have you tried Volunteer Mary Crane’s Pitt-Rivers quiz yet? Here are the answers: Born in Yorkshire. His full rank at the end of his career was Lieutenant General. He fought in the Crimea. His first museum was in Bethnal Green, London. The famous Toy Museum is in Bethnal Green today. I wonder if it is in the same building? His later Museum was at Farnham, in Dorset .There is a well-known pub there today, called – The Museum. He inherited the Rushmore Estate, in the heart of Cranborne Chase, in 1880. The current Pitt-Rivers Museum is in Oxford. Pitt-Rivers DID use photography as part of his re ..read more

This blog has, in the past, included a number of items sent in by Volunteers who have enjoyed, and written about, places of historical interest visited on days out, or from further afield. This one is from Research Volunteer Dr Megan Fyfe. How to build a medieval castle from scratch: experimental archaeology in rural France. Deep in the woods of northern Burgundy, Guedelon Castle is a large-scale long-term project in experimental archaeology which only uses techniques, tools and materials available in the 13th century – with the complication of modern health and safety rules and a particularl ..read more

In which county was Pitt-Rivers born? What was his full rank on leaving the army? Which war did he fight in? Where was his first museum? Where was his later museum? What estate did he inherit? In which city is the present Pitt-Rivers museum? Amongst his methods of recording excavations, Pitt-Rivers used photography. True or false? 9. Complete the names of these sites which he excavated: W–K–B–Y; R–H–L–; W–D–C–T-; W– B–R–; W–D–T– 10. Anagrams of words/places associated with Pitt-Rivers. What are they? WOES TODAY; SOUR HERM; FAN HARM; AL GREEN Mary assures me that all the answers are in the m ..read more

Comment, from a reader called ‘Steve’, on HISTORY OF AN OLD CAR FP37 by Volunteer Alan Clarke “My father Stephen Cantor owned this car in the early 1960’s. He may have purchased it from his friend Louis Holland who was a dealer in antiques etc. Louis Holland also had a collection of old fairground organs up until the early 1980’s. My father completed the London to Brighton run with FP37 in the early 1960’s but he sold the car just before I was born in 1967. My brother has a collection of photographs showing the car on the Brighton run.” Thank you Steve. It is amazing how many people reme ..read more

New research claims Stonehenge stones not transported from Wales (Salisbury Journal) By Joshua Truksa @TruksaJoshua The bluestone monoliths incorporated into Stonehenge did not come from a “giant lost circle” at Waun Mawn in West Wales, according to a new research paper *published in the academic journal The Holocene. Dr Brian John, a retired geography lecturer from Durham University, examined the evidence associated with the claim that, around 5,000 years ago, scores of bluestones were incorporated into a massive stone setting on a moorland hillside in the Preseli mountains. H ..read more

Evening Talk: Pilgrimage Past & Present – Talk by Dawn Champion Thursday, 18th April   In a few weeks, the museum will be hosting Dawn Champion to deliver her talk inspired by Salisbury Museum’s pilgrim badge collection, ‘Pilgrimage Past and Present’ in the museum Hall.   We would very much appreciate some volunteer help with stewarding this event. If you would like to help, even if you have not done so in this capacity before, please email. There will be time before the event for you to become familiar with access to the Hall before doors open to the public and a briefing w ..read more

Roger Collins suggests that the precise setting for the film of World War One flooding in a January blog, ‘Nothing new in this part of the world’ is Water Street, Bulford village. An appropriate name! Thank you Roger. Jean Pook has responded to Dr Megan Fyfe’s recent item on the smashing of church windows with “Very interesting article, keep them coming. Thank you.” Thanks for reading, Jean. Cliff Leach writes about our piece on proverbs: “In the spirit of parody, I like one from the inimitable Monty Python’s Flying Circus: ‘..a nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat…’ However, more to the po ..read more

Volunteer Linda Robson writes… Are you interested in doing research at home, at your own pace? Wiltshire OPC (Online Parish Clerks) needs your help. No qualifications needed, just a passion for history and access to a computer to send in your research template. You ‘adopt’ a village/town – there are 213 that need work – just contact wiltshire-opc.org.uk.   To whet your appetite, I have found so much out from being involved and recently I added The Close to my list to research. I am going round every house in The Close and looking for the interesting people that lived or visited there, not ..read more

Last week… This week… Have fun with the slider! A very smart new lift… And the cafe, with a new fresh look… And thank you to these two visitors, enjoying tea and happy to be included in the photo ..read more

Thursday this week saw a full house for Dr Peter Guest’s talk ‘New Fieldwork at Hinton St Mary, Dorset: The Mosaic in Context’. The new lecture room was warm and welcoming, the new lift fully in action. the talk excellent. The extraordinary mosaic was found by chance when a young man was sent by his employer to dig a hole outside a blacksmith’s in Hinton St Mary in 1963. Small coloured tiles – tesserae – began to appear! In June of last year, Peter wrote this on his website: “This is the 3rd and final excavation season of The British Museum’s research project to find out more about the famous ..read more