During the penultimate day of their residency at Gold Hill Museum, which coincided with the Sunday of Gold Hill Fair, the Tibetan monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery attracted a record number of visitors. 617 adults and 84 children came to view the finishing touches being put to the Mandala, an intricate representation of a palace with gardens and four gates aligned to the cardinal points of the compass. The design was created from memory using hollow pipes to vibrate grains of brightly coloured powdered marble into place. On the final morning to the accompaniment of chanted prayers and horn playing the Mandala was blessed and then swept up with some of the particles being deposited in the Museum Garden.

Each day of the season at Gold Hill Museum six volunteer stewards are needed to extend a warm welcome to our many visitors: on Saturday 18 June 100 adults and 12 children, followed by 100 adults and 18 children on Sunday 19 June. Our visitors, from all over the world, tend to be appreciative and many have interesting stories of their own to tell.

If you think that you could spare two hours a week, either in a regular slot or filling in as required, why not drop into Saturday’s Open Day in the Garden Room between 11.00a.m. and 3.00p.m. and meet some of our existing stewards? Over a glass of wine or a cup of tea or coffee they will be pleased to share with you the benefits of being a Gold Hill Museum steward.

 

On 14 June eighteen members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society enjoyed a privilege visit to The Salisbury Museum organised by Lavender Buckland. Curator Jane Ellis-Schon explained the rationale behind her design of the state-of-the-art archaeological display in the new Wessex Gallery. Chronology runs backwards from Norman Old Sarum to the Old Stone Age, via highlights such as the Saxon Warminster Jewel and the gold hair braids of the Late Neolithic Amesbury Archer. The sun of the midwinter solstice peeps between the stones of a projected image of Stonehenge as a whole day, and several birds, pass in twenty minutes. It would have been possible to spend a whole day among these marvels, but time had to be found for the British Museum’s travelling exhibition “Writing for Eternity: Decoding Ancient Egypt”, introduced by Joyce Paesen, and cake.

Recent entries in our Visitors’ Book:

23 April 2016  A really fascinating place! Thank you. And we especially liked the basket of traditional toys, listening to the serpent and seeing the cat mummy. All the exhibits are so well researched and full of facts. Thanks too to the volunteers for being so welcoming.  (A family from Oxford)

05 May 2016  I rarely miss an opportunity to visit a museum at home or abroad, but never remember being so impressed by a museum’s contents and presentation as here – may your volunteers long continue to flourish. (A visitor from Basingstoke, Hampshire)

22 May 2016  Fantastic – well done to all involved. Love the opportunities for children to dress up or touch things. (Anonymous)

22 May 2016  How charming and caring to visit a small museum that is kept fresh and dust-free and alive. Wonderful. (A couple from Gloucester)

Gold Hill Museum is open every day, including Bank Holidays and Sundays, 10.30 to 4.30 until 31 October

 

 

As part of the Shaftesbury Food and Drink Festival on Sunday 15 May, Gold Hill Museum volunteers will be turning the clock back to the Middle Ages. In period dress they will be offering visitors, especially accompanied children, sample tastings from the dinner table of seven hundred years ago. So why not follow the cheese races up Gold Hill with a visit to the Museum’s Garden Room and turn your hand to making medieval bread and salads, and other crafts? The event runs from 1 to 3 p.m. and is free, though donations towards the cost of ingredients will be most welcome.