House Magazine Spring 2008

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 Landscape Conservation Management Plan in final stages 

As reported in the October 2007 Museum Magazine, the Museum has joined forces with the Edward James Foundation to commission a Landscape Conservation Management Plan for West Dean Park, with 50% funding from English Heritage. Nicholas Pearson Associates has been carrying out research and writing the plan, and the final draft will be presented to the steering group on 6 March.  

The research has produced some fascinating insights into the development of the park, which will be reported fully in a future edition of this magazine. Lord Selsey’s park in the early 19th century was surrounded by tight tree belts and was “significantly old-fashioned”! In the middle of the century this developed into a “Reptonesque” landscape, then with the arrival of William James the park was developed almost entirely for shooting, and its significance becomes more a social one – the guests! Edward James gave the park a completely new life as a popular cultural legacy, and the Museum has continued that process by becoming England’s leading open air museum of traditional buildings. 

The concept of the Landscape Conservation Management Plan is that first, history informs significance, and second, the problems and capacity of the landscape lead to a plan of action. Everyone involved has been extremely complimentary about West Dean’s management of the park, and the Museum’s development of the north-east corner, so the report will build on those strengths and help to map out our future options.  

Richard Harris
Museum Director
 

Thinking ahead - A new Forward Plan

New paths at the Museum

Farm livestock at the Museum

Pigs.

The Museum has kept Tamworth pigs for nearly 20 years, since they were first introduced as part of the Bayleaf Farmstead project. For several years they have been owned and looked after by Paul Pinnington, in the woodland and in the pigsty behind Pendean farmhouse. Ownership and responsibility for the pigs has now passed to Mark Odin, who lives and works in the West Dean area. The pigs are popular with visitors, and to improve visitor access a new viewing area is to be established for the Pendean pigsty.  

Sheep.

Last year the Museum’s flock of Southdown sheep was transferred to the ownership of Stephen Humphreys, who keeps a renowned flock of Southdowns at his farm in the nearby village of East Dean. The Humphreys have long been specialist Southdown breeders and have been associated with the Museum since its earliest days, including shepherding the Museum’s first flock of Southdowns in the 1970s. Stephen plans to graze a small flock of about 30 at the Museum, with spring lambs expected around Easter-time.

Cattle.

Long-straw experiments in the Museum’s fields

This year the Museum will be experimenting with ways of improving the quality of its long-straw crop, thus enhancing its lasting nature as thatch. Different varieties of long-straw for thatching have been sown and experiments will be carried out throughout its growth and harvest.

The Museum has a long history of growing long straw for thatching, both for the Museum’s exhibit buildings and for commercial thatchers. The development of arable farming is shown in six field strips (11 yards wide x 110 yards long) and four small fields of about an acre each. Three of the strips (demonstrating methods up to 1700) grow crops on a rotation including a fallow, and the other three (demonstrating methods from 1700-1800) show a ‘break’ crop, currently flax. The four small fields will be worked on a 4-course rotation to show aspects of 19th century farming practice.  

This year, however, the four small fields and a fifth experimental field are being used to grow several different varieties of long straw. Master thatcher Chris Tomkins, who thatches the Museum’s buildings, and Chris Baldwin, Farm Manager, have planted Maris Widgeon, a wheat, and Triticale, a wheat-cross rye (Purdy and Benito varieties), and will be experimenting with both modern and traditional ways of improving the crop.  

A new spray is available, for instance, that thickens the straw wall, which might improve it for thatching, along with traditional practices such as cutting the crop early before the seed has developed. This is the conventional method for harvesting rye for use in the manufacture of horse collars, as it improves the flexibility of the straw and removes the need for threshing. However, it is thought not to have been tried with wheat before.  

The rest of the crop will be put through a comber when it is threshed, and the resulting straw will be used as ‘combed wheat reed’ on the Museum’s thatched buildings. Between harvesting and threshing (at the Autumn Countryside Show on 4/5 October) the wheat will be stored in a large traditional rick. 

In late March the National Society of Master Thatchers is holding its annual meeting at Arundel, and will visit the Museum to see demonstrations of modern materials used to give fire protection to thatch. Each mock-up will be burnt to demonstrate its effectiveness – and the Fire Service will be standing by, just in case things get out of hand!
 

Museum Friends makes vital Contribution

The Friends of the Museum makes a crucial financial contribution to the Museum’s day-to-day operation and a variety of projects and activities. Last year a total of £185,247 was granted to the Museum – the highest annual amount ever.

Since its establishment in 1970 the Friends has grant-aided the Museum to the tune of some £1.4 million. It remains one of the largest Museum Friends groups in the country, with some 4,950 members, representing more than 11,600 individuals. Independent charitable museums like the Weald & Downland receive no direct Government funding and the Friends’ help is vital in supplementing revenue income from visitor admissions, the shop, catering and training courses.

The Friends’ funding comes in two ways. A substantial grant is made towards the costs of essential activities at the Museum. This grant, for £105,000 in 2007, was paid in four quarterly instalments to assist the Museum with core activities, including exhibit improvements, historic gardens development and maintenance, marketing and publicity, horses and livestock, site maintenance, schools service, staff and volunteer training and support for curatorial and collections activities.

The second tranche supports a variety of individual projects and last year totalled £80,247. It comprises:

In addition to its membership income, the Friends runs fund-raising events such as the Proms by the Lake planned for this year, and a programme of social events including day trips and an annual Spring tour to interesting historical sites. See pages 30/31 for more information about these activities. As a charity the Friends can claim Gift Aid on membership subscriptions: in 2007 the tax reclaimed amounted to over £34,000. Each £ given by members attracted an extra 28p, but in April this year this will reduce to 25p. Clearly this will potentially lessen the Friends income and members are urged to give more if they can to help make up the shortfall. Heritage bodies are among those making strong representations to Government to ease the complex Gift Aid scheme. Full details of grants and Friends’ activities are included in the Friends’ Annual Report and Accounts. To join the Friends contact the Friends office on 01243 811893 (manned part-time) or email
 

A gift with a difference…that makes a world of difference

 
“Gifts and legacies are crucial in securing the long-term future of the Museum and its ideals . . .”

Over the last 35 years, the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has established itself as England’s leading museum of historic buildings and traditional rural life. Not only does it showcase the homes and workplaces of the ordinary people of South East England, but it has brought together a wealth of expertise and resources in demonstrating domestic tasks, countryside skills and traditional farming. All this enhances our visitors’ enjoyment, and their understanding of the daily lives of our ancestors.  

In developing these rich aspects of our rural heritage, the Museum has been able to actively promote the continuance of ancient crafts, trades and manufactures, delivering over 2,000 student days of adult education courses each year. Recently there has been a great deal of national publicity concerning the loss of heritage skills and those able to teach them: through our Historic Building Conservation Programme (driven by what we have learned in conserving our own rescued buildings), and courses in traditional rural trades and crafts, the Museum is ideally placed to keep such skills alive for future generations, for both business and pleasure.  

“The course was very informative and I learnt lots of practical skills, which will be useful on various sites, plus lots of theory and insights.”

Advanced Gauged Brickwork course

Similarly, our dedicated School Services Department delivers a programme to meet the varied requirements of the national curriculum, and the Museum welcomed nearly 24,000 school children in 2007. Families and children always find fun and freedom as well as education at the Museum, children learning that milk and eggs come in organic natural packaging and that bacon doesn’t grow in plastic packets! 

 “I thought it was an excellent day, very well organised … the children learnt more in a day than I could teach in a month.”

Special Education Needs day

As an independent museum and charity we have no outside government funding, and we therefore rely on visitor income, occasional sponsorship and grants, and our supportive Friends group. You may, however, not be so familiar with the strategic importance of legacies to the Museum for building up funds to support future development. Legacies allow us to protect and develop this unique Museum, to nurture talent and to lead the way in education and conservation. And this is why we need your help.   Let us give you an example –

The story of the threshing train  

Before the days of the combine harvester, the threshing train was a common sight working the farms and travelling the lanes during the autumn and winter months. It usually comprised a steam engine, threshing drum, elevator and living van used by the engine driver and his mate. The combine harvester mechanised the threshing train processes and its travelling life came to an end during the late 1940s and early 1950s.  

If you came to the Museum’s Autumn Countryside Show last year you would have been lucky enough to see a train on display and even in action. The 1862 Marshall threshing drum became part of the Museum’s artefact collection in 1985 and without the gift of legacies, its restoration to full working order would never have happened.  

Gifts and legacies are invested by the Museum and the subsequent income allowed Paul Pinnington from the Collections Team – with his wealth of experience with wood and metal – to work on the restoration of the threshing drum. Joining him on the project was Ben Headon, a gifted young restorer, who comments: “Being involved in this project has allowed me to develop skills in conservation, carpentry and engineering by learning about the conservation of original timbers, the replacement of irreparable timbers and the overhaul of mechanical parts. The early date of manufacture of the threshing drum also provided a technical insight into the development of what was later to become a common piece of agricultural equipment and without the project I would not have had the opportunity to gain this valuable knowledge. It will stand me in good stead for future Museum projects”.  

From the perspective of Museum Curator, Julian Bell, the restoration of the threshing drum not only benefits our visitors by providing an additional item of historic interest to view on display and in action, but as one of the oldest working drums in the country it is a nationally valuable asset for external researchers. The process of conservation has also provided the Museum with much greater understanding of the function and structure of the drum, benefiting our knowledge and skills in the conservation and restoration of larger working items in general, and enabling us to offer advice to other bodies undertaking similar work.  

All this because of a kind and thoughtful gift! Without it, the valuable knowledge of the restoration process would not have been learnt and you, our visitors, would not be enjoying the history we are safeguarding. Look out for the threshing train at the Autumn Countryside Show on 4/5 October this year! 

If you wish to consider a gift in your Will, you might find the information below helpful. If and when the time is right for you to include a gift, big or small, in your Will we hope you will remember us.

Why make a Will?

What do you need to do?

It can be quick and easy to make a Will, but it always pays to consult a solicitor. If you wish to make a gift to the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in your Will, or to add the Museum to an existing Will by means of a codicil, the following suggested wording may be useful:

 “I give to Weald & Downland Open Air Museum (Registered Charity Number 306338) for its charitable purposes:

a) the sum of …… (insert figure)

or

Collections update

Potato sorter and sack lifter

These two items were acquired from Aldwick Farm in Bognor, donated by Messrs Rank and Barrett. The farm buildings are in the process of being redeveloped into residential properties, as the farm is now in the middle of a large area of housing, and the Museum was invited to look at several implements that are no longer required. The two items we accepted are specifically for use and demonstration purposes as they duplicate existing items in our collections. The ‘No.2 Potato Sorter’, manufactured by J.B.Edlington & Co. of Gainsborough is similar to our existing sorter, although the mechanism is somewhat different. The Collections team volunteers have stripped, conserved and repainted the machine so that it can be demonstrated to visitors in the autumn.

Hay sweep

Hop press

A new home for vehicles and implements