Where In the oldest part of the guildhall in Sandwich, Kent. It has been described by one visitor as “small but perfectly formed”. The museum has been extended to include the Tudor Court Room, which houses special exhibitions.
Opened It reopened in May 2017 after being revitalised by a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant. John May, its volunteer curator, remembers the former town museum as deeply unappealing. “There were a lot of waist-high display cases in a dark room,” he says. “Returning visitors are staggered by the transformation.”
Collection The museum’s timeline starts in the prehistoric era, with mesolithic tools, and goes up to 1939 and the story of the Kitchener Camp, where 4,000 Jewish refugees were housed at the beginning of the second world war. “Our focus is on the medieval period when Sandwich was an important Cinque Port – as it still is,” May says. On the top floor of the guildhall are the town archives.
Highlights “Our latest addition is a stunning metal Roman bowl found nearby in 2016 by a metal detectorist,” says May. “We also have a dead rat, found at St Peter’s Church in the 1970s when work was being undertaken. It is a plague-carrying black rat that is thought to have been killed when the tower collapsed in 1661 and one of the most asked-about artefacts – like all wise dynasties, we are ready with an heir and a spare,” he says.
“But our prized display is the rare pairing of the 1297 version of the Magna Carta next to its accompanying Charter of the Forest. Our Magna Carta is in a poor state but at least it’s Sandwich’s.”
The museum’s current special exhibition is about the 1217 Battle of Sandwich, which was a sea battle fought against a French fleet. “It is as important as the Spanish Armada or the Battle of Britain,” says May. “The Plantagenet English fleet won it by skilled seamanship and chemical warfare, lobbing flasks of quicklime onto the French ships.”
Help at hand Apart from a part-time heritage development officer who oversees the museum and archives as well as compiling bids for funding, the museum is staffed by volunteers. “I am proud of our volunteers,” May says. “They have the ability to make everyone welcome. Our ethos is to interact with visitors and tell the stories behind the artefacts.”
Budget “We are supported by the mayor and town council,” says May. Admission is free.
Sticky moment Because there is a coroner’s court upstairs, the museum needs to be sensitive to the court’s sittings. “On a frantic day in 2016, with the contractors doing last-minute adjustments, all work on installation day had to stop in deference to the court upstairs,” says May. “We were confined to drilling during breaks.” After the session, the court’s officers had a special visit to see the Magna Carta.
Survival tips Find ways of rallying the wider community to interact with the museum: expert-led lectures have played to capacity audiences and children’s activities have freed up parents to look at exhibits. Also, get the word out. When Sandwich hosted the Speakership of the Cinque Ports on 8 October – an occasion for a parade and other civic events – the museum took its Battle of Sandwich exhibition outside to a new town venue.
Visitors Since reopening, the museum has been receiving about 1,600 visitors a month. “There was an excellent 2,353 in August in response to special events we put on,” May says.
Future plans “To continue to consolidate on what we have,” says May. This means working with archives and other organisations to enable wider audiences to get a taste of the glory of Sandwich.
Louise Gray is a freelance journalist
sandwichguildhallmuseum.co.uk
Opened It reopened in May 2017 after being revitalised by a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant. John May, its volunteer curator, remembers the former town museum as deeply unappealing. “There were a lot of waist-high display cases in a dark room,” he says. “Returning visitors are staggered by the transformation.”
Collection The museum’s timeline starts in the prehistoric era, with mesolithic tools, and goes up to 1939 and the story of the Kitchener Camp, where 4,000 Jewish refugees were housed at the beginning of the second world war. “Our focus is on the medieval period when Sandwich was an important Cinque Port – as it still is,” May says. On the top floor of the guildhall are the town archives.
Highlights “Our latest addition is a stunning metal Roman bowl found nearby in 2016 by a metal detectorist,” says May. “We also have a dead rat, found at St Peter’s Church in the 1970s when work was being undertaken. It is a plague-carrying black rat that is thought to have been killed when the tower collapsed in 1661 and one of the most asked-about artefacts – like all wise dynasties, we are ready with an heir and a spare,” he says.
“But our prized display is the rare pairing of the 1297 version of the Magna Carta next to its accompanying Charter of the Forest. Our Magna Carta is in a poor state but at least it’s Sandwich’s.”
The museum’s current special exhibition is about the 1217 Battle of Sandwich, which was a sea battle fought against a French fleet. “It is as important as the Spanish Armada or the Battle of Britain,” says May. “The Plantagenet English fleet won it by skilled seamanship and chemical warfare, lobbing flasks of quicklime onto the French ships.”
Help at hand Apart from a part-time heritage development officer who oversees the museum and archives as well as compiling bids for funding, the museum is staffed by volunteers. “I am proud of our volunteers,” May says. “They have the ability to make everyone welcome. Our ethos is to interact with visitors and tell the stories behind the artefacts.”
Budget “We are supported by the mayor and town council,” says May. Admission is free.
Sticky moment Because there is a coroner’s court upstairs, the museum needs to be sensitive to the court’s sittings. “On a frantic day in 2016, with the contractors doing last-minute adjustments, all work on installation day had to stop in deference to the court upstairs,” says May. “We were confined to drilling during breaks.” After the session, the court’s officers had a special visit to see the Magna Carta.
Survival tips Find ways of rallying the wider community to interact with the museum: expert-led lectures have played to capacity audiences and children’s activities have freed up parents to look at exhibits. Also, get the word out. When Sandwich hosted the Speakership of the Cinque Ports on 8 October – an occasion for a parade and other civic events – the museum took its Battle of Sandwich exhibition outside to a new town venue.
Visitors Since reopening, the museum has been receiving about 1,600 visitors a month. “There was an excellent 2,353 in August in response to special events we put on,” May says.
Future plans “To continue to consolidate on what we have,” says May. This means working with archives and other organisations to enable wider audiences to get a taste of the glory of Sandwich.
Louise Gray is a freelance journalist
sandwichguildhallmuseum.co.uk