Penrith and Eden Museum

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Penrith and Eden Museum
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Penrith and Eden Museum
Location in Eden, Cumbria
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Penrith and Eden Museum
Location in Cumbria, England
Established1985
Location Penrith, Cumbria
Coordinates 54°39′51″N2°45′04″W / 54.6642°N 2.7512°W / 54.6642; -2.7512 Coordinates: 54°39′51″N2°45′04″W / 54.6642°N 2.7512°W / 54.6642; -2.7512
CollectionsLocal history, fine art
Owner Eden District Council
Website Penrith and Eden Museum

Penrith and Eden Museum is a museum in Penrith, Cumbria, England. The museum aims to collect, preserve and display material reflecting the history and culture of Penrith and Eden. The museum is owned and managed by Eden District Council. The museum is based in a former school building, known as Robinson's School, which first opened in 1670. [1]

Contents

Exhibits

Museum interior PenrithandEdenMuseumInterior.jpg
Museum interior

Some of the museum's exhibits include a fossil dinosaur footprint from the sandstone of the Eden Valley; objects from the Stone Age and the Roman period, including a coin hoard of over 600 bronze coins dating from about AD 320-340 found at Newby near Shap [2] and Roman jewellery found locally; [3] [4] the medieval seal of Penrith and the old market toll measures; a gold posy ring found on the outskirts of Penrith and inscribed Kepe Faith Till Death; [5] mementoes of local personalities such as Trooper William Pearson, wrestler William Jameson and Percy Toplis, the ‘Monocled Mutineer’; and an elephant's tooth excavated from the bottom of the moat at Penrith Castle. [6]

More recently, the Museum has acquired new finds from the Eden area discovered with metal detectors and declared treasure under the Treasure Act (1996) which are now on display in the Museum. These include a Charles 1st medallion from Kirkby Stephen, a medieval coin hoard from Crosby Ravensworth and a gold and amethyst gemstone ring from Waitby. [7] A Tobacco jar dated 1897 which appears to have been made at the nearby Wetheriggs pottery was given to Penrith and Eden Museum in January 2019. [8]

Fine art collection

The museum's fine art collection [9] includes a group of Dutch and Flemish landscape and genre paintings, [10] as well as British works including examples of the 19th century Penrith artist Jacob Thompson such as The Druids Cutting Down the Mistletoe. [11] It also houses contemporary works by Eden artists Phil Morsman, Alan Stones, Lorna Graves, David Boyd and William S. Cowper.

In December 2019 a picture added to the museum's collection was ‘A Corner of Old Time Penrith’ painted by William Jackson and left to the museum in the will of Mary Laycock Newman of Christchurch. Painted in oils on canvas the subject is dated 1909 and shows shops at the corner of King Street and Market Square, Penrith – including a butcher’s, a fishmonger’s and the premises of John Turner, watchmaker who also traded as a jeweller and gunsmith. [12]

Several items, found by metal detectorists, were acquired by the museum in February 2020 through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. They were valued by the Treasure Valuation Court at the British Museum with the reward shared between the finders and landowners. The finds include a medieval silver finger ring from Kirkby Thore (dating from around AD1150-1250), a medieval gold stirrup-shaped finger ring (dating from around the 13th century AD) which was found at Waitby near Kirkby Stephen and a medieval silver 'teardrop' brooch (made between AD 1200 and 1400). [13]

Accreditation and awards

Penrith and Eden Museum is an accredited museum (No. 153) under the Scheme administered by the Arts Council [14] and a member of the Cumbria Museums Consortium. [15]

In the media

In July 2018 Penrith and Eden Museum featured on the BBC TV series, the Antiques Road Trip with the show focussing on William Jameson (1837-1888), Penrith’s famous Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling champion. The Museum houses a large collection of memorabilia including championship belts and trophies relating to William Jameson. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmorland</span> Historic county of England

Westmorland (, formerly also spelt Westmoreland; is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. Between 1974 and 2023 Westmorland lay within the administrative county of Cumbria. In April 2023, Cumbria County Council will be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities, one of which, Westmorland and Furness, will cover all of Westmorland, thereby restoring the Westmorland name to a top-tier administrative entity. The people of Westmorland are known as Westmerians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eden District</span> Local government district in Cumbria, England

Eden is a local government district in Cumbria, England, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It is named after the River Eden, which flows north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased to 52,564 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate was 53,253. In July 2021 it was announced that in April 2023, Cumbria will divide into two unitary authorities. Eden District Council will cease and its functions pass to a new authority, Westmorland and Furness, covering the current districts of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penrith, Cumbria</span> Market town in Cumbria, England

Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England, about 17 miles (27 km) south of Carlisle. It is less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the Lake District National Park, in between the Rivers Petteril and Eamont and just north of the River Lowther. It had a population of 15,181 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoxne Hoard</span> Roman hoard found in England

The Hoxne Hoard is the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, and the largest collection of gold and silver coins of the fourth and fifth centuries found anywhere within the former Roman Empire. It was found by Eric Lawes, a metal detectorist in the village of Hoxne in Suffolk, England in 1992. The hoard consists of 14,865 Roman gold, silver, and bronze coins and approximately 200 items of silver tableware and gold jewellery. The objects are now in the British Museum in London, where the most important pieces and a selection of the rest are on permanent display. In 1993, the Treasure Valuation Committee valued the hoard at £1.75 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Środa Treasure</span> 14th century treasure hoard found in Środa Śląska, Poland

The Środa Treasure is a hoard of silver and gold coins, plus gold jewellery and some precious stones. The hoard dates from the mid 14th century. Its largest component is silver coins, of which there are about 3,000 pieces. The hoard was found in years 1985–1988 during renovation works in Silesian town of Środa Śląska, Poland. Today it is mostly kept in the Regional Museum in Środa Śląska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thetford Hoard</span> Hoard of Romano-British metalwork

The Thetford Hoard is a hoard of Romano-British metalwork found by Arthur and Greta Brooks at Gallows Hill, near Thetford in Norfolk, England, in November 1979, and now in the British Museum. Dating from the mid- to late-4th century AD, this hoard is a collection of thirty-three silver spoons and three silver strainers, twenty-two gold finger rings, four gold bracelets, four necklace pendants, five gold chain necklaces and two pairs of necklace-clasps, a gold amulet designed as a pendant, an unmounted engraved gem, four beads, and a gold belt-buckle decorated with a dancing satyr. A small cylindrical lidded box made from shale also belonged to the hoard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hallaton Treasure</span> Hoard of British Iron Age coins

The Hallaton Treasure, the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins, was discovered in 2000 near Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England, by volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group. The initial find was made by Ken Wallace on 19 November 2000, when he found about 130 coins with a metal detector.

The Treasure Valuation Committee (TVC) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) based in London, which offers expert advice to the government on items of declared treasure in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that museums there may wish to acquire from the Crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishpool Hoard</span> British hoard

In 1966 the Fishpool Hoard of 1,237 15th century gold coins, four rings and four other pieces of jewellery, and two lengths of gold chain was discovered by workmen on a building site near present-day Cambourne Gardens, in Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, England, an area that was then known as "Fishpool". It is the largest hoard of medieval coins ever found in Britain. To judge from the dates of the coins, the hoard was probably buried in haste at some time between winter 1463 and summer 1464, perhaps by someone fleeing south after the Battle of Hexham in May 1464, in the first stages of England's civil war between aristocratic factions, the War of the Roses. The Fishpool Hoard, on display in Room 40 in the British Museum, London, was listed in 2003 among Our Top Ten Treasures, a special episode of BBC Television series Meet the Ancestors that profiled the ten most important treasures ever unearthed in Britain as voted by a panel of experts from the British Museum. The British Museum assesses the face value of the hoard when deposited, about £400, would be equivalent to around £300,000 today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waitby</span> Human settlement in England

Waitby is a small village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. The parish contains two small villages, Waitby and Smardale, plus the small hamlets of Riddlesay, Stripes and Leases, all of which are in the farmed and enclosured northern part at an elevation of around 200–300m. The southern half of the parish is mostly heath and unused for agriculture, it rises to Smardale fell; which it includes, at elevations between 300 and 400m. The civil parish of Ravenstonedale forms the boundary to the south. The western border with Crosby Garrett civil parish is formed by Scandal Beck. To the north and east lie Soulby and Kirkby Stephen civil parishes respectively. The population of the civil parish as measured at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the parish of Crosby Garrett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wetheriggs Pottery</span>

Wetheriggs Pottery is a former pottery on the C3047 road, east of the hamlet of Clifton Dykes, in Clifton, Cumbria, 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Penrith in England. It opened in the mid 19th century providing farm and housewares for local consumption, later the business diversified into craft pottery. The property is Grade II listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penrith Hoard</span> Hoard of 10th century brooches

The Penrith Hoard is a dispersed hoard of 10th century silver penannular brooches found at Flusco Pike, Newbiggin Moor, near Penrith in Cumbria, and now in the British Museum in London. The largest "thistle brooch" was discovered in 1785 and another in 1830, with the bulk of items being recovered in two groups close to each other by archaeologists in 1989. Whether all the finds made close to each other were originally deposited at the same time remains uncertain, but it is thought likely that at least the brooches were. The brooches are thought to have been deposited in about 930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silverdale Hoard</span> Silver hoard

The Silverdale Hoard is a collection of over 200 pieces of silver jewellery and coins discovered near Silverdale, Lancashire, England, in September 2011. The items were deposited together in and under a lead container buried about 16 inches (41 cm) underground which was found in a field by a metal detectorist. It is believed to date to around AD 900, a time of intense conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danish settlers of northern England. The hoard is one of the largest Viking hoards ever discovered in the UK. It has been purchased by Lancashire Museums Service and has been displayed at Lancaster City Museum and the Museum of Lancashire in Preston. It is particularly significant for its inclusion of a coin stamped with the name of a previously unknown Viking ruler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canterbury Treasure</span> Roman hoard

The Canterbury Treasure is an important late Roman silver hoard found in the city of Canterbury, Kent, south-east England, ancient Durovernum Cantiacorum, in 1962, and now in the Roman Museum, Canterbury, Kent. Copies of the main items are also kept in the British Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boscoreale Treasure</span>

The Boscoreale Treasure is the name for a large collection of exquisite silver and gold Roman objects discovered in the ruins of the ancient Villa della Pisanella at Boscoreale, near Pompeii, southern Italy. Consisting of over a hundred pieces of silverware, as well as gold coins and jewellery, it is now mostly kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris, although parts of the treasure can also be found at the British Museum.

The Beeston Tor Hoard is an Anglo-Saxon jewellery and coin hoard discovered in 1924 at Beeston Tor in Staffordshire. The hoard consists of forty-nine coins, two silver brooches with Trewhiddle style decoration, three finger rings, and miscellaneous fragments. The coins date the burial of the hoard to approximately 875 AD.

References

  1. "350th anniversary of Robinson's School building, home to Penrith and Eden Museum". 13 May 2020.
  2. "Roman coins "find of a lifetime" in Shap field". www.cwherald.com.
  3. "Roman gold jewellery gifted to Penrith and Eden Museum". 17 April 2013.
  4. "Gold Roman jewellery discovered". 19 April 2013 via www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. "Another gold posy ring for Penrith and Eden Museum". 30 June 2015.
  6. "Visit Eden - Results Out for Elephant Tooth". www.visiteden.co.uk.
  7. "More Treasure for Penrith and Eden Museum". www.cumbriacrack.com.
  8. "Wetheriggs tobacco jar donated to Penrith and Eden Museum". www.cumbriacrack.com.
  9. "Eden District Council - Art UK". artuk.org.
  10. "Penrith and Eden Museum".
  11. "Penrith Museum acquires important Jacob Thompson painting". 16 May 2016.
  12. "A Corner of Penrith". cumbriacrack.com.
  13. "Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Treasures at Penrith and Eden Museum". 14 February 2020.
  14. "Museum's Art Council Accreditation Status renewed". cumbriacrack.com.
  15. "Cumbria Museum". cumbriamuseums.org.uk.
  16. "BBC Antiques Road Trip grapples with Penrith and Eden Museum's wrestling memorabilia". 4 September 2017.