| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Gateway Project bid submitted to Heritage Lottery Fund / Following many months of planning and development the museum submitted its application for |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Keeping our standards high - how we become "Accredited" / The museum has been busy this year preparing its submission to continue its Accreditation - the national quality standard for museums throughout the UK. The award of Accreditation demonstrates that a museum has met the highest standards in quality and performance. The museum has been Accredited for some years but periodically the standard is updated to reflect changes in museum operation and visitors/ expectations, and to encourage sustainability. The Accreditation Scheme enables specific benefits such as: Performance, Profile, People, Partnerships, Planning and Patronage. The timing of the Accreditation submission, October 2014, is timely given the major Gateway Project which will provide the museum with improved services and facilities but also an opportunity to re-assess how the museum presents itself to the public and what aspects and activities we wish to focus on. The Accreditation documents will provide an outline plan for our operation of t \\ |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | From the chairman / The Gateway Project application has been submitted to the Heritage Lottery fund and we are awaiting their final decision in November. The design of the new buildings continues to evolve and discussions are underway with the South Downs National Park planning team. A planning application and decision will follow in due course. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Saxon Hall to grow on the museum site / The museum is to build a replica Saxon hall based on archaeological excavations at Steyning, West Sussex. The building will be constructed in the museum's woodlands, directly above Tindalls Cottage on the site of the former woodland exhibition. Two Saxon structures were on display in the early years of the museum, a small sunken weaver's hut and posts marking the outline of a Saxon hall. Much academic work on the Saxon period has taken place at a national level over the last 20 years. The building we have chosen to reconstruct is from the excavation led by Dr Mark Gardiner in 1988/89 at Market Field in Steyning, West sussex. Dr Gardiner has been generous with his time, helping us to understand the site and its context. The methods of timber framing in this period differ substantially to later methods seen in our current historic building exhibits, and will form an interesting contrast. Planning permission was received in August and was followed by the in-house con \\ |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Friends administration passes to the museum / At the end of this year the administration of the Friends of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum will pass over to the museum itself, providing cost benefits and streamling fundraising activity. No difference will be noticed by Friends as all their current membership privileges will remain the same - including free entry at all times. The Chairman of the Friends, Sarah Gasdagli said: "I would like to thank all our members for your support of the various fund-raising events. It has been aprivilege to serve the Friends and I would like to record my great thanks to all who have served on the present committee and to past members, and also to Lisa Neville, Membership Secretary, who has worked for the Friends for many years" |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Special Tudor Monastery Farm tours / Following the BBC2 Tudor Monastery Farm series broadcast in autumn last year the museum added a tour to its Walks and Talks programme, allowing visitors to see the locations used and learn more about filming tricks of the trade. Julie Aalen, who co-ordinated the seven months of filming, and volunteer Vic Constable who appeared in every episode led the walks and visitors were guided around the principal filming locations, enjuoying anecdotes such as the sheep washing escapade in the lower lake. The tours ended in Winkhurst tudor Kitchen, meeing the cooks and tasting Tudor sweetmeats prepared on the griddle over the fire. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Exploring Shepherding and Shepherds' huts / In April the museum staged an unusual weekend dedicated to the skills, traditions and culture of the downlands shepherds. David Morris signed copies of his book Shepherds' Huts and Living Vans and the renowned Copper family sang Sussex folk and shepherding songs. Next year's event is on 11th and 12th April. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Historic Agricultural buildings offered to the museum / This autumn a historic barn and a stable are to join the museum's buildings collection. A late 18th century three-bay barn and an early 19th century two-bay stable, two formerly listed timber frames, are from May Day Farm, Burgess Hill and are in the way of the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury by-pass scheme. Work on the dismantling will take place throughout the autumn. The dismantling, repair and re-erection costs will be funded through the contractor, Balfour Beatty, as part of mitigating works. They will contribute a valuable addition to the Georgian/Regency farm buildings that the musuem currently has either on site or in store. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Green fingers - down the ages / Visitors to the Historic Gardens Weekend enjoy a rare glimpse into the gardens of ordinary people across the centuries, from the 16th to the 19th. The museum's six period gardens provide curtilages for many of the historic homes, representing as accurately as possible the period of each house. The museum's new historic gardens film was showing in the hall from Crawley. An interactive display and demonstration of the uses of our garden plants, both medicinal and culinary. The weekend will be repeated next year on 3rd to 5th July. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Shakespeare's World and Works / In March this year we took part in the first annual Shakespeare week and in 2015 we are again working with Chichester Festival Theatre. Offering a similar experience enabling pupils to explore Shakespeare's world. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Contacting the Friends / Information for members on who to contact regarding queries etc |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | The archaeology of Hangleton's hearth / The people that lived in the building from Hangleton also discarded the contents of their kitchen bin wyen quitting their home almost 700 years ago. Their "rubbish" lay undisturbed until its discovery between 1952 and 1954 during the excavations of Eric Holden and Gillian Hurst. Everything was meticulously recorded within their report. Cow, pig, sheep, goose and rabbit bones were found hearthside. Among their diet as ox (although mature beasts only were consumed as they were used for ploughing until unable to work), mutton, pork, goose, rabbit, snails (edible common garden snails), shellfish such as oyster, mussels, cockles and scallops, along with a few winkles and whelks, and herring. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Outreach visit to schools / The schools services team has undertaken a number of outreach visits this Autumn term. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Transport grants for school visits / The museum has the support of local publishing company John Wiley & Sons who have contributed to our 2014 coach fund. This is designed to help school groups who are finding the costs of transport to the museum a challenge. We are looking for other organisation to continue this support in 2015. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | History Gang / History Gang have taken part in a range of activities including blacksmithing, lino printing and working on a wood project to dancing, photograph and poetry. Summer camp went well. Now enrolling for next year. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Arts Award Development Hub / Working in partnership with five other local organisations (Chichester Cathedral, Chichester Festival Theatre, Fishbourne Roman Palace, The Novium and Pallant House Gallery) the museum has been successful in a bid to develop an Arts Award in our area. Keen to explore how and Arts Aware can work within a heritage environment to inspire young people.Aims are for young people to grow their arts and leadership talents and this can be achieved at five levels with four accredited qualification and an introductory award. Arts award is managed by Trinity College London in Assocation with Arts Council England working with 10 regional bridge organisations. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | The nine herbs charm! / Courses being run for schools. Finger loop braiding, trying on historical outfit, game of skill & chance in farming and the nine herbs charm are activities being run. Historical life wrokshops for pupils. From September we have been delivering a new series of workshops along with exisiting ones which respond to the curriculum changes that come in. Key stage 2 pupils attend courses which include clothing, food, health and medicine, plus a child's life and farming. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Redvins yard / News of repairs on the open-fronted cattle shed from Goodwood which forms the main part of the yard complex behind the Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen. Repairs to Weatherboard. This kind of repair not unsusal as the Waterfield Stable received the same treatment in 2012. However the timber inolved is more unsual here. Weatherboards ususally formed from Elm or Oak. However in this instance the boards are beech. Not sure why Beech was used but as this was on the original building when dismantled in 1986 we are replacing like for like. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | In Brief: Exhibitions. / Museum staged two interesting exhibitions this year. West sussex Record Office used the hall from Crawley to display work from a unique collection of phtographs by David Johnston. They depicted the county's rural scenery, flora and farm buildlings and were taken over many years. David was present to talk to visitiors during the two weeks which were visited by nearly 1,500 people including the Lord Mayor of London. Also 14 fine art students from West Dean College staged Collective; an exhibition reacting to the unque space of the Jerweood Gridshell. Their work ranged over a variety of media. |
| 2014/10 | Magazine / Autumn 2014 | Lord Mayor of London's Visit / The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Fiona Woolf CBE visited the museum in July at the invitation of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers whose museum was established in Court Barn at the museum in the early 1980s. Alderman Woolf is only the second lady to be elected to the office. She was given a tour of the museum by the Director including a visit to Court Barn where Brighton City College was demonstrating lead casting. In the Gridshell 120 guests enjoyed a buffet lunch during which the Master of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers Nick Gale presented the Lord Mayor with a quodra-pod lead planter which was made in Court Barn and bears her coat of arms. |
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