Audrey Hunt worked for manyyears in the Museum shop. Herhusband, Roland, was also a Museumvolunteer.

Talking walls

Filming at Bayleaf last year for a BBC4series If walls could talk with LucyWorsley, Curator of the Royal Palaces.A history of the home, it traces howrooms have progressed and alteredthrough time, centred around thepresenter’s experiences with taskssuch as bread-making and Tudorlaundry. She also spent a night in theWealden farmhouse to experiencewhat sleeping there was like. Theseries will be broadcast in 2011.


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Symposia, overseas studyvisits, breakfast tastings anddog shows!The Museum has hosted a diversemix of group and space hire book-ings recently, including a HarnessClub Show, a Pony Club Gymkhanaand a Dog Show to raise funds forSingleton Playgroup. Crawley Hallhas served as the venue for meetingsof the Expedition Engineers, the CareCommission and a breakfast tastingmeeting for bed and breakfast pro-prietors staged by Taste of Sussex. Ahighlight was the visit of 12 museumdirectors and Department of Culturepersonnel from Vietnam. Theirstudy tour of the UK included a visitto the Museum to learn about ourformal and informal lifelong learningstrategies. The Frank Gregory Sym-posium in September broughttogether all the work completed onthe archives he left to the Museum:SPAB Mills section members wereamong the many delegates. ThisAutumn we look forward towelcoming the Society for Folk LifeStudies’ annual conference, to whichthe Museum will contribute severalsessions along with other localorganisations.


Draught animals at Singleton Enlarge

Ploughmen at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum’s Autumn CountrysideShow in West Sussex were fortunate to have advice from champion ploughmanCharlie Coffen who was visiting without his horses and gave some help toGraham Mustey and his Clydesdale X Cob pair (above left) and also to ChrisBaldwin and Ben Headon with the Museum’s pair of working oxen who haverecently started to plough (above right). This year’s events include the HeavyHorse and Working Animals Show on 5/6 June (see Claire McDermott with herBritish Percheron unicorn taking part last year, below) and the AutumnCountryside Show on 9/10 October.

The Daywood Carvers’ is a groupof around 12 enthusiastic wood-carvers who demonstrate once a

month at the Museum. The group was formed over 25 years

ago, based at West Dean College andmeeting under the guidance of tutor,Philip Bamtham. After his death in1991 and when West Dean required thefacilities for other purposes the Museumoffered space to enable the group tocontinue, and to demonstrate the craftto visitors.

The Daywood group includes peopleof all ages with various skills andspecialities. It is co-ordinated by JohnVardon who has been carving for about14 years and is chairman of the SolentGuild of Woodcarvers, to which anumber of members also belong. Somehave been carving for 30 years or more.

Museum visitors often comment on

the range of carvings on display, and thevariation and quality reflect the varyingskills and interests of the carvers.Almost any hardwood, such as yew, oak,beech, birch or fruit wood, can be used,but the ideal wood for relief carvings islime. Lime was used extensively in the17th century by Grinling Gibbons, oneof the most famous British carvers,whose work can be seen at PetworthHouse.

Some members specialise in reliefcarvings, some in lettering, some inwildlife, and others produce more gen-eral carvings. Although most are waxedor oiled to show the characteristics ofthe wood, some are enhanced usingpyrography and others, birds in particu-lar, are painted. One or two membersare involved in gilding and restorationwork of furniture and buildings, whilstother members also carve in stone.

News in brief

Four legs, furry legs,feathered legs . . . One of the South’s biggest gatherings

of farm animals, theRare Breeds Show on18 July provides thechance to get upclose to hundreds ofcattle, sheep, pigs,goats and poultry.This delightfulagricultural showfor rare andtraditionalbreeds of farmanimals is oneof theMuseum’smost popularevents, withprizes at stakefor competitorsand classes toencourageyoung handlers.Crafts andtrade standsadd to thecountryside

theme. The show is supported by theFriends of the Museum.

Woodcarvers demonstrate their skills


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PLEASE CALL FOR A BROCHURE

01243 781312www.cft.org.uk [email protected]

The Last Confession 2007

Macbeth 2007

The Music Man 2008

Calendar Girls 2008

ENRON 2009

CHICHESTER FESTIVALTHEATRE2010

MARCH14 OPEN HOUSE ON MOTHERING

SUNDAY A special spring day towelcome visitors old and new at the startof the season. £2 entry for everyone, plusour traditional bunch of daffodils formothers and grandmothers!

APRIL4-5 EASTER AT THE MUSEUM

Activities and Easter celebrations, with abonnet competition and parade on theMonday. The school holiday period is adelightful time for a visit, with spring inthe air, newborn lambs and horses atwork on seasonal tasks.

PLUS Wonderful Easter Wednesdayson 7 & 14 April. Hands-on activities,crafts and games to occupy accompaniedchildren of all ages. All activities runfrom 11am – 4pm

MAY2-3 FOOD AND FARMING FAIR

A wonderful choice of quality fare tosample and buy from the local producersof the south east, plus tastings, cookeryclasses and demonstrations. Around 80stands will feature a stunning array ofproduce, from wines, sauces, ciders and beers to meat, cheese, ice cream,cakes and confectionery, plus displays,demonstrations and activities celebrating downland farming.

11-16 COUNTRY PAINTINGS Exhibitionof watercolour paintings in theMuseum’s Crawley Hall by renownedartist Gordon Rushmer, whose work is inthe collections of Her Majesty TheQueen, the House of Lords and the RoyalMarines. Usual Museum admissionprices apply.

31 May – 4 JuneSPRING INTO ACTION! HALFTERM ACTIVITIES Come and enjoyspringtime in the countryside. TryVictorian household tasks, learn aboutthe natural world and enjoy arts, crafts,games and much more. For accompaniedchildren of all ages, from 11am – 4pm,under cover if wet.

JUNE5-6 HEAVY HORSE AND WORKING

ANIMALS SHOW One of the south’sbiggest gatherings of heavy horses: twounforgettable days of displays anddemonstrations of horses at work ontraditional tasks, and a wide variety ofother working animals in action.Ringside commentary and a parade atthe end of each day, plus a chance tomeet the animals and their owners.

20 FATHERS’ DAY Toys For The Boys! A chance for dad (and the rest of thefamily!) to try some unusual andchallenging countryside activities. Drivea vintage tractor, try archery and air riflesand work with the Shire horses.

JULY7 HAMPSHIRE RECORDER

SINFONIA (Ticketed event)A delightful evening concert from thisacclaimed local Sinfonia, whose soundreflects the beauty of the Englishcountryside through the music.

11 EARLY MUSIC AFTERNOON Songand dance from medieval, Tudor andStuart times in the wonderful setting ofour historic buildings. Come just tolisten or join in the dancing!

18 RARE BREEDS SHOW Get up close toover 500 cattle, sheep, pigs, goats andpoultry in this delightful agriculturalshow for rare and traditional breeds offarm animals. With prizes at stake, andclasses for young handlers, it’s one of thebiggest shows of its kind in the southeast and hugely popular with visitors andexhibitors alike.

28 July – 25 AugustWONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS!Hands-on activities to occupy children ofall ages! Have a go at all kinds ofinteresting and unusual countrysideskills, traditional crafts, lantern making,activities and games. From 11am – 4pm,under cover if wet.

AUGUST14-15 STEAM FESTIVAL All the bustle and

excitement of a Steam Festival, withsteam engines on display anddemonstrating the kind of work aroundthe Museum’s site for which they wereoriginally designed. With steam rollers,

steam lorries, model boats, miniaturerailways and engines, and the ever-popular steam-powered carouselgallopers.

SEPTEMBER4-5 RUBY ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATIONS (Ticketed event) A weekend of family activitiescelebrating the Museum’s 40thanniversary. Community carnival, arenaevents, music and entertainment.Evening lantern parade, bonfire partyand traditional games.

OCTOBER9-10 AUTUMN COUNTRYSIDE SHOW

Experience the sights, sounds and smellsof the countryside at harvest time. Enjoyheavy horses and vintage tractorsploughing, steam-powered threshing,falconry, dog displays, woodcraftdemonstrations and countryside crafts tobrowse and buy.

25-29 AUTUMN ADVENTURES HALFTERM ACTIVITIES Wickedlywonderful seasonal activities, fun andfarming for accompanied children of allages! Carve a scary pumpkin, playconkers and enjoy arts, crafts and muchmore. Activities from 11am – 3pm,under cover if wet.

NOVEMBER13-14 CHRISTMAS MARKET Find that

perfect gift or treat at a traditionalChristmas market, set in and around ourhistoric buildings. Dozens of stalls witharts, crafts, food, unusual gifts and muchmore. Admission only £2.50, includingaccess to all Museum exhibits.

DECEMBER5 TREE DRESSING A wonderful

celebration for all the family of the life-giving properties of trees. Make a lantern(bring a jam jar!), and join the processionto dress the trees as darkness falls. Plusheaddress making, music, dance andseasonal tasty treats. From 12.30 – 4pm.

26 December – 1 January 2011A SUSSEX CHRISTMAS Experiencethe traditions of Christmas past anddiscover how our ancestors enjoyed theFestive Season. Walk off the Christmaspud as you enjoy our traditionallydecorated houses with their crackling logfires, and experience a variety of festivefare, music and stories from Tudor toVictorian times. Come and enjoy a trulymerry Sussex Christmas in our beautifuldownland setting.

21

EVENTS DIARY 2010

One of the most frequent com-ments in our visitor surveysover the years has been how

much they value the personalcontact with volunteers and staffstewarding the buildings and else-where on site, and how helpful andinformative they are.

The Museum has always providedtraining for volunteers in generalcommunication with visitors and inknowledge and history of our exhibits.This year that will be greatly increasedand intensified. A new type of rollingprogramme of training sessions has beenintroduced covering a wide variety oftopics involving the history and inter-pretation of our exhibit buildings andtheir contents.

Over 30 sessions have been planned,and among the subjects are baking andbrewing in Winkhurst Tudor kitchen;the history of Bayleaf farmhouse,Pendean farmhouse and Poplar cottage;Tudor food and eating; 19th centurysocial history appropriate to Whittakers’Cottages and West Wittering School;. . . and sometimes they come in groups

and the use of historic clothing in ourinterpretation of the exhibits. The two-hour long sessions are led byMuseum staff and include talks anddiscussion and site visits.

Attendance at the training sessionswill be recorded, and this will help us toensure that volunteers are allocatedtasks for which they have the appropri-ate knowledge.

Museum Director Richard Harris says:“Volunteers are the Museum’s greatestasset, and they come here eager not onlyto help but to learn. This new pro-gramme demonstrates how seriously wetake our responsibility to support them.”


Getting the picture – how the Museumtrains its volunteers

Volunteers arrive at the Museumin various ways but rarely in

ready-made working teams. Lastyear we were very lucky to have anumber of group arrivals, the firstof which consisted of five highly-skilled men who had been conserv-ing and running Shipley Mill.

They now work alongside the Tues-day gang and have already becomewell-known and indispensable mem-bers of the volunteer family – sodedicated that they managed to getinto the Museum through the deepestsnow to keep Winkhurst kitchenmaintenance bang on schedule!

Anita Roddick’s legacy of ethicalguidelines which encourages BodyShop employees to volunteer forcharity organisations has helped theMuseum target some large manual jobswhich otherwise would have been verydifficult for us to achieve. Over a peri-od of one week in late October last

year three large teams arrived at theMuseum full of energy and enthusiasm.

Prepared to tackle any task they firstembarked on the huge challenge ofclearing the overgrown slope above theDownland Gridshell. To my greatamazement by the end of day one allthe initial hard pruning, cutting downof unwanted trees and ground coverclearance was completed! If such adaunting exercise was completed withapparent ease the Body Shop teamswere obviously going to achieve agreat deal over the rest of the week.

With gusto and vigour Poplar copsewas cleared and the ground prepared forthe sowing of Bluebell seed, mountainsof leaves were swept away from beneathour chestnut tree next to Waldertoncottage to protect it from the leaf-minermoth, and endless materials wereprepared for children’s activities duringthe following half term week.

Just moments after this visit endedanother was arranged, and in Decem-ber a wonderful group of hard-work-ing and willing individuals spent theday tidying and putting to bed thesunken garden for the winter. Theyalso planted more spring bulbs in theborders so when the snow fades it willbe replaced by blooms.

Charlie ThwaitesVisitor & Volunteer Services

Manager

2009 was a very eventful year,with 3,565 student days oflearning across the Museum’s

programme of courses in historicbuilding conservation and ruraltrades and crafts, Masters degree pro-grammes, evening talks and coursesfor heritage professionals. TheLearning Department was very busyin the final part of the year processingbookings for Christmas gifts, andcourses for 2010 are filling up fast.

MSc programmesThe Museum runs two postgraduatecourses; MSc Timber Building Conserva-tion and MSc Building Conservation.These courses are based at the Museumwhere the buildings and staff provide anexcellent resource for study and research.Both courses are validated as a MastersDegree by Bournemouth University.

The programmes allow part-time studyto enable participants to continue inwork. Students attend six study units over18 months, each five days – Wednesdayto Sunday. Each unit consists of lecturesby leading conservation specialists, practi-cal work, and visits to workshops andseminal buildings. Each is followed by anassignment, equivalent to 5,000 words,after which each student spends up to sixmonths carrying out a piece of researchfor a 15,000 word dissertation.

The MSc Timber Building Conser-vation, run by Richard Harris, theMuseum’s Director, specialises indetailed study of the history, construc-tion and conservation of timber-framedbuildings. Examples of subjects coveredin the units include; timber science anddecay, legislation, framing systems,repair techniques and the philosophy andethics of conservation.

The MSc Building Conservation is runby James Strike, a conservation architectwho previously worked at EnglishHeritage. This course is designed forarchitects, surveyors, planners, contrac-tors or other people interested indeveloping specialist knowledge for theconservation of historic buildings. Sub-jects include; conservation of masonrybuildings and timber buildings, Englisharchitectural history, conservation plan-ning, repair of metal-work, and conserva-tion of 20th century buildings.

The taught units of both courses havecome to their conclusion and the 26students will now complete their indi-vidual research projects. These diversetopics will make very interesting readingfor those with the pleasure and responsi-bility for marking them.

Through the Masters programmes

Lifelong learning

. . . and sometimes they come in groups

relationships with other organisations andcompanies have been strengthened. Therehave been visits to Cowdray Estate ForestryDepartment, English Woodlands, GreenOak Carpentry, Bosham Church accompa-nied by a diocesan architect, De la WarrePavilion, Bexhill and Manor Cottage inShoreham. Companies who have con-tributed to sessions are The Lime Centre at Winchester; Dorothea Restorations;Cathedral Works Organisation and English

Heritage, in addition to the host of indi-vidual contributory visiting lecturers.

We will be accepting applicationsshortly for the next cohort of students onboth degrees, who will begin their two-year programme in Autumn 2010. Thenormal entry requirement is a proveninterest in historic buildings, experiencein a building craft skill and/or an under-graduate degree in a related subject. Forfurther information contact DianaRowsell (details below).

Historic building conservationThe Museum ran three very successfuldays in the autumn as part of theHeritage Lottery Fund-funded WealdForest Ridge Landscape Partnership Pro-ject. The Museum provided training forpeople living and working in that regionon the conservation of timber-framedbuildings, ironwork, and tile-hung andweather-boarded buildings. We aredelighted to be running these three daysagain in Autumn 2010, along with twonew longer courses, one on the repair ofhistoric brickwork and one on timber-frame repairs (see course listings fordetails). There is a substantial discountavailable for those living and/or workingin the Weald Forest Ridge region – to seeif you qualify contact the Museum.

To meet demand, the Museum will runAn Introduction to Timber Repairs for a sec-ond time this Spring, from Wednesday toFriday 5-7 May. This practical course isled by Joe Thompson, the Museum’scarpenter-in-residence, and takes place inthe Jerwood Gridshell space.

We are delighted to welcome backtutor Timothy Easton this year for a newcourse entitled Marking the Building, onFriday 30 April. This day will explorethe marks on historic buildings whichrange from purely practical marks tosecret signs intended to ward off witch-craft. Timothy will precede this day withan evening talk on 29 April entitledMagic and Ritual for Protecting the Home from the Tudors to the 19th Century.

Oak timber frames availablefor saleThe Museum’s timber framing coursesproduce several frames per year that areavailable for sale. The workshops are heldin the Jerwood Gridshell space and areled by our carpenter in residence, JoeThompson. All the timbers and theframing pegs are English oak from localestate woodlands, all Forestry Steward-ship Council (FSC) certified.

The frames are built to a standard size:span 10ft, length 10ft (allowing an addi-tional 4in at each end for the horns onthe cills and wallplates), 6ft 6in to theeaves and 12ft 8in to the ridge (assumingthe frame is placed on top of two coursesof bricks).

Frames are available with eithergabled or hipped roofs, and some comecomplete with braces and studs. Theframes are custom-sawn and thereforeeach frame is unique. A completed framewith all rafters, braces and studs will cost£2,300 plus VAT. Prices include oakpegs. Some of the frames currently instock have an incomplete set of rafters.Where this is the case the price will benegotiable, and you may choose to makethe extras yourself or negotiate with Joeto provide these. You will also need toarrange transport at your own expense forthe dismantled frame, although we canarrange this if you prefer.

In addition to our oak frames, we havetwo softwood frames (with the samedimensions as the oak frames)constructed on our Square Rule TimberFraming course – please enquire for prices.

Traditional rural trades andcraftsWhy not learn a new skill in 2010 on aMuseum course? We have workshops tosuit all interests and skills. From earlytechnology workshops, making prehistoricjewellery or tools, to discovering medievalknowledge on the 15th century herb day,making historical inks on our ‘re-writinghistory’ day in August or our Victoriantatting workshop, the subjects cover thebreadth of historical periods that can beseen on-site. On other courses you willmake a product that you can use dailysuch as a leather bag, a cane-seated chair orhazel stool. Share the experience of a dayspent singing traditional Sussex songs inJune or learning Victorian cleaning tech-niques in May (whilst spring cleaningWhittaker’s cottages). Explore the site andlearn more about natural history on one ofour guided walks, for example the Treewalk in May or Period garden walk in June.

Training bursaries In 2010, for the first time, the Museumis delighted to offer training bursaries toindividuals who wish to develop theirskills and enhance their career prospects.With the generous support of the NewbyTrust, the Museum is offering a total ofseven bursaries to students wishing toenrol on a number of scheduled coursesin the Museum’s extensive programme inthe coming year. Each bursary covers adifferent discipline, including Coppicecrafts, Stonework, Church conservation,Historic building conservation, Timberframing, Historic brickwork and Vernac-ular architecture.

Further information on the coursescovered in each bursary category and anapplication form can be found atwww.wealddown.co.uk, and the deadlinefor completed applications is 15 March.

Tales of the Downs andBeyond . . .The evening talks series will start againin April with a fascinating range ofsubjects. In Danae Tankard’s talk you can find out about shopping for clothes in17th century Sussex; Timothy Easton will draw upon his long experience ofsecreted archaeological finds to explainmagic and ritual marks for protecting thehome and Derrick Ellwood’s photographicjourney through Britain in colour willprovide many ideas for your nextholiday! In this 40th Anniversary yearyear, Richard Harris will deliver aReduced history of the Museum, drawing onaudio recordings and images. A full listof talks and dates is on page 29.


at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum

A visit to the Brooking Collection forthe MSc in Building Conservationstudents who are examining perioddetails on panelled doors andstaircases.

An MSc in Building Conservationstudent forming a weld joint for a leadapron flashing.

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHYAn introduction to the discipline of architectural photography, covering composition,exposure methods including the zone system, digital and film recording media andequipment. Includes practical exercises in composition and recording of architecturaldetails using the Museum buildings, followed by basic digital transfer and anexplanation of file types.Leader: Adam Wilson Monday 1 March 2010 £95

LOOKING AFTER YOUR HISTORIC HOMEA day aimed at the owners and guardians of historic homes, from Medieval toEdwardian. The course will cover how to interpret the historic development of a house,and will look at materials, structure, fixtures and fittings, rules, regulations andadvice, listed buildings and the role of Conservation and Planning Officers, every daymaintenance, sources of advice and training, and how to source the right materials.The afternoon will include a tour of historic houses at the Museum, to illustrate themorning sessions.Leader: Kevin Stubbs Friday 5 March 2010 £95

TRADITIONAL TIMBER-FRAME CONSTRUCTIONA one-day course on traditional systems of timber framing, including demonstrationsof timber conversion, principles of layout, scribing method, pegs and assembly.Leader: Richard Harris Thursday 11 March 2010 £95

UNDERSTANDING & CARING FOR THE FABRIC OF YOUR PARISHCHURCHThis course is aimed at Churchwardens, PCC members and volunteers who care forchurches and churchyards, including those who help redundant churches andabandoned churchyards. The day includes a look at the historic development of achurch and its fittings, materials and how the structure works, rules and regulationsincluding the role of the DAC and the Archdeacon, the Church Architect and theQuinquennial Report, maintenance, including warning signs and do’s and don’ts,training and advice, and sourcing materials. The afternoon will include a site visit to alocal parish church, putting these issues into a practical context. Leader: Kevin Stubbs Friday 12 March 2010 £95

PREPARING CONSERVATION PLANSDesigned for those responsible for managing repair projects in historic buildings,providing an insight into the preparation of conservation plans. Techniques ofbuilding investigation and recording will be explored. Conservation professionals willbe taken through the process from initial survey, specification, work carried out andpresentation of the client’s final report.Leader: Eddie Booth Monday 15 March 2010 £95

PUTTING BUILDING CONSERVATION PHILOSOPHY INTO PRACTICEA day examining what needs to be taken into consideration when putting theprinciples of building conservation into practice, in particular when repairing andimproving timber-framed buildings. The day will include an introduction to buildingconservation philosophy, issues that need to be taken into account includingconservation, structural issues, weather protection, finance, personal taste, etc, and casestudies illustrating repairs and improvements that have been carried out.Leader: Richard Oxley Monday 22 March 2010 £95

WATTLE AND DAUBInsights into the historic use of wattle and daub, and its repair and conservation today.Students will look at wattle and daub in the Museum’s artefact store and in theMuseum’s exhibit buildings, and this will be followed by a practical session and alecture on the appraisal and techniques of repair. Leader: Joe Thompson Monday 22 March 2010 £100

TIMBER: IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIESAn introduction to the identification of timber species through examination ofanatomical features, demonstrations and practical work using hand lenses andmicroscopes with a wide range of samples.Leader: David Woodbridge Wednesday 24 March 2010 £95

AN INTRODUCTION TO DATING TIMBER FRAMED BUILDINGSThe number, position and arrangement of timbers provides the evidence for theanalysis and dating of timber framed buildings based on stylistic evidence. We will usethe Museum’s exhibits to look at buildings dating from the late 1300s to the 1900s. Awonderful opportunity to observe and be guided around so many varieties of timber-framed buildings, all within easy walking distance of each other.Leader: Joe Thompson Wednesday 24 March 2010 £95

HISTORIC TIMBER FRAMING: MODERN ENGINEERING SOLUTIONSA course for architects and carpenters. The growing popularity of green oak and largesoftwood framing is encouraging a wider exploration of their possibilities. But theimage of the medieval frame is inappropriate for today’s buildings and somerethinking is needed. This course will consider lessons from early structures and willsuggest new techniques that can be used, and discuss the contractual arrangements fortheir design and construction.Leaders: David Yeomans & Jim Blackburn Thursday 25 March 2010 £95

THE GEORGIAN TRADITIONThere were many developments in architectural style and technology during theGeorgian period from 1700 to 1830. A series of lectures on some of the key features ofthe period, followed by a guided walking tour of Chichester.Leaders: Neil Burton, James Ayres & Alan Green Friday 26 March 2010 £95

A HISTORY OF BRICKS AND BRICKMAKINGThe day will include the background, geology and regionality of brickmaking, historictechniques of brickmaking, a hands-on opportunity to make a brick and visit to a localhandmade brickworks.Leader: Kevin Stubbs Monday 29 March 2010 £95

VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN BUILDING TYPESVictorian Britain saw a huge increase in the number and variety of new buildings. Thisstudy day will explore the main aspects of these developments, including housing forthe masses and some civic and industrial buildings. Leader: Susie Barson & associate lecturers Tuesday 30 March 2010 £95

OAK TIMBER FRAMING: JOWL POSTS AND DOUBLE-CUT SCRIBINGThis course will provide students with the opportunity to frame up the principaltimbers of a traditional Sussex timber-framed building: the posts, plates, beams andcills will be lined-out, cut and fitted. This course focuses on historic workshoppractice, tools and techniques. Leader: Joe Thompson Monday-Friday 19-23 April,

Monday-Friday 23-27 August, Monday-Friday 18-22 October 2010 £475

INTRODUCTION TO GAUGED BRICKWORKThis course, consisting of lectures and practical experience, is designed to help thestudent gain a deeper and more contextual understanding of the art of gaugedbrickwork; the highest expression of the bricklayer’s craft. It includeshistorical development of gauged work, an examination of tools andmaterials, and plenty of practical techniques.Leader: Gerard Lynch Monday-Wednesday 19-21 April 2010 £330

NATURAL STONE: ITS USE IN CONSERVATION AND INNEW BUILDThis course will provide an interesting and balanced outline of the useof stone in both building conservation and restoration, and new build.The day will include a look at the processes involved in masonryproduction, along with issues of consultation and design. Case studiesinvolving the use of stone in building restoration and conservation willbe included, and contracts involving new build stonework will also bediscussed. The morning will be spent at the workshop of CathedralWorks Organisation (CWO) in Chichester, and lectures will follow atthe Museum during the afternoon.Leaders: CWO Team Tuesday 20 April 2010 £95

COB WALLING – HISTORY, THEORY AND PRACTICEThe day school will explore the various types and methods of cob wallconstruction in the region. It will also examine causes of failure, repairstrategies and problems relating to alterations to cob structures. Somehands-on practice working with chalk.Leader: Kevin Stubbs Wednesday 21 April 2010 £95

AN INTRODUCTION TO LEADWORK FOR SPECIFIERS ANDINSTALLERS A foundation course for those with little or no experience of working with lead.Theoretically based, the course concentrates on design and specification. Case studiesof repair and renewal projects. Leader: Nigel Johnston Thursday 22 April 2010 £110

PRACTICAL LEADWORKFor those who have already attended the introductory course. Based on the practicalaspects of working with lead sheet by bossing, lead-welding and casting.Leader: Nigel Johnston Friday 23 April 2010 £110

REPAIR OF TIMBER FRAMED BUILDINGSA day school including a lecture on the repair of timber framed buildings by RichardHarris, a workshop session with Roger Champion and a critical examination of repairsexecuted at the Museum over 30 years.Leaders: Richard Harris & Roger Champion Monday 26 April 2010 £95

AS GOOD AS NEW: IN-SITU REPAIRS TO HISTORIC TIMBERSTRUCTURESA course for architects, engineers and surveyors offering a step-by-step approach to thespecification of remedial work to historic structures, wholly or partly in timber. Thecourse will cover an introduction to structural analysis, the criteria for repair:strength/durability/appearance, repair forms, the ways in which steel can extend theuse of remedial techniques to the specifier, and case studies.Leader: Peter Ross Tuesday 27 April 2010 £95


Courses Programme 2010 – Building conservation

A history of bricks and brickmaking.5Graffiti (this exaParham House).

GRAFFITIExamples of Graffiti stretch back across the centuries, and those who made their marksdid so from a wide variety of backgrounds and for numerous reasons. This day willinvestigate the history of graffiti, beginning with a lecture and then visitingChichester Cathedral and Parham House to see some fascinating examples, from marksmade by pilgrims, to names inscribed by builders.Leaders: Dr Ian Friel & Richard Pailthorpe Wednesday 28 April 2010 £95

PRACTICAL THATCHINGAn opportunity to learn how to thatch. A hands-on day thatching with straw on amodel roof using traditional tools and techniques, whilst learning about this historiccraft and the wide variety of materials used.Leader: Chris Tomkins Thursday 29 April 2010 £150

MARKING THE BUILDING A technical day comparing marks on historic buildings, ranging from purely practicalmarks, to secret signs intended to ward off witchcraft. It is the latter, whether scribedor painted by craftsmen or by conjurers, which are less well understood.Leader: Timothy Easton Friday 30 April 2010 £95

AN INTRODUCTION TO TIMBER REPAIRSA three-day practical workshop focussing on in-situ timber repairs. It will include theapproach to timber frame conservation, the use of hand and power tools, scarfing newoak onto old and smaller patch repairs. Practical exercises focus on inserting andrepairing timbers of standing frames. Suitable for conservation professionals,craftsmen, home-owners and others caring for old timber buildings. Leader: Joe Thompson Wednesday-Friday 5-7 May 2010 £285

HISTORIC PAINTING METHODSA detailed course with a mix of lectures, tours and demonstrations covering thehistoric use of colour and decoration on interiors and exteriors. Includes a guided visitto a local church with outstanding wall paintings. Leaders: Ian Bristow, James Ayres, Kathryn Davies & Chris Britten

Monday-Wednesday 10-12 May 2010 £330

OAK SHINGLES: HISTORY, MANUFACTURE AND USEA day of talks, demonstrations and practical experience of the equipment used incleaving and finishing oak shingles under the guidance of the most experiencedsteeplejack in the country. Leaders: Peter Harknett & John Deal Thursday 13 May 2010 £95

STRENGTH GRADING OF OAKAn introduction to the methods used for stress-grading hardwoods. Successfulcompletion of this course will result in a Certificate of Proficiency to Visually StrengthGrade Temperate Hardwoods (oak) to BS 5756:2007Leader: David Woodbridge Monday-Wednesday 24-26 May 2010 £450

ADVANCED GAUGED BRICKWORKA theoretical and practical course designed for those with someexperience of gauged brickwork. Working on both flat and camberedarches, students will look at terminology, geometry, setting-out,selection, preparation and cutting of bricks, preparing mortar, turningand finishing the arch.Leader: Gerard Lynch Tuesday-Thursday 25-27 May 2010 £330

VICTORIAN CARPENTRY AND JOINERYThis day will bring Walter Rose’s superb and inspiring book ‘TheVillage Carpenter’ to life with practical demonstrations and talksdetailing the work of the carpenter and joiner in the 19th and early20th centuries. The Museum’s Whittaker’s Cottages dating from 1865will be used as a case study.Leader: Joe Thompson Friday 28 May 2010 £95

LIMEWASH, DISTEMPER & LINSEED-BASED PAINTS: APRACTICAL WORKSHOP Spend a day learning how these traditional finishes were mixed andapplied, with expert demonstrations and hands-on opportunities usingthe Museum’s exhibit buildings.Leader: Sibylle Heil Friday 28 May 2010 £95

THE ROOFING SQUAREThe use of the roofing square is a fundamental skill of carpentry. Students will first usethe square to carry out a number of simple practical exercises, then to line out rafterpitch boards and rafter patterns. These will then be used to cut the rafters for lean-to,gable and hip roofs. This day will help demystify this essential carpentry skill. Apractical course for conservation professionals, craftspeople and keen DIYers.Leader: Joe Thompson Thursday 10 June 2010 £95

REPAIR OF TRADITIONALLY CONSTRUCTED BRICKWORKA look at the principles of repair, causes of failure and decay, inappropriate materialsand practices, techniques for selecting methods of repair, cutting out bricks and takingout defective joints, stitch repairs and reinforcements, patch pointing using limemortar, reversing bricks and use of slips, plastic repairs and cleaning of brickwork. Leader: Gerard Lynch Monday-Wednesday 14-16 June 2010 £330

LIME MORTARS FOR TRADITIONAL BRICKWORKLectures and practical demonstrations on the traditional preparation and uses of limesand lime mortars and the modern misconceptions about them. Leaders: Gerard Lynch Thursday 17 June 2010 £110

STONE: DIVERSITY AND DISTINCTIVENESS A two-day course looking at local geology and the variety of building stone that it hasproduced in the Weald & Downland region. Sessions will include the place of stone inlocal distinctiveness, a tour of the Museum’s exhibit buildings looking at the range oflocal stone, a visit to Parham House to explore the quarry from which stones wereproduced for use in its buildings, and a practical demonstration of stone repairs.Leaders: David Bone & Kevin Hughes

Tuesday-Wednesday 22-23 June 2010 £190

ADVANCED LEADWORKFor those who wish to progress their leadworking skills. This course is three days of learning through practical work. Students will make patterns for a planter orhopper-head to their own design including decorative embellishments.Leader: Nigel Johnston Wednesday-Friday 23-25 June 2010 £350

BASIC BRICKWORK FOR HOMEOWNERSA day of lectures and practical sessions for homeowners who need to understand moreabout bricks and bricklaying. The morning session will cover the characteristics ofbricks, the historical background, conservation, care and repair of historic brickworkincluding an introduction to lime mortars. During the afternoon there will bepractical sessions on basic bricklaying including techniques, setting out and bondingarrangements, profiles and corners, and plumbing points, gauges, lines and levels.Leaders: Kevin Stubbs & Ray Moseley Monday 28 June 2010 £95

HISTORIC LIME PLASTERS AND RENDERSA two-day course covering the fundamentals of lime plastering from the simplestrenders to the finest ornamental work. Lectures, demonstrations and discussion, withopportunities to handle tools and samples of the trade.Leaders: Ian Constantinides & Jeff Orton

Tuesday-Wednesday 29-30 June 2010 £190

PRACTICAL LIME PLASTERINGA purely practical day learning the basics of lime plastering, to include historic in-siturun moulds, casting and benchwork re-creating Victorian designs. The course will takeplace at Highbury College, Cosham.Leader: George Terry Thursday 1 July 2010 £95

PARGETINGThe history and development of pargeting styles, from late Tudor to the Arts andCrafts Movement. Demonstrations and hands-on work with carved wooden stamps andfreehand work depicting flora, birds and mammals in the Jacobean style.Leader: Bill Sargent Friday 2 July 2010 £95

PRACTICAL STONE WALL REPAIRSTwo practical days working on the Parham Estate carrying out conservation and repairwork using traditional lime mortars and the original stone.Leader: Kevin Hughes Monday-Tuesday 5-6 July 2010 £190

SQUARE RULE TIMBER FRAMINGThis system evolved in North America in the nineteenth century, from the ‘meltingpot’ of European carpentry cultures combined with the straight timbers available fromvirgin forests. Using a range of local timbers such as sweet chestnut, larch and Douglasfir, this system embodies standardisation and interchangeable parts as an integralfeature. Students will line out, cut and erect the timbers of a simple frame.Leader: Joe Thompson Monday-Friday 13-17 September 2010 £475

JOINTING, POINTING AND RE-POINTING OF HISTORIC BRICKWORKAn exploration of the historical and technical development of jointing and pointingfrom the Tudor period to the early 20th century. The course will cover tools, materials,mortars and practice. It will also examine the considerations for successful re-pointing.Leader: Gerard Lynch Monday-Tuesday 13-14 September 2010 £200

ENGLISH BRICKWORK: TUDOR TO EDWARDIANAn overview of the historical development of the bricks, mortars and manner ofmanipulating them that stamped its character on Tudor, Jacobean, Georgian, Victorianand Edwardian brickwork. The course also examines the causes of failure andconservative repairs relevant to each period.Leader: Gerard Lynch Wednesday 15 September 2010 £95


and the use of traditional materials and processes

ample is at

Timber training from scratch

Gift vouchersFor a present with a difference the Museum now offersgift vouchers which can be used as full or part paymenttowards any course in our programme. Contact DianaRowsell on 01243 811464 for further information.

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TIMBER DECAYAn examination of the main causes of decay in hardwoods and softwoods, fungal andinsect damage. Conservative treatments with and without the use of chemicals, andmonitoring to maintain healthy buildings.Leader: Brian Ridout Monday 20 September 2010 £95

WEALD FOREST RIDGE LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIPCOURSES The High Weald is a medieval landscape of rolling hills, smallirregular fields, abundant woods and hedges, scattered farmsteadsand sunken lanes. The Weald Forest Ridge – running east to westfrom Tonbridge to Horsham – is the highest ridge of the HighWeald, and is the focus for a three-year Heritage Lottery-fundedLandscape Partnership (LP) Scheme. The Scheme is enabling people to reconnect withtheir local landscape; more easily access and enjoy it; understand its unique natural,cultural and built heritage; take part in caring for it; and leave a legacy for futuregenerations.

The Weald & Downland Open Air Museum is delivering buildings heritagetraining within the Weald Forest Ridge Scheme. The courses are open to all, and anumber of places have been reserved for participants living or working in the WealdForest Ridge area of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. For thoseliving in this area, a discounted rate of £40 per person for the one-day courses, and £80for the two-day courses applies. To check whether you qualify for this discount pleasecontact the Museum office on 01243 811931.

THE COURSES

AN INTRODUCTION TO TIMBER-FRAMED BUILDINGS AND THEIRCONSERVATIONUsing the Museum’s buildings as examples, this day will look at the construction oftimber-framed buildings, and consider methods of their conservation and repair.Leaders: Richard Harris & Roger Champion Tuesday 14 September 2010 £95

CONSERVATION OF IRONWORKAn introduction to the history and conservation of historic ironwork with special focuson the ironwork of medieval churches. The day will examine the causes of failure,methods of conservation, repair and replication.Leader: Geoff Wallis Thursday 16 September 2010 £95

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSERVATION OF WEATHER-BOARDED AND TILE-HUNG BUILDINGSA day of lectures, tours and practical demonstrations exploring the historicalbackground behind the prevalence of weather-boarded, tile-hung houses in the area,and methods for the conservation of these historic features.Leaders: David Martin & Joe Thompson Wednesday 29 September 2010 £95

REPAIRS TO HISTORIC BRICKWORKTwo practical days focusing on repairing historic brickwork, with an emphasis on thebrickwork of the south east of England. The course will include the use of limemortars, bricks, causes of failure and decay, different repair techniques, and will touchon the cleaning of brickwork. A day aimed at both homeowners and professionals,giving a practical introduction to the subject.Leader: Gerard Lynch Thursday-Friday 30 September-1 October 2010 £190

PRACTICAL SCARF REPAIR COURSEAn introduction to the different types of scarfs and the tools and techniques used whenscarfing new oak on to old. These scarf joints are typically used for the repair of soleplates, bay posts, studs, rafters and tie beams. This course is very appropriate for thoselooking after historic timber framed buildings in the Weald Forest Ridge region, andis an excellent opportunity to discover how these important repair methods can beapplied.Leader: Joe Thompson Wednesday-Thursday 6-7 October 2010 £190

COUNTRYSIDE SKILLSLEATHER BAG WORKSHOP NEWThe chance to make your own unique leather bag, in either a classic tote or messengerbag style. Bags can be personalised with hand sewing, lacing and embossed decoration.9.30am-4.30pm Saturday-Sunday 6-7 March 2010 £110

WILLOW WORKSHOP: WEAVE AND WALE A BASKETUsing English brown willow and traditional techniques, learn to weave and wale abasket to take home. 9am–5pm Saturday 7 August 2010 £55

IRONS IN THE FIREA practical day in the Museum’s 150 year old working smithy, learning about thetraditional skills of the village blacksmith. Each student will make their own simpleobject to take home. 9am-5pm Saturday 18 September 2010 £80

LEATHER CARVING WORKSHOP NEWIn this introductory day learn the techniques used for carving and embossing intoleather. Items made during the day to include purses, bookmarks or key fobs. 9.30am-4.30pm Saturday 17 April 2010 £50

TILE MAKING WORKSHOP NEWA practical day with the opportunity to design your own tiles, or use pre-madepatterns, with information on historical aspects of the craft. Each participant canchoose four tiles to be fired and sent to them after the course. 9.30am-5pm

Sunday 18 April 2010 £85

KEEPING SHEEPA day school to explore the feasibility and management of a smallholding with sheep.Feeding, housing, breeding and regulations. 9.30am-5pm

Sunday 18 April 2010 £65

SUSSEX TRUG MAKING WORKSHOPA unique chance to learn from skilled trug makers how to cleave and shave chestnutfor the handle; steam and bend chestnut and willow for the boards and assemble a trugto take home and cherish. 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday-Sunday 24-25 April 2010 £125

NET MAKING WORKSHOPA hands-on day covering the basics of net making, which will include making adiamond meshed net in hammock or ‘purse’ net form, net repairs, knitting nets andtraditional uses of nets. 9.30am-4.30pm Saturday 24 April 2010 £45

CANE SEATING WORKSHOP Learn how to prepare a chair, the basic six-way pattern for re-caning and how to docouching around the edge of the chair. 9.30am-5pm Friday 30 April 2010 £55

DOWSING WORKSHOPAn introduction to the fascinating ancient craft of dowsing, with a practical dowsingsession and guidance on interpreting the findings. 10am-4pm

Friday 7 May 2010 £40

POULTRY HUSBANDRYThis course covers the basic principles of keeping chickens, including correct feeding,an explanation of the digestive and reproductive system, general hygiene and commonailments. 10.30am-4pm Saturday 8 May 2010 £45

INTRODUCTION TO CHARCOAL BURNINGA practical day exploring charcoal burning, using both traditional and currentmethods: from selection of wood to lighting the kiln, to marketing the product. 9am-4.30pm Saturday 15 May 2010 £50

WILLOW GARDEN SUPPORTSMake interesting contemporary plant supports to enhance your garden using Englishwillow and traditional methods. 9.30-5pm

Saturday 15 May & Sunday 16 May 2010 £65

KNOT CRAFT DAYChoose a different morning and afternoon session from a range of knot craft relatedworkshops including splicing three-strand rope, leather braiding, netmaking, makingside fenders and decorative ropework for narrowboaters. 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 22 May 2010 £50

KEEPING PIGS NEWAn introductory day on all aspects of keeping pigs, including guidance on regulations,feed, shelter and ailments. 9.30am-4.30pm Saturday 22 May 2010 £50


➡ Building conservation

Rope making workshop.

Course Programme 2010 –

Children have a field dayChildren canget involvedwith a wealth ofdifferentactivities at theMuseum,whether in aspecial visitwith theirschool or duringthe holidayswhen theMuseum runsactivities during

half-terms and Wonderful Wednesdays throughout thesummer. Using its unique resources the Museum offersthe chance for children of all ages to get directly involvedwith some of the skills and activities our rural forebearswere familiar with. Here children learn what is involved ina Tudor washing day.

POLE LATHE TURNINGAn introduction to wood turning on the traditional pole lathe. Participants will havetheir own simple turned objects to take home. 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 12 June 2010, Saturday 11 September 2010 £55

STONE CARVING WORKSHOPThis workshop is for people who wish to develop skills in stone carving. You will workon a leaf design in Bath stone. 9.30am-5pm Saturday 19 June 2010 £70

SKEP MAKINGLearn to make a useful addition to the beekeeper’s equipment from straw, and find outhow skeps are used in beekeeping. A rustic feature of a cottage garden. 10am-4pm

Saturday-Sunday 26-27 June 2010 £90

LETTER CUTTING IN SLATELearn how to carve your own monogram or house number in slate using hand tools,following your own design. 9.30am-5pm Saturday 3 July 2010 £70

BIRDS OF PREY EXPERIENCE A unique opportunity to learn about the husbandry and training of birds of prey,handle and fly the birds in the Museum’s parkland and learn about the history ofhunting with birds. 10am-4pm Friday 9 July 2010 £50

WEAVE A RUSH HAT NEWAn opportunity to make your own woven rush hat using the indigenous commonbullrush. 9.30am-5pm Thursday 29 July 2010 £55

ANIMAL TRACKINGLearn about animal signs and track recognition, fundamental tracking techniques andabout how plants, tress and shrubs relate to animal behaviour. 9.30am-4.30pm

Sunday 1 August 2010 £65

CORN DOLLYWORKSHOPLearn the history anddevelopment of this ancientcraft, as well as the practicalskills involved in weaving acorn dolly. 10am-5pmSaturday 21 August 2010£50

HAZEL STOOL WITHWOVEN WILLOW SEATNEWMake a beautiful stool fromof natural materials andlearn weaving and simplecarpentry techniques.9.30am-4.30pm Friday 10September 2010 £65

FIELD BUTCHERY NEWLearn how to prepare a variety of game and accompanying dishes with an emphasis onseasonality and practical skills. 9.30am-4.30pm Sunday 26 September 2010 £65

CORACLE MAKING WORKSHOP Coracles are traditional riverboats. Round in shape, they are paddled with one oar. Onthis two-day course you will make a traditional ash slatted coracle to take home, andtry out your boating skills on the Museum’s millpond. 9.30am-4.30pmSaturday-Sunday 2-3 October 2010 £200

EARLY TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPSPREHISTORIC JEWELLERY WORKSHOP NEWUsing stone and natural cordage you will learn how to make your own jewellery.10am-4.30pm Friday 6 August 2010 £50

PREHISTORIC TOOL MAKING WORKSHOPUsing the methods of ancient British people, including flint knapping, cordagemanufacture from natural fibres, working with bone and antler, you will produce yourown hafted tool to take home. 9.30am-5pm

Saturday-Sunday 7-8 August 2010 £100

SHOOTING THE TRADITIONAL LONGBOW NEW An introduction to the art and craft of longbow archery. The day focuses on the historyand traditions of this remarkable weapon, including intensive tuition in the practice oflongbow archery using a range of different bows. Suitable for the beginner and moreexperienced archer alike. 10am-5pm Sunday 19 September £45

HEAVY HORSE EXPERIENCE DAYSCARE AND MANAGEMENT OF HEAVY HORSESA mix of theory and practice using the Museum’s team of heavy horses. Anintroduction to stable care, feeding, harness and safe handling of draft horses, with theopportunity for some driving. 10am-4pm Sunday 7 March & 18 April 2010 £80

HORSE LOGGINGFor those with some heavy horse experience. A day working with heavy horsesextracting timber from the Museum woods. Participants must be agile and physicallyfit. 10am-4pm Sunday 21 March 2010 £80

DRIVING HEAVY HORSESHarness up and drive the Museum’s draft horses in the field and on the track, chainharrowing, and shaft and pole work. Beginners and improvers equally welcome. 10am-4pm Sunday 13 June 2010 £80

HISTORIC HOME LIFE AGEING THROUGH THE AGES NEWAre we truly in better health than past generations as we age? A day to examineattitudes, diets, lifestyles and medicines over the past five centuries, and compare withour circumstances today. 9.30am-4.30pm Sunday 25 April 2010 £50

VICTORIAN CLEANINGClean and neat. The Victorian way of keeping your home and family presentable andhygienic. We shall be looking through and trying out a huge range of methods fromthe days before marketed products. Learn more about these traditional recipes andtime honoured techniques. 10am-4pm Wednesday 5 May 2010 £60

COTTAGE HERB GARDEN: PERENNIALS FOR PRESERVES, POTIONSAND PIGMENTSWhen is a flower not a flower? When it is also a herb. Discover the hidden uses offamiliar garden flowers from the herbaceous border. Samples of wines, dyed materials,remedies and skincare products will inspire a choice of designing your own idealborder or plot for personal needs or making recipes.9.30am-4.30pm

Friday 21 May 2010 £50

HISTORIC CLOTHING DAY Examine clothing worn by individuals of a low status who lived in dwellings similarto those at the Museum. There will also be an opportunity to handle original garmentsand fabrics, to examine stock replica clothing and discuss techniques involved. 10am-4.30pm Tuesday 8 June 2010 £60

MAKE A HERBARIUM – A PERSONAL PLANT RECORD NEWLearn how to make your own herbarium: identify plants, effectively press them andrecord all important details to create a wealth of knowledge. 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 12 June 2010 £50

SING SUSSEX SONGS NEWA day for anyone interested in traditional, unaccompanied singing and an interest in English social history. No prior knowledge or experience will be assumed.9.30am-4.30pm Sunday 13 June 2010 £50

15TH CENTURY HERBS IN THE MEDIEVAL MANORFrom household accounts, cookery recipes and leechbooks come a wealth ofinformation and recipes using herbs as flavourings, colourings, preservatives,fragrances, medicines and pest repellents. Sage, parsley, garlic, tansy, pot marigoldsand rosemary are some of the herbs used on the day. 9.30am-4.30pm

Friday 18 June 2010 £50

SECRETS OF THE TUDOR STILLROOMThe stillroom was the source of a variety of potions, salves, pest repellents, cleansers,cosmetics, fragrant mixes and the all-important distilled aromatic waters. Exploresome of the recipes handed down over the generations from Medieval times, makingcough sweets, salves, herb honeys and drinks. 9.30am-4.30pm


VICTORIAN AND TUDOR HAIR AND MAKE-UPThe body beautiful. Learn about cosmetics and hairdressing in the Tudor and Victorianperiods. We shall be making a variety of beauty products from perfumed hair rinses tolipsalves and Tudor hair gel. We shall be flicking through the fashion images of theday and have a go at recreating the period look. 10am-4pm

Wednesday 7 July 2010 £60

TUDOR SALADS AND VEGETABLESThere may not have been vegetarians in Tudor England but there were plenty ofvegetables, salad leaves and edible flowers. Explore a whole host of period recipescentred on herbs and vegetables of all kinds, from Peas Pottage to Grand Salat. Thetradition of fasting days provides us with a strong and varied range of meat-free dishesto draw upon, and includes an impressive number of different edible plants, somefamiliar and some less so. 10am-4pm Thursday 8 July 2010 £60

HERB WALK AROUND THE MUSEUM NEWBy popular request, a day to learn secrets of herbal folklore, uses for plants growingwild around the site and details of medical applications for herbs. Whether yourinterest is in botany, beauty, fragrance, flavours of cookery, times of gathering, safe use,recognising dangerous plants or country lore, there will be fascinating discoveries forall. 9.30am-4.30pm Saturday 10 July 2010 £50

BELOW STAIRSAn outstanding opportunity to learn about how households were managed over aperiod of 400 years, with fascinating site visits to parts of Cowdray ruins and PetworthHouse not normally open to the public. 9.30am-5pm July 2010 – date TBC

HERBS FOR HEALTHThe origins of the herbaceous border lie in growing herbs for home remedies in thepast. Led by a medical herbalist, the course offers guidance on the most safe and usefulherbs to grow and how to harvest and use or preserve them. A practical day, includingthe opportunity to make a footbath, herbal honey syrups, herbal teas, infused oil, aherb pillow and more. 9.30am-4.30pm Tuesday 20 July 2010 £50


– Traditional rural trades and crafts

Felting for fun.

Willow workshop.

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“RE-WRITING HISTORY”: MAKING HISTORICAL INKS NEWRecipes for inks have been many and various over centuries: from adding wormwoodto stop mice eating documents, adding brandy to stop inks freezing in winter, to aninkstand that turns water into ink. Spend a day learning to make fascinating naturalinks, including the chance to try them out! 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 21 August 2010 £50

THE TUDOR BAKEHOUSE – BREADMuseum milled flour will be used to make common brown loaves of the working folkin the kitchen’s historic bread oven. The day will include the role of bread in Tudorlife, the technology of the Tudor bread oven, the law of the time and the special loavesbaked for festivals. 10am-4pm Wednesday 8 September 2010 £60

THE TUDOR BAKEHOUSE – PIES AND PASTRIESA selection of techniques and recipes from a Tudor bakehouse, from hand-raisedstanding pies to deep fried choux pastry bennets. 10am-4pm

Thursday 9 September 2010 £60

18TH-CENTURY STILLROOM SECRETSDespite the growing interest in chemical medicines, for most of the century thestillroom continued to be the scene of distilling aromatic waters for medicine andcosmetics. Period recipes made on the day will range from snuff and hair tonic,through gargles, medicinal cooling and warming drinks to potted cheese andconfections. 9.30am-4.30pm Friday 24 September 2010 £50

DRAWING AND PAINTING WORKSHOPSAll our workshops are run by practising professional painter and experienced tutor GordonRushmer. You will be given in-depth tuition in all watercolour techniques and introduced to thefull range of materials in idyllic and tranquil surroundings. We have courses to accommodateboth complete beginners and experienced artists, and our small groups enable one-to-one tuition.

Week-long coursesOIL PAINTING WORKSHOPOil painting in the fresh air – challenging but equally rewarding! This course willexplore various painting techniques and give students of all abilities the freedom towork on a range of subjects from still life to landscapes and people. 9.30am-5pm

Monday-Friday 14-18 June 2010 £250

IMPROVERS’ WATERCOLOUR WORKSHOPFive consecutive days of advanced watercolour tuition, for those who have alreadygiven watercolour a try and want to take it further. You will be working out of doorsin the Museum environment. 9.30am-5pm

Monday-Friday 6-10 September 2010 £250

THE DOWNLAND SKETCHBOOKThis very popular course is both fun and instructive. You will walk a different routeevery day with plenty of opportunities to stop, admire the scenery and fill yoursketchbook. Wear your walking boots! 9.30am-5pm

Monday-Friday 11-15 October 2010 £250

Weekend courses BEGINNERS’ WATERCOLOUR WORKSHOPOvercome your fears and try your hand at watercolour. A comprehensive beginners’course, covering choice of materials and explaining various techniques, includingwash, stipple and drybrush. 9.30am-5pm Friday-Sunday 21-23 May 2010 £180

DRAWING WEEKENDPractice your drawing technique in a variety of media using the Museum’s wonderfulbuildings and exhibits as your subjects. 9.30am-5pm

Saturday-Sunday 26-27 June 2010 £120

IMPROVERS’ WATERCOLOUR WEEKEND NEWFor those with some watercolour experience who want to take it further, this is ashortened version of our five day course. You will be working out of doors in theMuseum environment. 9.30am-5pm Friday-Sunday 9-11 July 2010 £180

WATERCOLOUR SKETCHINGLearn how to paint fast and loose in watercolour, working out of doors in the Museum

environment – buildings, trees, animals . . .you paint it! 9.30am-5pmFriday 30 July – Sunday 1 August 2010£180

Day workshopsCOSTUMED FIGURE DRAWINGWORKSHOPThe opportunity to receive expert tuitionon how to draw figures, using one of theMuseum’s interpreters in historicalcostume as your model. 9.30am-5pmFriday 11 June 2010 £60

DAY WALK WITH ASKETCHBOOK – BOSHAMA day of boats and quiet creeks, flatwalking with broad horizons. 9.30am-5pmSaturday 17 July 2010 £60

TEXTILESFELT BAGSDesign and make a seamlessbag from hand-made feltusing updated traditionaltechniques. Dyed andnatural wool will beprovided. 10am-4pmSaturday 13 March 2010£45

RAG-RUGGING – ATRADITIONALTEXTILE FORMRag-rug making is auniquely accessible folkcraft. This workshop gives alively modern feel to thisVictorian textile skill.9.30am-4pmFriday 23 April 2010,Friday 2 July 2010 £45

KNITTING WORKSHOPFor those starting out or wanting to rekindle their skills in hand-knitting with anemphasis on learning a good, efficient technique, and with an adventurous approach!10am-5pm Friday 23 April 2010 £45

SPINNING: PREPARATION AND THE DROP SPINDLELearn about fleeces and carding wool ready for spinning, before trying your handspinning with the drop spindle. 10.30am-4.30pm Tuesday 27 April 2010 £45

SPINNING: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WHEELFollowing on from the first day, this day concentrates on working with the wheel,whilst giving some background to this traditional craft. 10.30am-4.30pm

Tuesday 4 May 2010 £45

TATTING WORKSHOPTatting is the art of creating lace edgings and inserts using a shuttle and thread. Learnthe basics of this skill; how to create basic pattern rings and how to join the rings intoattractive lace edging. 10am-4.30pm

Thursday 27 May 2010 £45

FELTING FOR FUNAn introduction to felt making – produce a colourful piece of handmade felt usingdyed wools. Includes preparation of the fleece. 10am-4pm


SPINNING: IMPROVERS NEWAn opportunity for those with some experience of spinning to take their skills furtherin a small group and ask questions. 10am-4pm Friday 2 July 2010 £45

BOBBIN LACE MAKING FOR BEGINNERSAn introduction to torchon lace, which is the basis of most other laces. Learn how toprepare a pattern, lacemaking terms and how to work the main stitches. 10am-4pm

Thursday 5 August 2010 £45

GUIDED WALKSFICTION WALK NEWJoin Jane Borodale, Leverhulme Writer in Residence at the Museum, as she talks aboutthe inspiration for her short stories, set in Museum dwellings at different points ofhistory. Starts at 5pm and finishes with tea and cake. Thursday 6 May 2010 £10

DAWN WALK WITH BREAKFASTGuided walk through local woods to hear the dawn chorus. Starts at 4am and finisheswith full breakfast at the Museum. Saturday 8 May 2010 £15

TREE WALKStroll through the woods at the Museum whilst your guide shows you different speciesof tree and gives advice on how to identify them. Starts at 2pm and finishes with teaand cake. Wednesday 26 May 2010 £10

DUSK WALK NEWGuided walk through local woods to find nightjars, deer and maybe even glow worms.Starts at 9pm and finishes with hot drinks at the Museum.

Friday 18 June 2010 £10

PERIOD GARDENS WALK NEWSpend an afternoon with the Museum gardener. See the transition of gardens from theearly 16th century through to the late 19th century and learn about the herbs,vegetables and plants that met the needs of rural households over the centuries. Starts at 2pm. Thursday 24 June 2010 £10

BAT WALKJoin our guided bat walk, where bat detectors will be used to locate and identify thedifferent types of bat that live around the Museum site. A wonderful opportunity tolearn about these fascinating creatures. Starts at 7.15pm, finishes with hot drinks.

Friday 20 August 2010 £10

OPEN COURSES – SUSSEX UNIVERSITYThese continuing education courses are validated by Sussex University and carry higher educationcredits to recognise student learning. For their full programme visit www.sussex.ac.uk/cce

DEVISING CHURCH TRAILS IN WEST SUSSEX NEWBuilding on the knowledge and interest of participants, we will devise trails and testthem. Each trail will have academic rationale require the study of the relevantliterature. 9.30am-5pm Saturdays 8 & 22 May, 5 & 19 June, 3 July 2010 £90

Weald & Downland Open Air Museum Spring 2010

➡ Rural trades and crafts

Secrets of the Tudor stillroom.

Prehistoric tool-makingworkshop.

A HISTORY OF THE SCYTHE ANDPRACTICAL GRASSLAND MANAGEMENTMonday 19 AprilThe talk will investigate the history and theory ofscything in this country compared to other areas ofEurope, from the perspective of an experiencedscythesman. We will also include the management ofmeadows and haymaking.Simon Fairlie is an experienced scythesman who hasbeen teaching the subject for many years. He ispassionate about the reintroduction of the art ofscything in the British Isles, has an extensiveknowledge of the subject and his business importsscythes from Austria.

MAGIC AND RITUAL FOR PROTECTING THEHOME FROM THE TUDORS TO THE 19THCENTURYThursday 29 AprilTimothy Easton will draw upon his long experienceof secreted archaeological finds to show the ways inwhich householders attempted to protect themselvesand their livelihood from witches and their familiars,fire, illness and misfortune. Bring along your ownfinds.Timothy Easton is an artist and architecturalhistorian who has lived in a historic house in Suffolkfor 30 years and is a specialist on ritual marks inhistoric buildings.

CALLIGRAPHY PAST AND PRESENTThursday 6 MayCalligraphy has a splendid history of beautifullywritten manuscripts and illuminated letters. See howthe skills of using gold and writing with quills onvellum were practised over many centuries, at a timewhen literacy was the preserve of the rich andpowerful, and how differently those skills have beeninterpreted by today’s calligraphers. Mary Noble has taught and practised calligraphy for over 20 years and written and co-written several books on the subject. Whilst her preferredstyle is contemporary rather than classical, she hasalways drawn on the traditional skills for herinspiration.

PHOTOGRAPHING SUSSEX NATURETuesday 18 MayA journey in images through Sussex and through theyear, looking at the magnificent heritage of wildlife,habitats and landscapes in this richly diverse county,and the thrills and challenges involved in capturingthem all on camera.Neil Fletcher began his career as a photographer atLondon’s Natural History Museum, and also spentsix years managing nature reserves for the SussexWildlife Trust. He is now a freelance writer andphotographer, and has written, edited or contributedto numerous books on just about every subject ofnatural history.

A REDUCED HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM . . .AS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE!Wednesday 9 June40 years of the Museum in 40 images and audio clips– a gallop through the history of the Museum in thisspecial Ruby year given by Richard Harris.Richard Harris became the Museum Director in2001, having started as assistant to the ResearchDirector (Roy Armstrong) in 1975, and has beenclosely involved with most of the developments atthe Museum. His teaching career also started in1975, as a tutor at the Architectural Association, andhe contributes to our Historic Building Conservationprogramme, as well as being course leader on theMSc in Timber Building Conservation which is run

at the Museum. He is the author and illustrator ofDiscovering Timber-Framed Buildings.

BRITAIN IN COLOURTuesday 15 JuneA pictorial journey from the Highlands of Scotlandthrough the Yorkshire Dales, the SnowdoniaNational Park, South Wales including the longdistance costal path in Pembrokeshire, then finallyinto Southern England to our beautiful country ofSussex, an area of which has recently been awardedNational Park status.Derrick Ellwood has spent 50 years working inhorticulture and his last appointment in his long andvaried career was Head Gardener for the RoyalGreenwich Observatory, at Herstmonceaux Castle,East Sussex. Derrick’s other main interest is his greatlove of the English countryside. He is a skilledphotographer who has won numerous awards and thetalk will be illustrated with his own photographs.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF NATURALNAVIGATIONThursday 24 JuneA talk that starts with solo crossings of the Atlanticin a light aircraft and then a small yacht, beforeplunging into the very rare art of natural navigation.Tristan describes how his love of the subject grewfrom realising that electronics were getting in theway of a good journey and explains how he learnt tofind his way using the sun, moon, stars, weather,plants and animals.Tristan Gooley is the founder of a natural navigationschool, author of The Natural Navigator book andonly living person to have both flown and sailed soloacross the Atlantic. He is a Fellow of both the RoyalInstitute of Navigation and the Royal GeographicalSociety and the Vice Chairman of Trailfinders.

INNS AND TAVERNS OF OLD ARUNDELMonday 28 JuneDiscover more about the 40 ale and beerhouses ofArundel, of which only seven have survived. Theywere mainly owned by families, from whom thewidows often survived to a ripe old age to managethe sale of the products of brewing. This talk detailswhere these old houses can still be found in thetown, what they were called in their heyday, who thepublicans were at the time and how the familieshelped each other and carried on through thegenerations. Anecdotal reminiscences of the past andrecollections of how the old premises looked havehelped to create the atmosphere of these drinkingplaces in old Arundel.Rupert Brooks is a local historian who hasundertaken fascinating research including time inthe archives department of Arundel Castle with thekind permission of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk,in the West Sussex Records Office and interviewinglong-standing residents who remember Arundel’s olddrinking establishments. He has also intervieweddescendants of the most significant families,uncovered their photographs and delved into theirfamily trees.

THE MARY ROSE: A FLOATING PARISHWednesday 30 JuneThis talk focuses on what can be learned of thenature of religious observance on board 16th centuryships. The Mary Rose affords rich evidence on this

topic that has largely been neglected, partly due tothe problems of assigning functions to particularartefacts. It will address issues of heritageinterpretation as well as wider questions of historicalknowledge by asking basic questions about whatreligious observance might have entailed on boardship in the 1540s and by offering thoughts on howsome of the artefacts recovered might be bestclassified by museum professionals.Catherine Flower-Bond has degrees in both historyand heritage, with further studies in theology. Shewrites, teaches and researches a wide range ofhistorical topics including religious observanceduring the English Reformation (published) andTudor womens’ social and domestic history. Sheworks with various local museums by day and givesregular lectures and workshops at local heritagevenues, U3A, schools and societies. She has appearedin historical television programmes such as BBCfour’s Christina of Codicote, The History of the Home andReady, Steady, Cook.

FROM NETTLE SOUP TO CHICKEN TIKKAMASALAThursday 15 JulyHow did those staple foods get into your shoppingbasket? When and from where did they come to thiscountry? A brief overview of how and why oureveryday diet has changed over the last 2000 years.Some tasters will be available.Lesley Parker has a BA (Hons) in history and hastaught history and been involved in museumeducation in Sussex for the last 15 years. Shecurrently works at the Weald & Downland Open AirMuseum interpreting the social history of thebuildings for museum visitors. Food is one of herlife-long passions.

SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES IN 17TH CENTURYSUSSEXMonday 26 JulyIf you needed a new item of clothing in 17th-centurySussex how did you get it? Did you go to a shop, buyit from a peddler or make it yourself? This talk willlook at the type and variety of clothing worn by therural poor and at the options available to them foracquiring it.Dr Danae Tankard is a historian based at the Weald& Downland Open Air Museum, who has researchedand written social and economic history of 10 of theMuseum’s houses. She has an MA and PhD in historyfrom the University of London and also teaches atthe University of Chichester.

JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900), THE ‘GOODSTEWARD, AND HIS CONTINUINGINFLUENCE ON CONSERVATION ANDWHOLENESS TODAY’Thursday 9 SeptemberIn this talk Ruskin’s thought and writings will beconsidered, which the speaker passionately believescontain many messages of importance for us today.The speaker is a Companion of John Ruskin’s Guildof St George, founded in 1871.Peter Burman has been successively head of theChurch of England’s office for the care andconservation of its churches and cathedrals; Directorof the Centre for Conservation Studies, University ofYork, and Director of Conservation & PropertyServices, The National Trust for Scotland. He divideshis time at present between being Visiting Professorin Cultural Management at the BrandenburgTechnical University, Germany, and an independentconsultant working for Nic Boyes StoneConservation.


Tales of the Downs and Beyond

All the speakers are experts in their fields, who will share their knowledge on these evenings in a relaxed talk, withillustrations. Questions are welcome. The talks will start at 6.30 pm, with tea/coffee and cake served from 6 pm. The ticket allows entrance to the Museum site from 4pm on the day of the talk.

All talks cost £10 per person, or £5 for Weald & Downland Open Air Museum volunteers. Price includes refresh-ments. Book 6 places, pay for 5! Places must be booked together, for any 2010 talks, to qualify for this discount.

Evening Talks Programme 2010

Further information please contact:Tel 01243 811021, or email [email protected]

Friends’ day trips 2010Windsor and Eton College – Friday 14 MayWe will arrive in Windsor mid to late morning giving timefor a wander and lunch. You may bring a picnic or purchaselunch at one of the many pubs or restaurants. If you would likeideas of where to visit, we will have a list on the coach. Afterlunch we will board the coach and travel on to Eton Collegefor a guided tour. The college is of course very well known:King Henry VI founded it in 1440 and it is one of the oldestschools in the country.Ticket price – £20 Depart Museum 9.15am. Return approx. 6.00pm

Bateman’s – Tuesday 13 JulyBateman’s was built around 1634: a long-standing traditionclaims the house was built by a Wealden ironmaster. The firstknown occupant was John Briteen at the end of the 17thcentury. The most famous owner of Bateman’s was, of course,Rudyard Kipling, who purchased the house in 1902. Onarrival we will have a short introductory talk whilst on thecoach and will then be free to wander at our leisure. Lunch canbe purchased at the restaurant or bring a picnic.Ticket price – National Trust members £11. Non-members £17.50Depart Museum 9.00am. Return approx 6.00pm

Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum – Tuesday 28 September The Ashmolean Museum has recently undergone a £6 millionrefurbishment. The museum first opened its doors on 24 May1683, providing a setting in which the private collection ofElias Ashmole could be shown. On arrival we will have timefor morning coffee and then be taken on a guided tour. Follow-ing the tour we will be free to spend further time in the muse-um or to venture out into Oxford and explore the city. Lunchcan be purchased in the Ashmolean or at one of the manyeateries in Oxford.Ticket price – £18Depart Museum 9.15am. Return approx. 6.00pm

Genius! – Thursday 21 OctoberAn unusual day in London focusing on some of the greatestthinkers of the past 400 years. We visit the home of BenjaminFranklin and the amazing and bizarre collection of Sir HenryWellcome. The day starts with refreshments in the Crypt Caféof St.Martin-in-the-Fields. The church has recently undergonea £36 million refurbishment, so it is a great time to visit. Wethen move on to Benjamin Franklin’s home. Lunch can bepurchased locally after our visit.

The afternoon is devoted to one of the newest and mostattractive private museums in London. Sir Henry Wellcomewas a fascinating man, extremely wealthy and as curious as theproverbial cat. The museum has a wonderful bookshop and apleasant café for tea before departing for home. A Blue Badgeguide will accompany us throughout the day.Ticket price – £25Depart Museum 8.30am. Return approx. 6.00pm

Annual General Meeting10 April in the Downland GridshellThe Friends annual meeting will take place on Saturday 10April in the Downland Gridshell building at 2.30pm. Allmembers are warmly invited to attend. Our guest speaker willbe Kim Leslie, a founding trustee and the Museum’s firstHonorary Treasurer, who will speak about the early years ofthe Museum. The title of his talk is The Impossible Museum.Members of the Friends will find, included with the magazine,the AGM agenda and the Annual Report and Accounts. Iffurther copies or the fuller version are required please contactthe Honorary Secretary, Friends of the Weald & DownlandMuseum, at the Museum address.

How to bookA booking form, giving costs of each event for the trips andfund raising events, is included with this mailing. Please readthe instructions carefully. Closing date for applications will be 31 March. If any trips are over-subscribed, tickets will beallocated by lot. In the event of anyone being unable to attenda booked trip, no refund will be made unless the ticket can be re-sold. Gratuity to the driver is included in the price.Booking forms should be sent to: Mrs Sarah Casdagli, LittleYarne, Singleton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0HA and notto the Museum office. Please remember to enclose a stampedaddressed envelope for the return of your tickets.


FRIENDS’ NEWS

The Friends is a support organisation for the Museum, which runs fund-raising events and social activities for itsmembers. It is one of the largest museum Friends groups in the country, with some 5,500 memberships represent-ing about 12,200 individual members. Since its inception it has raised a total of £1.7 million for the Museum, makinga major contribution to the Museum’s work.

Friends’ Grand DrawThe Friends of the Museum are promoting a Grand Draw incelebration of the Museum’s 40th anniversary to raise fundsfor the Museum’s work. See also pages 4/5. A book of five£1 tickets is enclosed with this magazine and we wouldvery much appreciate your support by buying tickets. Afreepost envelope is enclosed for the return of counterfoilsand cheques. Please make cheques payable to Friends ofWeald & Downland Museum. If you would like more booksplease contact the Friends’ office on 01243 811893 or [email protected] with your name and addressdetails.

Seeking new Friends’ committeemembersIf any members are interested in joining the committee, wewould be most pleased to hear from you! Committee meetingsare held four times a year and can be held at a time to suit all.The Friends of the Museum is able to grant great financialsupport to the Museum through annual subscriptions andfundraising. If you have any ideas for future fundraising orwould like to help organise fundraising events please contactthe Honorary Secretary, Sarah Casdagli on 01243 811726.

Friends’ contact detailsChairman, Jean Piggott – 01730 813126. Honorary Secre-tary, Sarah Casdagli – 01243 811726. Membership Secretary,Lisa Neville – 01243 811893 (please note the membershipoffice is not manned continually; please leave a message).

Museum Friends’ vitalcontribution

The Friends of the Museum makes a significantfinancial contribution to the Museum’s day-to-dayoperation and a variety of projects and activities. Last

year’s grants amounted to £182,040.Since its establishment in 1970 the Friends has grant-aided

the Museum to the tune of some £1.7 million. It remains one of the largest Museum Friends groups in the country, with some 5,500 members, representing more than 12,200individuals. Independent charitable museums like the Weald& Downland receive no direct Government funding and theFriends’ help is vital in supplementing revenue income fromvisitor admissions, the shop, catering and training courses.

The Friends’ funding comes in two ways. A substantial grantis made towards the costs of essential activities at the Museum.This grant, for £120,000 in 2009, was paid in four quarterlyinstalments to assist the Museum with core activities, includ-ing exhibit improvements, historic gardens development andmaintenance, marketing and publicity, horses and livestock,site maintenance, schools service, staff and volunteer trainingand support for curatorial and collections activities.

The second tranche supports a variety of individual projectsand last year totalled £62,040. It comprises:

Clothing project £6,000Rare Breeds Show sponsorship £10,000Vehicle Gallery £2,500Radios £1,200Tiled roof repair programme £7,257Gonville cottage archaeology report £500Toilet renovation £4,078Picnic tables £1,100Tarmac for entrance roads £8,656Mills Archive project £2,500Paving stone for Market Square £1,150Friends’ computer printer £782Gonville cottage thatching £16,317

In addition to its membership income, the Friends runsfund-raising events, a programme of day trips and an annualSpring tour to interesting historical sites. See opposite page formore information about these activities.

As a charity the Friends can claim Gift Aid on membershipsubscriptions. In 2009 the tax reclaimed amounted to over£34,000. Each £ given by members attracts an extra 28p in taxreturned to us. The Government has legislated to reduce thislevel in the future and to help reduce the impact it would helpus hugely if as many Friends as possible sign up for Gift Aid.Any member who is a UK taxpayer only has to contact theFriends Office on 01243 811893 or email us at [email protected] to give us this help.

Full details of grants and Friends’ activities are included inthe Friends’ Annual Report and Accounts. To join the Friendscontact the Friends office as above.


BRICKWORK, STONE AND FLINTIN SURREY, SUSSEX AND KENT

No 1 Dormans Road, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 6QHTELEPHONE: 01342 832660

A ‘Rare’ Opportunity ToSupport Our BiggestShow Of The Year!

Why not sponsor a class at ourRare & Traditional Breeds Show

on Sunday 18th July?

For many years the Museum has supported stockmenacross the south east, who secure the future of therarest of farm animals, showcased every year at ourdelightful agricultural show. Whatever your farmyardfavourites, why not help us continue our support bysponsoring an animal class for judging this year? Oryou could sponsor a class in the name of a child orgrandchild!

Sponsorship costs £30 per class(£65 for cattle)

You will be providing valuable support for the event,and will receive two free tickets to the Show, (afamily ticket for a cow class) and a credit in the ShowProgramme! And by declaring your support as GiftAid will mean that we can reclaim the tax paid andgain 28p in the £. – Thank you so much!

Rare & Traditional Breeds Show – Sunday 18th July

I wish to support the event by donating the sum of £ ......................to sponsor a sheep / pig / goat / cattle class (delete as appropriate). Cheques should be made payable toWeald & Downland Open Air Museum

If you have a favourite breed you would like to sponsor, pleaseindicate below and we will try to match your request to a class.

.........................................................................................Breed requested

Please treat this sponsorship as a Gift Aid donation (delete if not appropriate)

Class sponsored in the name of..............................................................

Name of sponsor ..................................... Signature ...............................

Address .........................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................

Post code................................................... Date .......................................

Please return to Lisa Pescott or Julie Aalen, Weald & Downland OpenAir Museum, Singleton, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0EU

✂

This year the Museum is furnish-ing the cottage from Hangletonto suggest what the dwelling of a

husbandman (a peasant farmer) mayhave looked like in the late 13th/early14th century (see also page 9). Usingthe archaeological report from the digon the site of the deserted village ofHangleton, medieval manuscriptillustrations and documentarysources, replica items are being madeto depict the domestic and workinglives of the inhabitants of the cottage.Roger Champion, the Museum car-penter, has already completed most ofthe major items of furniture.

BackgroundAt this level of society your house wasoften also a workshop and an agricultur-al building and therefore farmingimplements, the ‘tools of husbandry’,are important items in any scheme tointerpret the cottage interior. The metalparts of some farm tools, such as sickleblades, were recovered from the site ofthe dig, but soil conditions were notsuitable for the preservation of organicmatter. Hence wood, the main materialfor making simple farm tools, did notsurvive. We are fortunate, however, thatmanuscripts from this period are usuallydevotional works detailing the religiousyear but illustrated with seasonal,secular tasks. The Luttrell Psalter, a book

of Psalms produced for Sir Geoffrey Lut-trell in the first half of the 14th century,is particularly well illustrated withscenes of agricultural work clearly show-ing the implements needed to work amedieval farm.

Most wooden tools would have beenmade by the husbandmen themselvesfrom locally available wood with prob-ably varying degrees of skill. This hasgiven me the opportunity to try makingsome of these tools using the materialsand tools available in the Middle Ages. Istarted with a tool that has fascinatedme since I watched the Museum’sformer Curator Bob Powell make one inhis lunch hours 20 years ago and the useof which I have demonstrated to manyschool groups during Tudor farmingworkshops: the flail. It is a very simpletool, really just two sticks tied together,used to thresh cereal crops, peas andbeans, to separate the seeds from the restof the plant. Other methods have beenused to do this: simply hitting the plantagainst a hard surface; getting animalsto tread the crop (“Thou shalt notmuzzle the ox when he treadeth out thecorn.” Deuteronomy 25.4); draggingwooden sleds studded with stones overthe crop; pulling the crop through setsof tines. However, threshing with theflail became the most common practicein cereal-growing cultures throughoutthe world before the introduction of

efficient mechanized threshing machinesin the 19th century.

To use a flail you use the hand-staff,the longer of the two sticks, to swing the‘swingle’, ‘swipple’ or ‘threshal’, theshorter stick, in a wide arc from aboveyour head down onto the crop laid on theground to hit just below the seeds. This


The Tale of the FlailBy Jon Roberts

Threshing scene from the LuttrellPsalter (second quarter of 14thcentury). Below, flail-armed followers of Bohemian religious reformer JanHuss. At their head rides their militaryleader, Jan Zizka, his blind eyescovered with a strip of cloth. Early 15thcentury.

knocks the seeds free without damagingthem. The link between the hand-staffand swingle allows the swingle to beswung at considerable speed and to hitthe crop with its whole length. If you hitthe crop with a simple stick only the tipwill strike. It also allows the swingle toclip you round the back of the head asyou swing it back for the next stroke:

“When I fust used the frail I hitmyself sich a clout at the back o’ thehid! It whoolly hurt: the wood was somehard! But the ol’ boy along o’ me said:‘Niver you mind, you’ll git one or twoof those afore you git used to it. Butyou’ll soon git the swing on it!’ And Idid . . .” (George Messenger recorded inthe book Ask the Fellows who Cut the Hayby George Ewart Evans, 1956)

ResearchIf the two sticks of the flail were simplytied together with cord or leather thongthe circular motion of the swinglewould very quickly cause the binding totwist and prevent the swingle fromrotating. The swingle needs to able torotate about the end of the hand-staff.This requires a swivel joint. Looking atmedieval illustrations of flails makes itclear that the two wooden componentsare not simply tied together, there issome sort of joint but there is insuffi-cient information in the pictures aloneto be able to reproduce it. Fortunatelyin our artefact collection we have sixcomplete flails and the swivels of three

others. These implements are probably19th century but the ultimate prove-nance of them is largely unknown. Twohave metal swivels and two havewooden swivels around metal spindles.This leaves five that have all-woodenconstruction and so may be similar to medieval flails. Comparing them tomanuscript illustrations proves them tobe superficially similar. Flails are alsoillustrated in a number of 18th and19th century farming books and theseconfirm the same details. Puttingtogether this evidence shows what thecomponents of the flail should look like.

The next piece of information Ineeded was the types of wood requiredto make the hand-staff, swivel andswingle. Most long tool handles weretraditionally made from ash. It is strongand springy and thus shock resistant.Also, it is straight grained which makesit easy to shape a long, uniform handle.Five of the six complete flails in theMuseum collection have ash handles;the other is made from hazel. The 18thand 19th century farming manualsindicate ash or hazel was used for flailhandles and two 16th century farmingbooks tell the reader to cut and putaside suitable ash for handles.

The construction of the swivelrequires it to be bent in half. This needsa flexible wood with long fibres thatwill not tear when bent. All the woodenswivels in the artefact collection aremade from ash and the 18th and 19thcentury books recommend ash, hazel orwillow.

The swingle needs to resist therepeated shock of being struck againstthe threshing floor and therefore mustbe hard and not liable to split. Farmingmanuals from the 16th to 19th cen-turies suggest the best woods arehawthorn, blackthorn and holly, prefer-ably knotty. The material for this part ofthe flail is recorded outside farmingliterature, particularly in poetry, andthese references add crab apple to thelist. All these woods are hard and closegrained. Knotty pieces with their twisty and interlocking grain would beespecially tough.

The final material to decide upon waswhat to use to tie the swingle to theswivel. All the Museum’s flails haveleather connecting these components.Several 19th and early 20th centurysources refer to the use of white leather.Leather is prepared by tanning, immer-sion of cleaned cow skins in liquor madefrom oak bark and water. White leatheris made by tawing, treating the skins of

animals other than cows with a pastemade from alum, egg-yolks, oil andflour which results in a softer and moreflexible product. Eel-skin was alsohighly regarded for flail making.

I decided to make the hand-staff andswivel from ash and the swingle fromholly sourced from the woods at theMuseum and to join them with sometanned leather ‘borrowed’ from theMuseum’s historic clothing project.

Construction To make the hand-staff I took a 4ftlength of ash about 5in in diameter andsplit it into quarters using a froe. This isdone by knocking the blade of the froeinto the end of the pole to start a splitthen using the handle to lever the splitopen and guide down the length of thewood. Then I used a hatchet to shapeone quarter into a rough cylinderremoving the pith at the centre and thesapwood on the outside, both of whichwill tend to rot. Using a draw-knife, Irounded off and smoothed the hand-staff holding it still in a ‘brake.’ Thebrake is a simple woodsman’s clampmade from three posts to which arefixed two horizontal rails at an angle toeach other. When the piece to beworked is jammed between the rails,over the front rail and under the back,the action of pushing down on it whileusing the draw-knife keeps it secure.Once the handle was rounded off I useda knife to carve the spindle on the end.

The swivel is the most elegant com-ponent of the flail. It is made from apiece of round, straight-grained, knot-free ash split in half. I took a piece 11inlong and 5in in diameter and split it intwo with the froe. Taking one half I flat-tened off the inside face with thehatchet and then used the hatchet tohew down the outside until I had a


Left, stages in creating the flail. Left to right: split quarter of ash pole for makingthe hand-staff; completed hand-staff and swivel before bending; swivel bent andtied around hand-staff with swingle attached. Right, tools used to make the flail:froe, hatchet, crooked knife, draw-knife.

➡

Details of the leather strap forconnecting the swingle to the swivelloop. On the flails in the Museum’scollections this is secured with awooden peg rather than a knot.Encyclopédie de Diderot et D’Alembert.18th century.


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piece with a semi-circular cross sectionof about an inch and a quarter radius. Ithen cut out the central 3in section withthe hatchet then the knife to leave athin strip connecting the two ends onthe curved face. Finally I gouged out theprofile of the spindle in the flat face ofeach end using a crooked-knife.

When I was reasonably confident thatthe spindle would fit in the hollow I putthe swivel in our kettle over a fire in thewoodyard and boiled it for an hour tosoften the fibres. Taking it out of thekettle, I bent the thin central striparound a stick then bound the two endstogether around the end of the hand-staff with linen string.

Illustrations and the flails in theMuseum’s collection show the swingleto be between a half and two-thirds ofthe length of the hand-staff. I cut apiece of holly of about half the length ofthe handle. This I roughly rounded atone end and trimmed off the sapwoodusing the hatchet. On the other end Icarved a knob using a knife. I formed aloop from a doubled strip of leather and bound this to the swingle with aleather thong below the knob. The finaltask was to join the loop of leather onthe swingle to the loop of the swivel.Several farming books have illustrationsof this detail. I took a strip of leather,passed it twice through each loop, cut aslit in one end and pushed the other endthrough it. In this end I cut another slitand secured it with a small peg carvedfrom a small piece of hazel.

PracticeFarming books from the Middle Agesup to the early modern period deal withfarm management. They do not oftenexplain how to use a tool but do provideus with fascinating information aboutthe organisation of cereal crop process-ing. Most recommend threshing out theseeds as they are required by the house-hold. The sheaves of corn would bestored in a barn or covered stack andtaken out and threshed when needed.The first requirement would be seed fornext year’s crop and this would beprocessed soon after harvest. Through-out autumn, winter and spring therewould be a continuing requirement for bread-corn, barley for brewing andpossibly corn for animal feed.

The seed may have been the mostvaluable part of the crop but the strawand the chaff were also important. Strawwas needed as litter for stalled or foldedlivestock, to bulk out animal feed, tothatch buildings and to make mattress-es. The chaff would still have some seedmixed with it and was used as animal

feed and also to stuff beds. Threshingprovided useful foul weather labour forworkers and could be strung out fromAugust to May. Even after the spread of the threshing machine it was common for farmers to keepback a proportion of theharvest to avoid labour-ers standing idle inpoor weather.

Ear ly farming manu-als stress the importance ofmeasuring the yield from the farm toenable efficient management but also toensure labourers were not cheating theiremployer. All recommend having atrusted man to oversee the threshingand to measure how much seed comesfrom each sheaf. This would enable himto detect any theft on the part of thethreshers who may be taking seed homein their leather drink bottles, bags oreven stuffed down their boots!

One of the best written descriptions Ihave found about using the flail comesnot from a farming manual or even abook of rural reminiscences but from an18th-century poem:

Revolting PeasantsMany peasant uprisings occurred in theMiddle Ages with many differentcauses. When prompted to violence, forwhatever reason, the peasantry had toarm themselves with what was availableto them. Purpose-designed weaponrywas expensive and of little use in normaldaily life. In some states peasants wereforbidden to own certain weapons. Mosthad to resort to the tools they used intheir work. Some tools had more valueas weapons of war than others. Fellingaxes are effective weapons; scythes lookintimidating but are very difficult touse effectively in combat; and woodenpitchforks have more psychological thanpractical value.

The flail’s simplicity belies its effi-ciency as a weapon. It has a long reachand the hinge between the hand-staffand the swingle means that it can be

swungwith consider-

able speed andhence with considerable

kinetic energy. It will dentmetallic armour and break bones.Medieval farm workers were used toswinging a flail with both force andaccuracy. However the woodenswingle would soon splinter if struckagainst metal and the leather connect-ing it to the hand-staff could be easilycut leaving the user armed with a stick!Modifications to its construction couldbe quickly and easily made by theblacksmith to overcome these short-comings. The two sections could beconnected with chain and the joinedends of the hand-staff and swinglesheathed in iron. The swingle couldhave metal bands shrunk around it toprevent splintering and increase itsweight. A further simple modificationwas to add metal studs or spikes to theswingle.

In 1415 the Bohemian religiousreformer Jan Hus was burnt at the stake

for the heresy of allowing the laity to take wine at communion. Thisprovoked an uprising in Bohemiaagainst the new king, Sigismund ofHungary, in 1420. For the next 15 yearsthe Hussites defeated every Catholiccrusader sent against them. Theirfavoured close combat weapon was themodified flail.

Given time and resources the swinglecould be replaced in metal and, to con-centrate its force, made spherical. Addspikes and you have the military flail,the weapon of choice for every villainousknight in the cinematic Middle Ages. Ifwe stay in the cinema but move East tothe world of martial arts we are boundto encounter a weapon consisting of twosticks connected with a chain, ‘nunchaku’in Japanese. Revolting Far Easternpeasants adapted the rice flail as theirweapon.


➡ The Tale of the Flail

Divested of our Cloaths, with Flail in Hand,At proper Distance, Front to Front we stand:

And first the Threshal’s gently swung, to prove,Whether with just Exactness it will move:

That once secure, we swiftly whirl them round,From the strong Planks our Crab-tree Staves rebound,

And echoing Barns return the rattling Sound.Now in the Air our knotty weapons fly,

And now with equal Force descend from high;Down one, one up, so well they keep the Time,The Cyclops’ Hammers could not truer chime;”

(From The Thresher’s Labour by Stephen Duck, 1736)

The completedflail.


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13 MARCH–6 JUNE 2010

JOHNTUNNARD INNER SPACE TO OUTER SPACE

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Headline Sponsor of the Gallery

John Tunnard, In Many Moons, 1966, Private Collection

Local business supportsschool visits These are tough economic times and theMuseum is grateful to local business,Kontron UK Ltd, for providing funds tosupport schools that are struggling tofinance trips to the Museum. KontronUK Ltd is a global manufacturer andsupplier of embedded computing tech-nology for a wide variety of markets andapplications, employing 30 people at itsUK base in Chichester. During theautumn term, Kontron’s financialsupport meant that five schools wereable to visit the Museum, which wouldotherwise have found it impossible.Each school was extremely grateful forthe support and students sent thank youletters to the Kontron team.

Hands-on Tudor farming!The Museum has re-introduced hands-on farming activities within our Tudorfarming workshops. Students now havethe opportunity to use a flail andwinnowing basket helping them toappreciate traditional farming skills.Our ‘catchment area’ is growing – inDecember the Museum welcomed 12year 3 and 4 students from Appleford

Schoolas far away as Wilt-

shire. The students enjoyed playingTudor games and learning about Tudortextiles. Including hands-on activitiessignificantly improves children’s work-shop experience; we hope that manymore will benefit from them this year.Certainly, our volunteer team hascommented on how much they haveenjoyed delivering the activities.

“Thank you for an excellent day – thechildren are buzzing and we have enjoyedworking with all the photos we took,amazed at how much we did.” HelenBooth, Year 3 and 4 teacher,Appleford School, Wiltshire.

“Whilst carrying out Tudor farmingtours for school groups I was often asked– are we going to do any actual farm-ing? So I’m really pleased that we nowuse a flail and winnowing basket toenhance children’s experience of farm-ing activities in Tudor times.” AlanWood, Museum volunteer

Learninghow to hand thresh a crop ofwheat.

Hurdle makingVisiting the Museumwith the NationalAssociation ofMaster Thatchers forthe AutumnCountryside Showwas Rod Miller fromDorset, who hasthatched many of theMuseum’s buildingsover the years. Onthis occasion he wasdemonstrating wattlehurdle making,attracting manyvisitors fascinated tosee close up how thetraditional woodlandmaterial of hazel wasworked to make auseful and practicalobject.

The Museum’s Got Talent!The Museum’s Got Talent exhibitionheld in November last year filled uswith awe and pride as a collection of fineart and traditional crafts was mountedfor display in the Jerwood GridshellSpace. Pieces included patchwork andembroidery, wooden sculpture, furnitureand boxes, painting, photography, cal-ligraphy, drawing, crochet, lace, ceram-ics, blacksmithing, jewellery, miniaturefurniture and dolls’ houses. All the workwas created by volunteers and staff pre-pared to share their home-made itemswith us. The very high standard of workshould not have come as any surprise butproved to be breathtakingly professionaland created a buzz of excitement andinterest throughout the Museum.

News fromthe SchoolsServicesDepartment



The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa, Midhurst, dates in parts to1430AD and has been welcoming guests ever since. Still in evidence aretraditional bread ovens, antique stained-glass windows, inglenook fireplacesand a restored panel of wattle and daub.

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Conservation of Stone Surfaces and Detail David Odgers 15-18 March

Conservation and Repair of Stone Masonry Graham Abrey 22-25 March

Conservation of Brick, Terracotta and Flint Masonry Peter Minter 12-15 April

Conservation and Repair of Masonry Ruins Graham Abrey 26-29 April

Conservation and Repair of Plasters and Renders Graham Abrey 1-4 June

Managing Wildlife on Historic Monuments Alan Cathersides 7-10 June

Cleaning Masonry Buildings David Odgers 21-24 June

Conservation and Repair of Stone Masonry Graham Abrey 6-9 September

Conservation and Repair of Timber Richard Harris 20-23 September

The Structural Repair of Historic Buildings Ian Hume 4-7 October

Care and Conservation of Historic Floors Jane Fawcett 11-14 October

Conservation of Concrete Catherine Croft 18-21 October

Mortars for Repair and Conservation Colin Burns 1-4 November

T 01243 818219/811301 E [email protected] Dean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0QZ

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A development of the former English Heritage Masterclass Programme

BUILDING CONSERVATION

Recent AcquisitionsMilking BailIn August I was contacted by CharlieFriend, who now farms in Warlingham,Surrey, having moved there from Mid-hurst. Amongst the agricultural detritushe acquired on moving to Warlinghamthere was something he thought wemight be interested in – a milking bail.

I had not come across one before but Idiscovered that a milking bail was afamiliar thing to virtually everyone withlinks to the farming industry. Even thehaulier who eventually delivered it tothe Museum reminisced fondly abouthis father’s bail.

A milking bail is a movable milkingparlour towed by a tractor. They were incommon use on dairy farms from the1930s to the 1970s, having beendevised in the early 1920s by Arthur J.Hosier of Wexcombe in Wiltshire; ourexample bears his company trade name.Mr Hosier was a dairy farmer and devel-oped the idea of ‘open air dairying’ inresponse to increased competition in thedairy market from Denmark and NewZealand following World War I. Hisidea was to take the milking machinery

to the herd and milkthem in situ rather thanmove the cattle twice aday into a permanentparlour.

Commercial benefitswere gained by avoidingthe cost of building andmaintaining permanent cow-housingand the associated drainage. The ani-mals were milked in better sanitaryconditions and gained health benefitsfrom a wholly outdoor existence, whichimproved yield significantly as well asreducing the risk of tuberculosis.

Labour costs were also significantlylower with the open-air system. Withtraditional indoor milking all the feedconsumed during the process must bebrought to the buildings. The cattlemust be fed and cleaned, the stallscleaned out and the resulting manurecarted out to the fields for spreading.None of that is required with theoutdoor system.

Mr Hosier also proved that directlyfertilizing his fields by milking hiscattle outside significantly improved his pasture. Handling can affect thefertilizer value of manure, particularly

its nitrogen content, and the use of themilking bail reduces these losses.

The bail offered to us by CharlieFriend was in good condition. Neigh-bours recalled it being on the farm fromthe mid 1930s and unusually, it hadbeen housed inside one of the barns formost of its life. Much of its actual milk-ing equipment such as the pipes andcontainers is missing, but the mainstructure shows how it operated. Somerepair and consolidation is required, andits permanent home will be at the endof the Vehicle & Implement Gallery.


Collections Team Update

OutreachSince the Collections moved to theirnew home in the Downland Gridshell in2002 access to them has been growingyear on year, not only for those who jointhe daily Gridshell tour but alsothrough our loans policy. Each year wehave lent more items to more and morerecipients, and this expansion in the use of our Collections benefits a wideraudience, very often those who wouldnot normally visit the Museum.

Our policy is to lend objects wherethey will provide a specific benefit interms of general education, informationabout the Museum or our region, infor-mation about the artefacts themselves,or contribute towards the greater under-standing of a wider subject theme.

We apply this policy in an inclusiverather than exclusive way and it enablesus to provide a positive response to themajority of requests we receive.

Those requests that have to be refusedare usually to borrow items simply toprovide props for a play or display,where they give only a very basic visualbenefit.

Many people seem very surprisedwhen we agree to their requests to bor-row collection items, wrongly assumingthat only other museums are able toborrow, but this is certainly not the case

as the following selection of recipientsover the past few years demonstrates. Soif you want to borrow items from ourCollections please do not hesitate tocontact us.

Mount Edgcumbe House, PlymouthThe long-term loan of a range ofwheelwrighting items for one of theirpermanent displays.

Pulborough Harvest FestivalSince 2007 we have loaned a range of objects annually to the town ofPulborough to help them celebratetheir Harvest Festival.

West Dean School & BoxgroveSchoolLoaned a bicycle and tricycle to theseschools for specific projects.

Emsworth Baptist ChurchA range of agricultural items for the‘On the Farm’ reminiscence project.

Weed & Wild Flower Festival, BignorMany items for a variety of displaysand shows.

Bodiam CastleProvided the long-term loan of ahandcart for their permanent displays.

Mystery/unusual objects

Donated by Mr Fathers of Odiham inHampshire, this unusual box seemsto be a piece of fire or range furni-ture, possibly made to hold tinder,although its design is extremely odd.If opened with the looped handle atthe top, its contents would fall out; ifopened ‘upside down’ the contentswould also fall out as the box lid hasunattached inner and outer parts toit. Perhaps a reader can throw somelight on this object?


Weald & Downland Open Air MuseumSingleton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0EU

Museum office Tel: 01243 811363 Fax: 01243 811475Information line: 01243 811348 E-mail: [email protected]: www.wealddown.co.ukFriends membership Tel: 01243 811893Museum Director: Richard Harris MA AADipMagazine Editor: Diana ZeunerAdvertising: Julie Aalen Tel: 01243 811010Registered as a charity No. 306338 ISSN 0953 6051

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Singleton, Chichester, W Sussex PO18 0EUTelephone 01243 811348 www.wealddown.co.uk

WEALD & DOWNLANDO P E N A I R M U S E U M

DirectionsBy car: Just off A286 Chichester to Midhurst road at Singleton village.

By bus: No 60 from Chichester or Midhurst. 20% entry discount onpresentation of StagecoachCoastline bus ticket, valid on day of purchase only.

By rail: Chichester 7 miles, Haslemere 15 miles.

The Museum is open throughoutthe yearOpening times: Daily until 23 December. Daily for A SussexChristmas December 26 – 1 January 2011. Opening times 10.30 – 6pm BST, 10.30 – 4pm rest of the year.

AdmissionAdults £9.00, over 60s £8.15, children £4.80, family £24.75(2+3), under 5s free. Call 01243 811363 for details of grouprates and disabled access. Free car and coach parking, dogs onleads welcome, lakeside café, picnic areas, gift and bookshop.

Celebrate Spring at theMuseum!

The season kicks off with Open House on MotheringSunday on 14 March, when entry is at the special priceof £2 for everyone and all mothers and grandmothersreceive our traditional complementary bunch ofdaffodils. Easter Sunday and Monday are on 4/5 Aprilwhen the Museum will be offering a range of activitiesand Easter celebrations for all the family, including abonnet competition and parade on Monday. This is adelightful time to visit, with Spring in the air, newbornlambs and horses at work on seasonal tasks. Then on2/3 May the Museum’s popular Food & Farming Fairwill take place, with around 80 stands offering awonderful choice of produce, including wines, sauces,ciders and beers, local vegetables and fruit, meats,cheeses, ice cream, cakes and confectionary.

Country paintingsexhibitionRenowned artist Gordon Rushmer,who teaches the Museum’sdrawing and painting courses, isexhibiting a range of his countrywatercolours in the Museum’sCrawley Hall on 11-16 May.Gordon, whose association withthe Museum goes back manyyears, has work in the collections of Her Majesty TheQueen, the House of Lords and the Royal Marines.Usual Museum admission prices apply.

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Events and Courses 2010 - Weald and Downland · Spring 2010 Events and Courses 2010 WEALD & DOWNLAND ... Effie’s guidance and tuition and ... be awarded to the category winners