RUNNYMEDE BOROUGH MUSEUM SERVICE

MUSEUM NEWS

NUMBER 34 SUMMER 2012

MUSEUM STAFF Curator: Emma Warren Assistant Curator & Education Officer Heidi Dawley Keeper of Costume: Veronica Isaac Museum Assistants (p/t): Margaret Hunt Rosemary Christian Doris Neville-Davies Museum Cleaner (p/t): Lorrie Bland

Opening Hours: Tuesday - Friday 12.30pm - 4.30pm Saturday 11am - 4pm ADMISSION FREE

Chertsey Museum The Cedars 33 Windsor Street Chertsey Surrey KT16 8AT Tel: 01932 565764 Fax: 01932 571118 Email: enquiries@chertseymuseum.org.uk www.chertseymuseum.org.uk

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A large print version of the newsletter is available on request

CURATOR’S UPDATE As ever the museum has been a hive of activity over the last few months. We have said goodbye to some old faces and hello to new ones! Sally Turner went on maternity leave in March and shortly afterwards Jessica Marie was born. Jessica has become our youngest ever visitor at just 4 days old when she dragged her mum in to see us! We all send Sally, Chris and Jessica our very best wishes.

We also welcome Heidi Dawley who has joined the team as Assistant Curator and Education Officer in Sally’s absence. Heidi has worked with the museum over the last 3 years as one of our education casuals, going out in to schools and delivering talks on our behalf. She has also run our Museum Monkeys under 5s club so we know she is a safe pair of hands! We are also very pleased that Veronica Isaac has stayed on as Keeper of Costume, and will be with us until the Autumn. Veronica

joined us in January last year when Grace Evans went on maternity leave, and will continue in the role until Grace returns from extended leave in October or November. This means that Veronica will be around to complete the next Olive Matthews costume exhibition focusing on the 1930s, and to arrange a few fashion events as well as a trip to Smallhythe Place. The museum has also been busy installing new exhibitions on St. Peter’s Hospital and the royals who have influenced the Borough, and have lined up a packed programme of events. As well as the usual monthly events and children’s activities we are gearing ourselves up for Black Cherry Fair on 14th July. It is traditionally our busiest day of the year, and we rely on a little help from our Friends! So, if you’re a brilliant baker or would just like to help out on the day please complete the form enclosed and volunteer.

Baby Jessica with Mum

Heidi Dawley

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The Trench Project The eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted a bit of digging going on across the road from the museum on Abbeyfields. For many months now the Friends Committee has been fundraising for an archaeological trench for the museum. As our garden is too small for this, Runnymede Borough Council’s parks department kindly agreed to let us use the field. Digging started at 7.30am on 21st February, and we intend to run our first schools archaeology session at the beginning of the new school year. The trench will provide school children with the opportunity to find out first hand how we learn about the past through archaeology. The trench, filled with sand, has replica objects buried in it at different depths enabling the children to dig through the layers of history! Whilst the contractor was busy digging away, by hand, an archaeologist watched on in case any real finds were uncovered. Alas, little more than a few fragments of Victorian pot were discovered!

This project has been supported by Runnymede Borough Council, English Heritage and the Surrey Archaeological Unit, and was funded through The Friends with grants from BAA, Chertsey Combined Charities, the Rowan Bentall Charitable Trust, Cllr Chris Norman and Surrey Museums Consultative Committee.

Quite fancy Quilting?! Why should the children have all the fun at our craft events?! Our Fun With Fabric adult craft sessions have proved to be very popular, and the results of the monthly meetings are a testament to Benta Hinkley’s enthusiasm and guidance. This autumn Benta will be running a beginners’ patchwork weekend. During the two day course participants will learn how to design and create a hand-sewn patchwork quilt using a fleece blanket and scraps of material. Participants can book for either

13th & 14th October, or for those who can’t spare a whole weekend away from the family, 13th October & 4th November. Materials will be provided, but if you have a particular colour scheme in mind you are welcome to bring your own! We’ll be posting booking information closer to the event, so keep the date free!

Please help us make your subscriptions go further

CHERTSEY MUSEUM NEWS PAGE 3 SUMMER 2012

Registered Charity No 1075200

The Friends are a support group formed in 1994 to foster interest in Chertsey Museum and to provide the Curators with practical help. Members enjoy special viewings of new exhibitions, social events,

"behind the scenes" visits and other events at the Museum.

THE FRIENDS OF CHERTSEY MUSEUM

Dear Friends, I hope you all enjoyed your visit to the Thomas Holloway exhibition, and are planning to visit the two new ones on St. Peter’s Hospital and Royal Runnymede. Black Cherry Fair, on Saturday 14th July, is timed to come after the Diamond Jubilee and the European Cup, and before the Olympics and Paralympics. At the museum on the day we will be offering refreshments as usual, with live music entertainment from 2pm. We would like help with the former—unless of course you should be stewarding at other events! There are still a few places left on the coach to the National Trust house at Smallhythe Place, Tenterden, Kent to see the home of the Victorian actress, Ellen Terry. We are being given a tour of the house which contains her fascinating theatrical collection, as well as the gardens and the house’s shipbuilding heritage. Do come and join us! And finally, I am very pleased to announce that our very own Richard Mason, museum volunteer and Treasurer for The Friends has been appointed a trustee of the Olive Matthews Collection—helping to further cement relations between us and the trust. Congratulations Richard!

Derek Weston Chairman

With the recent increase in postage costs we are keen to find alternative ways of keeping you informed about what is happening at Chertsey Museum. Printing and distributing three copies of the newsletter a year costs in the region of £5.50 per person per annum. This is money that could be used to further the aims of the museum and help support its activities and projects. Therefore, if you have an email address and would like to receive future information electronically, please email us at friends@chertseymuseum.org.uk and we will ensure that you receive regular e-newsletters —helping to cut costs and continue to help Chertsey Museum. You can also join us on Facebook where you can upload your photos of our events and keep in touch with the latest goings-on!

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NEW ACQUISITIONS

FASHION UPDATE

Chertsey Museum has continued to add to its local history collection too. In recent months we have acquired a number of interesting objects, some of which are already on display! The largest group of items relate to our local hospital, and it was the knowledge that these items would be coming our way that inspired this year’s exhibition in the Discovery Zone gallery, From Manor House to Medicine - the history of St. Peter’s Hospital. If you haven’t already seen it, do pop along to find about the fascinating past of this local amenity.

The 17th April this year marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of Olive Matthews. As you are all aware, Olive amassed a wonderful collection of ‘historic’ costume and accessories during her lifetime, which is now cared for by Chertsey Museum and the Olive Matthews Collection Trust (OMT).

To mark this auspicious occasion, the OMT purchased two fabulous garments to ensure the collection continues to grow and maintain its standing as one of the finest costume collections in the country.

The first is a black velvet evening jacket, hand stencilled in gold, by the Spanish fashion designer, Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949). This sumptuous piece, which dates from the mid to late 1930s, will be on display later this year in the new costume exhibition. The second garment is a pretty navy blue bathing suit dating from circa 1905-1915. Visitors will have to wait a little longer to see this on display as it will be featured in the 2013 costume exhibition about the Edwardian era.

swimming costume Detail of Fortuny jacket

We have also been given a large number of photographs from the Surrey Herald, uncovered during a bit of a clear-out! Unfortunately for us, there was no further information with them and so we are busy trying to identify the locations so that they can be catalogued! These photos will soon be available in our Research Room along with the rest of our archives. Have you ever looked at the clock patterns displayed on the side of the museum building and wondered how they were used? Well, wonder no more as we have been given a DVD of a cine film taken of Mr. Michael Harrison as he used them to make the clock faces for Yorkville Fire Station in Toronto, Canada in 1977. We hope to have a public viewing of this DVD later in the year.