Wessex Gallery of Archaeology, Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire
Object-rich displays with clear and concise interpretation make this new archaeology gallery a triumph, writes Matt Williams
The county of Wiltshire is rightly famed for its rich archaeological heritage, with Stonehenge being the first association in many people’s minds.
But while this iconic monument is one of Europe’s most important prehistoric sites, a much deeper appreciation of the county’s prehistory and history can be gleaned from the past three centuries of antiquarian investigation.
Just seven months after the opening of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre (Museums Journal May 2014, p42), Salisbury Museum has unveiled the Wessex Gallery, telling the story of the long habitation of mankind in the region through more than 2,500 archaeological artefacts.
Replacing the Stonehenge, Pitt Rivers, and Early Man galleries, the new gallery draws together all three themes and much more besides.
Salisbury Museum, which is opposite the main entrance to the city’s famous cathedral, is housed in the King’s House, a magnificent building established in the 13th century and in which James I was entertained in the early 1600s. The new gallery space, designed by Metaphor, the consultancy behind the recent redevelopments of Oxford’s Ashmolean and Bath’s Holburne Museum, contrasts splendidly with the mullioned windows and old brickwork of the house.
While some may balk at the addition of so much concrete and glass to the heart of such a building, it is merely the most recent of six centuries of alterations and additions to suit its changing use.
The entrance to the Wessex Gallery proclaims it to be “A journey back through time, AD 1220-500,000 BC” and uses a colourful vertical timeline passing from Old Sarum at the top to mesolithic and palaeolithic at the base to show the different periods that will be travelled through.
On entering the gallery one quickly realises that the exhibition is subtly colour-coded to match those same divisions of time; the move from Old Sarum in cornflower blue, through early medieval in wheat yellow, to Roman in imperial purple and so on, is obvious even when not immediately explicit.
Repetition of the opening timeline at suitable points within the narrative of each section reinforces this message without it feeling laborious or constrained.
Time travel
The decision to travel backwards, rather than forwards, through time is also well judged, allowing visitors to adjust gently to their journey, from the recognisable politics of Norman tensions between church and state through to the almost inaccessible cultures of our palaeolithic ancestors.
Photographs of the local landscape span the walls, giving spatial context to the windows with which they are set. The eye lingers on the background for just a moment, as you are then drawn to the cases and their contents.
The objects are subtly mounted or placed with careful respect for their conservation, as one would expect. The LED lighting is well designed too, though in a few cases brighter illumination of smaller items of metal and precious stone could have done no harm and would have allowed greater appreciation of their craftsmanship.
The written interpretation is in a modern sans-serif typeface, black against white, which is elegant and helps with clarity, though the smallest point size used may be problematic for some.
There is an attempt at multi-layering the text, with headings and sub-headings in larger fonts. However, for the most part this is a return to traditional museum interpretation; the more one is willing to read, the more one will learn.
There is no doubt that further multi-layering of the interpretation would have helped visitors choose the depth into which they delved into each subject, but this is a minor quibble and the gallery team have come down on the right side of the divide. The interpretation is detailed yet concise, and never overly prosaic.
Some visitors won’t want to read all the text in the gallery, and to do so while giving full attention to the artefacts would occupy half a day. But many will, while others will make numerous return visits, learning something new and inspiring each time.
Human remains
The objects are interpreted from two important perspectives: what they tell us about the people who made them, and how they were discovered and by whom.
One might easily lose count of the number of archaeologists and excavations involved, each with unique stories. It is splendid to see the inclusion of archives relating to the work of George Heywood Maunoir Sumner and Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.
The use of a number of excavation contour plans and teaching models by Pitt Rivers is a delight. A clear decision has been made not to flinch away from the display of human remains. Burials and grave goods are an important element of the pre-Christian period and several skeletons are displayed as excavated, their grave goods carefully positioned in the same relative positions as they were discovered.
We know little of the beliefs of early pagan cultures, beyond what can be inferred from the graves themselves, so it is irrational to view such an approach as insensitive, though it will offend a few.
There is no doubt that among many extraordinary exhibits, the 4,400-year-old Amesbury Archer is the most remarkable. Buried with the oldest gold-and-copper artefacts known from Britain and tools for working metal and flint, this young man gives us an unparalleled insight into the world of the Beaker peoples, who travelled from mainland Europe to trade and settle on Salisbury Plain.
There are problems in the gallery. Visitors might miss regular low cases concealed within cupboards set into the walls merely because the handles are not immediately obvious, though children clearly enjoy discovering these.
Similarly, drawers below standalone cases might be missed and the interpretation within them is in too small a font, though it was a delight to discover that they are filled with all manner of superb archaeological finds, which would otherwise have remained in the storerooms.
Finally, the large (and presumably very expensive) touchscreen interactive was also problematic, its purpose baffling children and adults.
To dwell on this, however, would do an injustice to the team that created the exhibition. Their commitment to an artefact-rich display, twinned with clarity of design and purpose, makes the Wessex Gallery a triumph.
Matt Williams is the collections manager at the Bath Literary and Scientific Institution
But while this iconic monument is one of Europe’s most important prehistoric sites, a much deeper appreciation of the county’s prehistory and history can be gleaned from the past three centuries of antiquarian investigation.
Just seven months after the opening of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre (Museums Journal May 2014, p42), Salisbury Museum has unveiled the Wessex Gallery, telling the story of the long habitation of mankind in the region through more than 2,500 archaeological artefacts.
Replacing the Stonehenge, Pitt Rivers, and Early Man galleries, the new gallery draws together all three themes and much more besides.
Salisbury Museum, which is opposite the main entrance to the city’s famous cathedral, is housed in the King’s House, a magnificent building established in the 13th century and in which James I was entertained in the early 1600s. The new gallery space, designed by Metaphor, the consultancy behind the recent redevelopments of Oxford’s Ashmolean and Bath’s Holburne Museum, contrasts splendidly with the mullioned windows and old brickwork of the house.
While some may balk at the addition of so much concrete and glass to the heart of such a building, it is merely the most recent of six centuries of alterations and additions to suit its changing use.
The entrance to the Wessex Gallery proclaims it to be “A journey back through time, AD 1220-500,000 BC” and uses a colourful vertical timeline passing from Old Sarum at the top to mesolithic and palaeolithic at the base to show the different periods that will be travelled through.
On entering the gallery one quickly realises that the exhibition is subtly colour-coded to match those same divisions of time; the move from Old Sarum in cornflower blue, through early medieval in wheat yellow, to Roman in imperial purple and so on, is obvious even when not immediately explicit.
Repetition of the opening timeline at suitable points within the narrative of each section reinforces this message without it feeling laborious or constrained.
Time travel
The decision to travel backwards, rather than forwards, through time is also well judged, allowing visitors to adjust gently to their journey, from the recognisable politics of Norman tensions between church and state through to the almost inaccessible cultures of our palaeolithic ancestors.
Photographs of the local landscape span the walls, giving spatial context to the windows with which they are set. The eye lingers on the background for just a moment, as you are then drawn to the cases and their contents.
The objects are subtly mounted or placed with careful respect for their conservation, as one would expect. The LED lighting is well designed too, though in a few cases brighter illumination of smaller items of metal and precious stone could have done no harm and would have allowed greater appreciation of their craftsmanship.
The written interpretation is in a modern sans-serif typeface, black against white, which is elegant and helps with clarity, though the smallest point size used may be problematic for some.
There is an attempt at multi-layering the text, with headings and sub-headings in larger fonts. However, for the most part this is a return to traditional museum interpretation; the more one is willing to read, the more one will learn.
There is no doubt that further multi-layering of the interpretation would have helped visitors choose the depth into which they delved into each subject, but this is a minor quibble and the gallery team have come down on the right side of the divide. The interpretation is detailed yet concise, and never overly prosaic.
Some visitors won’t want to read all the text in the gallery, and to do so while giving full attention to the artefacts would occupy half a day. But many will, while others will make numerous return visits, learning something new and inspiring each time.
Human remains
The objects are interpreted from two important perspectives: what they tell us about the people who made them, and how they were discovered and by whom.
One might easily lose count of the number of archaeologists and excavations involved, each with unique stories. It is splendid to see the inclusion of archives relating to the work of George Heywood Maunoir Sumner and Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.
The use of a number of excavation contour plans and teaching models by Pitt Rivers is a delight. A clear decision has been made not to flinch away from the display of human remains. Burials and grave goods are an important element of the pre-Christian period and several skeletons are displayed as excavated, their grave goods carefully positioned in the same relative positions as they were discovered.
We know little of the beliefs of early pagan cultures, beyond what can be inferred from the graves themselves, so it is irrational to view such an approach as insensitive, though it will offend a few.
There is no doubt that among many extraordinary exhibits, the 4,400-year-old Amesbury Archer is the most remarkable. Buried with the oldest gold-and-copper artefacts known from Britain and tools for working metal and flint, this young man gives us an unparalleled insight into the world of the Beaker peoples, who travelled from mainland Europe to trade and settle on Salisbury Plain.
There are problems in the gallery. Visitors might miss regular low cases concealed within cupboards set into the walls merely because the handles are not immediately obvious, though children clearly enjoy discovering these.
Similarly, drawers below standalone cases might be missed and the interpretation within them is in too small a font, though it was a delight to discover that they are filled with all manner of superb archaeological finds, which would otherwise have remained in the storerooms.
Finally, the large (and presumably very expensive) touchscreen interactive was also problematic, its purpose baffling children and adults.
To dwell on this, however, would do an injustice to the team that created the exhibition. Their commitment to an artefact-rich display, twinned with clarity of design and purpose, makes the Wessex Gallery a triumph.
Matt Williams is the collections manager at the Bath Literary and Scientific Institution
Project data
- Cost £2.4m
- Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund £1.8m
- Exhibition designer and architect Metaphor
- Main contractor Realm Projects
- Graphic design Lucy or Robert
- Lighting design Sutton Vane Associates
- QS MEA
- M&E consultant Chris Reading Associates
- Structural engineer Morton Partnership
- Stonehenge film Elbow Productions
- Mountmaking Plowden Smith
- Models and replicas Modelroom
- Interactive table software Aerian