House Magazine Autumn 2006

[Magazine Index] [Back to News] [Home]

Marjorie Hallam

Left, Marjorie Hallam, right, with Museum founder Roy Armstrong at the dismantling of Pendean Farmhouse in 1968: and right, watching the re-erection of Poplar Cottage in 1999.

Marjorie Hallam, who has died at her home in Graffham, West Sussex, was one of the key figures in the establishment of the Museum, making an enormous contribution to the rescue and interpretation of some of the earliest buildings to come into the hands of the embryonic institution in the 1970s and during its rapid development in the 1980s.

If there was a ‘deputy founder’ of the Museum to Roy Armstrong, it was Marjorie: she contributed a tremendous amount of time and energy to the project and in particular her special interest in the social history of the structures which came into the Museum’s hands. She became particularly involved in establishing the Museum’s library and the cataloguing of its huge collection of books, photographs and documents. Her vast contribution to the Museum was recognised in her appointment as one of its vice presidents, a position she held until her death.

Marjorie, who was related to Elizabeth Fry, the Quaker reformer, was born on 11 November 1918. She grew up in Ashbury, where her father bred race horses, and owned her own Welsh Mountain pony. Always of an academic persuasion she studied botany at Exeter University. At the advent of World War II she ran training courses for typists in telecommunications work in the South West and London. This was a reserved occupation but she contributed to the war effort as an air-raid warden and was among the many volunteers who helped with casualties from the D-Day landings.

Marjorie’s interest in the countryside and local history was nudged towards vernacular buildings while she lived in Lincolnshire and studied under Professor Maurice Barley. After moving to Sussex she joined Roy Armstrong and R T Mason in founding the Wealden Buildings Study Group in 1964, and naturally became deeply involved in the campaign to create an open air museum. In October 1965 the first formal discussions took place that five years later would result in the Museum opening to the public. The occasion was a conference of the Study Group on Timber-Framed Buildings of the Weald, held at Balneath Manor, Chailey. It was chaired by J R Armstrong and R T Mason, and Marjorie Hallam was one of the 10 participants.

The meeting discussed the idea of the creation of an ‘Open Air Museum of the Weald’, and Bayleaf Farmhouse was mentioned as a possible acquisition. From then on, Marjorie consistently maintained her role as a member of the founding group. She was a member of the Committee for the Promotion of an Open Air Museum for the Weald and Downland, which held its inaugural meeting in September 1966, and she was one of the seven founder-subscribers when the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum Limited was incorporated as a company in January 1969. In March of that year the Promotion Committee was replaced by the Council of Management, of which Marjorie was one of the 10 members. In the early years she helped with secretarial work, lecturing and publicity, as well as the important task of surveying  buildings offered to the Museum. Pendean Farmhouse, the Horsham Shop, the Catherington Treadwheel and the building from Boarhunt were among her major enterprises.

In the early 1980s she turned her attention to the library, recently established in the ground floor of Crawley Hall, and became the Museum’s Honorary Librarian in 1982. Her first task was to work with Annelise Wilson in developing a subject list for the specialist collection of books, and her training in botany helped her to devise a formal, hierarchical classification system, which has stood the test of time and is still in use. In 1984 grants were obtained to allow the Museum to employ her daughter, Caroline, as cataloguing assistant and supervisor of the team employed under the Manpower Services Commission scheme. As well as the books, the team tackled the enormous task of cataloguing Roy Armstrong’s collection of around 75,000 transparencies. It is nothing short of miraculous that the task was completed in good order, with all records stored on floppy discs on an Apple computer system, under Roy and Marjorie’s supervision – and that all this data is still live and in use on the Museum’s current computer network 20 years later. The library was named the Armstrong Library, in memory of the Museum’s founder on his death in 1993.

Marjorie retired as Honorary Librarian in 1987 but continued as a trustee and, from 1991, as a vice president of the Museum. She turned her attention increasingly to researching the documentary background to some of our exhibit buildings, especially the Bough Beech houses, Pendean and Boarhunt. She also took on the job of organizing study tours for the Museum, to Poland in 1986 and Normandy in 1993.

Marjorie had a fine collection of books on vernacular architecture, which has been kept well up to date in recent years, and we are pleased that Nicholas and Caroline have kindly agreed that all her books and papers relevant to vernacular architecture and the Museum will be deposited with us. Charlotte Murgatroyd, who with her late sister-in-law, Jane, had recently started cataloguing other papers relating to the early history of the Museum, has kindly agreed to take the lead in sorting and cataloguing Marjorie’s papers, while the volunteer library team – Bernadine Saunders, Jo Minns and Audrey Vetch – will tackle the books.

The Museum is planning a physical memorial in the form of a bench positioned next to Pendean Farmhouse, and a small clump of trees planted nearby, but Marjorie’s real memorial is the Museum she helped to found.  

Diana Zeuner and Richard Harris

Obituaries

Peter Stock

Peter Stock, who died in February, was one of the key volunteers who kept Lurgashall Mill functioning on a daily basis for a period of more than 20 years.

He was trained in the mill’s operation by Robert Demaus, the museum’s consultant miller, and steadfastly kept it going, producing flour on a daily basis and operating the machinery for visitors to see.

Peter was an engineer; apprenticed at Vickers Armstrong he worked and studied there when Barnes Wallis visited the works. After Army service he studied at Faraday House, qualifying as an electrical engineer.

On retirement Peter and his wife, Ruth gave their voluntary time to the museum.

When a volunteer prepared to train as miller was required, Peter stepped up to the challenge. Others followed later, leading to a dedicated team of volunteer millers, which of course included Ruth.  

Diana Zeuner

Frank Knights 

Frank Knights was assistant warden to Keith Bickmore from 1990 to 1998. He had come to the Museum from Thorne EMI where he was support manager in charge of exhibitions and sales.

He became very involved with the museum’s activities and organised one of the Friends’ Spring Tours, to Plymouth.

His wife, Christine, and son, James, also became much involved and during the early days of the Food Fair, organised a Food Cooking competition for staff and volunteers/Friends. Christine later became a shop supervisor and assisted Keith with the removal of the shop from the Lavant building to Longport House.

On retirement from the Museum they all became involved in the Watercress Railway, Hampshire.

Frank, who was 74, died suddenly at home following a stroke.

Keith Bickmore

Jane Murgatroyd 

Together with her sister-in-law, Charlotte, Jane Murgatroyd made a substantial contribution to the development of the library, working especially on the cataloguing of material from the collections of the Museum’s founder Roy Armstrong, and the mill authority, Frank Gregory.

Jane and Charlotte visited the Museum soon after it opened, the first of many private and school visits. Jane was a volunteer at the Egham Museum where she was part of a small team cataloguing the museum’s collection. In spring 1996 they moved to Chichester, becoming volunteers at West Sussex Record Office. In 1999 they joined the Museum as volunteers.

About this time the Museum acquired a large collection of sketches, photographs, books and pamphlets from the late Frank Gregory. This provided a perfect task for Jane and Charlotte, who sorted and catalogued material which covered some 50 metres of shelving. The collection spanned the world and many times they came across material from places they had visited.

When this was completed, Jane and Charlotte turned their attention to the archives of the Museum’s founder, Dr Roy Armstrong. This proved a fascinating project as it gave an insight into the work that had taken place in the 1960s which led to the establishment of the Museum.

Unfortunately Jane’s health caused her to stop working in the early part of 2006. Following a short illness, Jane died from cancer in June 2006.  

Richard Harris

Rod Tuck 

I first met Rod Tuck in the early 1960s at the Royal Naval School of Physical Training. Rod was a young Royal Marine Officer and a member of the Great Britain

Modern Pentathlon Team training to take part in the 1964 Olympic Games. On leaving the Royal Marines Rod traveled widely and for many years taught in Norway and Lithuania. As a volunteer he quickly immersed himself in the history of the Museum and was an excellent communicator.  

Bob Easson

Annie Keys

One of the Museum’s newest members of staff, Annie Keys joined the interpretation team, working part-time in Winkhurst Tudor kitchen. Very sadly she contracted cancer and passed away at the end of September. 

Annie first came to the Museum as a volunteer in March 2003 and her work in the Tudor kitchen was also very relevant to her growing involvement with the History Re-Enactment Group. She joined the interpretation team in September 2004 having worked as a teaching assistant. She was profoundly deaf using aids for both ears but this did not prevent her communicating her ever-growing knowledge and love of the Museum’s themes.

Born in Purley in 1959, she passed away peacefully, with her family around her, at St Wilfrid’s Hospice, Chichester.  

Diana Rowsell and Hannah Miller

Roy Money

Roy Money, who has died aged 82, was a dedicated volunteer at the Museum for 14 years although his association with the Museum stretched back even further. His contribution was particularly important for a museum with rural life as one of its two major themes because he was one of the few farmers on the volunteer strength.

Roy originally worked mostly in the hands-on exhibition, Getting to Grips, where he, John Warren, who had worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and another former farmer, Brian Weekes, put the farming world to rights each week (often joined by Museum director Chris Zeuner).

Roy also led guided tours with a farming flavour, often in tandem with Brian Weekes. These tours specialised in the farming and rural life aspects of the Museum’s work and were very popular.

They also led farming tours on Goodwood Estate as part of the West Sussex Countryside Studies Trust educational partnership with the Museum. Most recently Roy has worked with Bob Holman on the Museum’s various period gardens.  

Roy Money farmed primarily at Sidlesham and Bersted, where he was born. Marblebridge Farm at Sidlesham primarily grew peas and corn (wheat and barley) although a dairy herd and pigs had been kept in the past. The farm is now run by his daughter, Sue. His son, Andrew, farms in Wiltshire, and Roy and his wife, Mary, retired to Boxgrove. Roy gave several farming artefacts and building materials to the Museum for its collection and for use on the site, including the original Ferguson farm trailer used behind the Ferguson tractor on site.

Diana Zeuner

Radford Gym

Radford Gym was the key working Shire gelding in the Museum’s horse team for 16 years. Sadly his sweet itch and, especially, his breathing problems worsened with age, and his days ended in May.

Gym was bought by the Museum’s director, the late Chris Zeuner, from Mike Horler, Radford, near Bath, who bred him in 1986.

Over the years Gym proved to be a truly outstanding horse with a steady temperament and willingness to tackle any agricultural and showing task set for him. He was an excellent schoolmaster for the younger geldings who came after him.

At the Museum he was used regularly for the whole range of agricultural tasks, including cutting the wheat crop with a binder. He was a favourite of museum visitors and developed a following among local people.

For many years he took part in events away from the museum site, notably the London Harness Horse Parade, Portsmouth Parade, and Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association’s spring working and ploughing matches. He also competed in the growing sport of heavy horse cross country driving, driven by Chris with daughter Francesca as groom, and in 1999 he and stable mate Neville were part of the British team at La Route du Poisson (the Fish Race) in France.

When Chris died in 2001 Gym was the natural choice of horse to draw the wagon through Chichester (driven by a former Museum horseman, the late Rob Dash).

Despite his breathing problems he always appeared keen to get to work and special mention should be made of the excellent efforts by staff and volunteers who kept him going on complicated medication in the last two years of his life.  

Friends News

The Friends is a support organisation for the Museum, which runs fund-raising events and social activities for its members. It is one of the largest museum Friends groups in the country, with some 4,600 memberships representing about 11,000 individual members. Since its inception it has raised a total of £1.3 million for the Museum, making a major contribution to the Museum’s work.

Friends’ 2007 Spring Tour to County Durham 26 April-1 May

The 2007 Friends’ Spring Tour will be to County Durham, staying at The Durham Marriot Royal County Hotel, situated in the heart of the city on the banks of the River Wear and overlooking the castle and the Cathedral.

On the way we will stop at Hardwick Hall for lunch and a tour of the house. Built in the 1500s by Elizabeth of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick), the Hall, cared for by the National Trust, contains one of Europe’s best collections of embroideries and tapestries. On Friday we will spend all day at Beamish, North of England Open Air Museum. This extensive museum recreates life in the North of England during the 18th and 19th centuries, and includes many re-erected buildings from town and countryside, including a complete town street, a mine, and two working farmsteads.

On Saturday morning we will have a guided tour of Durham Cathedral by the Cathedral’s architect, Christopher Downs and in the afternoon we travel to Wallington, home of the Red Squirrels.

This National Trust house contains huge Pre-Raphaelite paintings depicting the history of Northumbria, an intriguing Museum of Curiosities and a collection of dolls houses. The gardens are in the style of Capability Brown.

On the way back to the hotel we will have a short stop at Gateshead to view the Millennium Bridge, which beat the Downland Gridshell to the RIBA Stirling Prize by one vote!

Sunday morning allows everybody free time, perhaps to attend church or the Cathedral, and in the afternoon there will be a visit to High Force, England’s largest and most spectacular waterfall, on the Raby Estate in the North Pennines. Following that, by kind permission of Lord Barnard we will have a soup and sandwich lunch (at your own expense) followed by a guided tour of Raby Castle. This impressive medieval castle was built by the Nevills and has been home to Lord Barnard’s family since 1626. Raby contains the grandest medieval kitchen in England and has been virtually unaltered since it was built in 1360. There is also a Garrison Room with walls up to 20ft thick where at times of danger men-at-arms and their horses lived and slept. In the Baron’s Hall 700 knights gathered in 1569 to plot the Rising of the North in support of Mary, Queen of Scots. The 18th century stables house a coach and carriage museum.

Monday sees the tour heading north again to the medieval fortress of Alnwick Castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, members of the Percy family who have lived there since 1309. To Harry Potter fans this is the setting for Hogwarts School and where TV’s Blackadder was filmed. The much-publicised garden created by the Duchess will be a highlight.

On Tuesday we head for home, stopping off at Shardlow Heritage Centre to have lunch by the canal.

Due to a rise in fuel charges and the distance travelled, the tour will cost a little more this year, but no more than £420 per person.

This includes coach travel, the coach driver’s gratuity, bed, full English breakfast and dinner, entrances and tours. It does not cover insurance (participants are advised to take out their own), lunches, drinks, incidental expenses at the hotel or hotel staff gratuities. The above programme may be subject to some minor changes as details are received from the venues regarding their 2007 arrangements.

To apply for an application form please contact Brian and Christine Weekes by 24 November at 2 Hawthorn Close, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9TF (Tel 01730 813684). Places will be chosen by ballot, as usual, and successful applicants will be notified and asked for £100 deposit. 

Friends enjoying a day visit to Charleston Farm House, East Sussex,
former home of the Bloomsbury Group of writers, painters and
intellectuals. The National Trust’s Alfriston Clergy House was
also on the itinerary for the June event. 

Spring Tour to Derbyshire, 2006

This year’s trip was to Derbyshire, organised by Keith and Beryl Bickmore, staying in the spa town of Buxton. Stops on the way were the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon and the Henry Doubleday Research Association at Ryton. Our coach driver, Peter, made good time and we arrived at the Palace Hotel after being driven through some spectacular countryside.

Our first visit on Friday was to Haddon Hall, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland. It is the finest example of a medieval manor house, perfectly preserved and most probably the jewel of the trip for all of us. The enthusiastic guides were excellent.

In the afternoon we explored the village of Eyam, which became famous for its selfless action in imposing voluntary quarantine during the Plague. Cutting itself off from all neighbouring villages, it allowed no-one to enter or leave, helping prevent the disease spreading. On the way back to the hotel Peter drove us on a tour of the surrounding area, along the notorious Snake Pass and by the Lady Bower Dam. After a free morning on Saturday exploring Buxton we set off for the beautiful Lea Gardens near Matlock, famous for its rhododendrons and azaleas. We were a little early for the full impact of colour, but made up for it with home-made cake and tea. On Sunday, after a free morning, we visited Quarry Bank Mill on Styal Estate near Manchester. This working cotton mill powered by the world’s most powerful water wheel, was founded in 1784. Its workforce included orphans imported from workhouses from around the country. By the standards of the day they were well looked after, receiving three meals a day  Our last full day was spent at Chatsworth House and Gardens, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. This is a truly wonderful house, with sumptuous interiors and beautiful gardens, my favourite element being the amazing Paxton designed waterfall.

We had an easy journey home, stopping off at Geoff Hamilton’s gardens at Barnsdale used by the BBC for Gardeners World, now run by Geoff’s son, Nick, who continues their development. We arrived safely back at the Museum after a lovely five days.

Christine Weekes

Gift Aid and Membership Subscriptions

Over 80% of members of the Friends now gift aid their subscription, which allows the Government to pass back to the charity 28p in each £. That is an enormous help to us and in 2005 alone added almost £30,000 to the support the Friends was able to give to the Museum. If you wish to confirm your gift aid status, notify us of a change or sign up for gift aid, please write to us at Friends of the Weald & Downland Museum, Singleton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0EU or email us at friends@wealddown.co.uk.

Honorary Treasurer for the Friends

We were delighted and very grateful that four very qualified and enthusiastic members responded to the request in the Spring magazine to volunteer for the post of honorary treasurer of the Friends to succeed Maurice Pollock when he retires from this position at our AGM in April next year. We were pleased to appoint Andrew ‘Fred’ Fisher to the Friends committee at our July meeting and, subject to approval by the AGM, he will take over as honorary treasurer. Maurice will be continuing with his existing responsibilities as treasurer of the Museum Trust and the Museum’s Endowment Trust. 

Can you spare some time?

. . . to help Lisa Neville, who is membership secretary of the Friends. Lisa would value a couple of hours’ help on a regular basis with her routine administrative work on either a Wednesday or Thursday morning. Please call Lisa on 01243 811893. 

Honorary Membership

At the Friends AGM in April two long-standing Museum volunteers were elected honorary members for their outstanding contribution to the Museum over many years. They are Heather Vincent and Ruth Stock.

Sadly Heather and Ruth both lost their husbands recently (see above for Peter Stock’s obituary; Peter Vincent died in 2004).

As couples they played a vital role in keeping Lurgashall Mill  running and producing stoneground wholemeal flour for more than 20 years.

Peter Stock was the first volunteer miller to come forward when the opportunity arose, and both couples developed great expertise in the intricacies of the mill’s operation, and interpreting it for visitors.

Heather and Peter represented the Museum at meetings of the Traditional Cornmillers Guild. They also passed on their knowledge to other volunteer millers who run the mill today.

New Committee Members

Two new members joined the Friends committee this year, Sue Davis and Andrew ‘Fred’ Fisher.

Contacting the Friends

For all membership queries please contact:

Friends of the Weald and Downland Museum
Singleton
Chichester
West Sussex
PO18 0EU.
Tel 01243 811893.
Email:friends@wealddown.co.uk.