Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. This Barge Ware teapot has a plaque reading WILLIAM & ELIZ BENNETT / CHRISTMAS 1893. Elizabeth Bennett owned one of the first antique shops in Devizes. www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/item-record/...

"Christmas" (1929) Robin Tanner (1904–1988) British Etcher, draughtsman, painter in watercolour, teacher and writer, born in Bristol, but spent most of his life in northwest Wiltshire, which was the main subject of his work. Chippenham Museum #Art

Join us for our Twelfth Night celebration! With re-enactors, we’ll explore Chippenham’s Royal Saxon past and Alfred’s story. Discover the Twelfth Night cake secret, who the Lord of Misrule was, and learn Jane Austen’s favorite party game. 📅 Saturday 10 January ⏰ 10.30am - 3.30pm 🎟️ Free, drop-in

Stonehenge by John Piper. One of the inspirations for Rose Ferraby, artist and archaeologist in her Downland exhibition on now. www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/item-record/...

Glad that you enjoyed the talk - Amanda is the 'go to' person on such things. To find out a bit more about Maud - see this 2-part blog by Maddie Watson + references. generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk/history/2024...

This #findsfriday we have a miniature copper alloy axe head fitted into a red deer antler handle for use as a hand tool. Found in Snail Down (XXII), Wiltshire You can search more of our collections here at: www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/search-the-c...

For #HillfortsWednesday a stormy view of the ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort of Barbury Castle in Wiltshire courtesy of Anguskirk.

And some people say that the museum on the end of your journey isn't too shabby ...

A BlueSky welcome to Oxfordshire Museums Service!

GWR Cap – STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway: https://giftshop.micro.blog/2025/12/14/gwr-cap-steam-museum-of.html

...technically, the site has been known for many more than 100 years, and it didn't become Woodhenge until some time after Insall first saw it 4 days before the photo whose centenary it was the other day, which wasn't the one showing the internal posts.. (5/5) #StandingStoneSunday #PedantSunday

One of the many archaeologists who visited the site before Insall was OGS Crawford. Here's the border of his copy of the Ordnance Survey map sheet for the area (in @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social ) stating that it was 88 paces across on 13 September 1923. The name change was noted later. So... (4/5)

Maud Cunnington et al, and it was during this work that 'Dough Cover' became 'Woodhenge'. Insall's 1925 photo wasn't the first aerial photo of the site - for example, this extract is from an RAF vertical taken 11 July 1921. The larger roundish thing is Durrington Walls, with Dough Cover below. 3/5

It was believed to be some form of round barrow - this is what Insall was told when he enquired about it, having first spotted it on Dec 12. He kept an eye on it, and managed to photograph the cropmarks of the internal post settings on 30 June 1926. These prompted the excavations by... (2/5)

The Woodhenge centenary has been getting some attention this week, but exactly what is it the centenary of? Well - on 16 December 1925, Sqdn Ldr GIlbert Insall VC took this photo from his Sopwith Snipe. It shows the soilmarks of a site known (for a long time) to archaeologists as 'Dough Cover'. 1/5

A Roman roof tile from Minety #Wiltshire stamped with TPF Possibly TEGVLARIA PVBLICA FECERVNT (made by the public tile works) This in turn could suggest civic production for the nearby town of CORINIVM (Cirencester) 📷 Dec 2025 in the excellent @athelstanmuseum.bsky.social Malmesbury #FindsFriday

To celebrate the centenary of Woodhenge, this #findsfriday we thought we would share something from the site! This necked beaker, decorated with incised lines and zigzags was found from circle 1, Woodhenge, by Mrs M E Cunnington and Mr B H Cunnington, 1926-8. Now in our Prehistory Galleries!

This unassuming hand-forged wrought-iron drain grate in Devizes is a tiny masterpiece of Georgian/Victorian street furniture. Quietly doing its job for 200+ years. It deserves to be listed on the Local Heritage List.

Now on the BBC! Though there is slightly more to the project than a cafe though ... Think we have seen 'ace cafe with a museum attached' somewhere else. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

😊

Devizes Assize Court saved and new home for Wiltshire Museum secured. Delighted to announce that The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded us funding to transform the derelict Assize Court building into a spectacular new home for the Museum. www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/assizes/

This December is the 100 Year Anniversary since the discovery of Woodhenge! These antler picks were used to build the Woodhenge Monument, found in an excavation by Maud Cunnington within the years immediately after.

​Martinsell Hill, Wiltshire. The stunning eastern scarp, dropping 130m down from the 32-acre Iron Age hillfort. You can clearly see the "pit holes" marking the hillside. Incredible landscape!

ICYMI

Downland: Art and the Archaeological imagination in Wiltshire. Rose Ferraby talks about her exhibition at the Museum and the inspiration that she found in our collections, the Wiltshire landscapes and fellow artists. Open Tues - Sat 10-4. youtube.com/shorts/Ib2rH...

Thanks to Lucy Marder for a really useful (and fun) governance training day last week. It was great to have so many Wessex Museums trustees together in one place, with the opportunity for some lunchtime networking as well.

Thrilled to be featured in last weekend’s The Telegraph — huge thanks to journalist Nick Trend for the kind recommendation. Nick explored the artistic rivalry of JMW Turner and John Constable. We’re privileged to have two Turners on display: Distant View from Old Sarum and Stonehenge.

I bought this hand coloured copy of the 18th century engraving of Cherhill White Horse some time back. It was inexpensive because someone started recolouring it in the 60s judging by the paint applied to the traveller's coat left.

Maud Cunnington new photos www.sarsen.org/2025/11/maud...

Barbury Castle, bisected by The Ridgeway National Trail. This was taken back in early summer and is looking South West towards Milk and Tan Hills in #Wiltshire

This #findsfriday we have an ear pendant made from a boar's tusk, which was found with a small beaker of the Wessex / Middle Rhine type found in Grave 10 of the Wilsford Barrow Groups. Excavated by Mrs E Proudfoot on behalf of the Ministry of Works in 1960.

An aerial photo of Liddington hillfort in our collectons inspired artist and archaeologist Rose Ferraby to create two prints now in our exhibition - Liddington in Winter / Summer. Different layers of paint in the print created different effects. #HillfortsWednesday

Finds on display in the newly reopened @PooleMuseum

New article in IA69 by Vince Gaffney and colleagues on the Neolithic pit structure at #Durrington Walls Henge includes new #OSL dates and #sedaDNA environmental studies. Results indicate a cohesive pit structure at a massive scale. doi.org/10.11141/ia....

Bush Barrow and the Stonehenge landscape in 1919

@clonehenge.bsky.social Taken by our colleague Amy.

Festival of Lights at Longleat. One for @clonehenge.bsky.social to enjoy.

Congratulations!

Thanks to @bearsgetcrafty.bsky.social for today's #FindsFriday. Pendant from our display of the 'Lady from 'Across the Sea' burial dating to around 1,800BC. Other objects in the burial include gold and amber earrings - amber brought from the Baltic.

Also work by John Piper and others. All beautiful and definitely worth making an effort to see.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the exhibition!

Woodhenge was discovered in Dec 1925. Delighted to see my article about this in @CurrentArchaeo’s December issue - fittingly for the 100th anniversary of this state monument. 🏺https://the-past.com/feature/100-years-of-woodhenge-tracing-an-archaeological-icon-from-discovery-to-new-dating-evidence/

Discover the story of Josiah Wedgwood, the visionary potter who revolutionised ceramics in Georgian Britain and pushed radical ideas in both politics and design. Join V&A Director Tristram Hunt as he brings Wedgwood’s energy, ambition, and groundbreaking influence to life in this compelling talk.

Tea Towel – Lydiard House Museum: https://giftshop.micro.blog/2025/11/16/tea-towel-lydiard-house-museum.html

What else could it be?

We had a very special visitor today! 🐾 Clover, a beautiful 13-month-old Golden Retriever/Labrador, came to the museum with her trainer Geraldine. Clover is part of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Sponsor a Puppy scheme – check out their website to learn more. 🦮

Haven't posted much about OGS Crawford for a while, so here's something from Crawford's WW1 days. He saw out the war as a PoW in Holzminden alongside the likes of James Whale, director of two of my all-time favourites "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House". Sadly, OGSC never mentioned...

Yesterday we welcomed a team from NHK (Japan's biggest broadcaster) interviewing @public-history.bsky.social about the amazing story of the Wiltshire Thatcher and the cover of Led Zeppelin IV (with Stairway to Heaven!). Broadcast in the New Year. More at www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news-article...