Woolmer at Milestones

The Longmoor Military Railway is an important part of Hampshire’s military and transport history.The railway was built by the Royal Engineers from 1903 in order to train soldiers on railway construction and operations.

At its height the railway system included more than 70 miles of track. Due to the Army’s dwindling need to engage in and therefore train for railway operations, the railway closed in 1969. Woolmer was built in 1910 by the Avonside company of Bristol for the Longmoor Military Railway and worked until 1954.

From that time the locomotive performed a number of roles as a static exhibit before moving to the Museum of Army Transport at Beverley in East Yorkshire. When that museum closed in 2003, the locomotive was transferred to the Locomotion, The National Railway Museum at Shildon. The NRM returned the locomotive to display condition as part of its Learning in Motion project.

Woolmer is now on loan to the County’s museums service and is on display at Milestones.

Portsdown Hill, 1778 by Dominic Serres

This view from the cliffs at Portsdown Hill shows Portsmouth in the period before industrialisation and before the construction of Palmerston's forts during the 19th century. In the foreground some figures appear to be enjoying the view over the harbour where a number of ships are at anchor and others under sail. The overwhelming impression is still of an unspoilt rural landscape.

Serres was born in Gascony, probably in 1719, and was destined by his parents for the Church. Little more is known of his early life, although he appears never to have followed a religious vocation, travelling at first to Spain and then following a career at sea.

Serres is known to have risen to the rank of ship's captain and to have spent time in Cuba, but was taken prisoner by the British during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) and eventually settled in London. From that time on his life changed; he became a pupil of the marine artist Charles Brooking, married and became a well known member of the French émigré community.

In 1768 Serres became a founder member of the Royal Academy in London, and was later appointed Librarian. He continued to paint, specialising in naval and maritime scenes for which his early life had particularly prepared him, and in 1780 was appointed Maritime Painter to King George III. He died in 1793.

Oils on canvas

On display at Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham

Early 18th centurySilk damask wallet

This wallet, covered in silk damask embroidered with silks and metal thread, dates to the early 18th century.

The butterfly is beautifully executed in coloured silk threads. It is currently on display at the Red House Museum, Christchurch as part of a showcase celebrating National Insect Week.

The wallet was given to the Red House Museum 42 years ago and has recently been added to Hampshire Museums' searchable 'bags and purses' database. It will be on display in the 'Hampshire's Treasures' exhibition at St Barbe Museum, Lymington in the autumn.

Big Bugs

These three impressive beetles are among the largest beetles to be found in the world. They will be on display, with other large insects from the collections of the Museums and Arts Service, during National Insect Week (21 -27 June) at Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham.

Atlas beetles (left) are found in Malaysia. Male Atlas beetles grow up to 12 – 13cm and their huge horns make up about a third of this length. The horns are used to fight off other males. Females are smaller and don’t have horns.

Goliath beetles (middle) are found in Africa and feed on tree sap and fruit. They are among the heaviest beetles, with males of some species reaching up to 100 gms. Male Goliath beetles the white stripes and patches that can be seen on this specimen.

Elephant beetles (right) are black, but as they are covered with a coat of fine microscopic hairs, they appear to be a yellowish colour. Males have a two small horns and a long horn, which looks a little like an elephants trunk, which gives them name. Females don’t have horns. The horns are used to fight off other males.

Hoover Constellation (1950s)

With the development of nuclear power, satellites, transistors and microchips, anything seemed possible in the 1950s. Technology could provide the answer to any problem asked of it, and manufacturers of domestic appliances were keen to harness that momentum and make it available in the home. Among the most distinctive expressions of that confident age was the Hoover Constellation. Advertised with the optimistic slogan of “It floats through housework!” Hoover’s promise was that by owning a Constellation, the housewife – the contemporary advertising material is of course unambiguously gendered – could bring the latest technology to bear on her household chores.

The Constellation’s futuristic character was not the result of mere styling or promotional hype; though the TV adverts showing the Constellation flying through space were the result of more than a little licence, the device really did travel without wheels. Moving freely on a cushion of its own exhaust the Constellation was hovering around parquet floors some time before Christopher Cockerell made his pioneering crossing of the English Channel by hovercraft in 1959.

Whether the Constellation was a success is open to question. Given that it was produced until the mid-1970s it must have been regarded as having some commercial viability, but the reality was that it was noisy, its air cushion blew clouds of dust from the floor into the room and it was challenged by anything but the shortest pile carpet. There is no doubt however that the example on display at Milestones rekindles many fond memories from former Constellation owners.

The design was relaunched in 2006 as a ‘retro’ product and remained in manufacture until 2009.

The Tichborne Spoons

A set of twelve spoons: silver-gilt, bearing the maker’s mark of William Cawdell and London hallmarks for the year 1592.

William Cawdell was a specialist spoonmaker, supplying spoons wholesale and to commission. The archives of the Goldsmiths Company document an eventful career from his apprenticeship in 1575 to his death in 1625. Notably, in 1599 the Assay Office found that some of his work was of substandard silver. However, despite a succession of such offences, Cawdell had become a Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company by 1621, and his will shows that he died in possession of considerable property.

Like ‘apostle’ spoons, on which the finials represent the twelve apostles with sometimes a thirteenth representing Christ, the Tichborne spoons are topped by human figures. However, this set is unique. Christ and St Peter have precedence, but next comes Queen Elizabeth I, who in turn is followed by a traditional grouping of heroes known as the Nine Worthies.

First referred to in a French poem of around 1312 and appearing in various media until the 17th century, the Worthies consist of three Christians, three Jews and three pagans. They are a mix of real and legendary figures. Of the Christians, Guy of Warwick , King Arthur and the Emperor Charlemagne, only the last was an historic character. King David, Joshua and Judas Maccabeus, the Jews, are respectively two scriptural figures and one who is generally acknowledged to have lived. The pagans, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Hector of Troy, number two from the history books and one from epic verse.

Two of this group may be unfamiliar to us today. Guy of Warwick was a legendary warrior who is said to have saved 10th century Winchester from the Danes by defeating their champion in single combat. The other, Judas Maccabeus, was a Hebrew leader celebrated for having retaken Jerusalem from the Syrians in 165 BC.

Some other appearances of the Nine Worthies are worth noting. They feature in a play-within-a-play during the last Act of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ (c1595), though Shakespeare fields a slightly different team, including Pompey the Great and Hercules. Sculptures representing them can be seen on the façade of Montacute House in Somerset (1600), and nine female Worthies appear on painted panels from Amberley Castle (1539) displayed at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.

Although the spoons are of the highest quality and unique in design, it is not known for whom they were made. It seems safe to say only that the individual must have been of very high standing - one who could realistically hope or expect that the queen would visit and be flattered by her depiction as a tenth Worthy.

The earliest surviving reference linking the spoons to the name of Tichborne  dates from 1858, when the spoons were auctioned. It stated in the catalogue of that sale that they were presented to Sir Robert Tichborne when Lord Mayor of London in 1657, and that an inventory mentioning the spoons and other goods belonging to Sir Robert’s sister was to be sold with them. Unfortunately the inventory has since been lost and no other evidence for the story has come to light. After the sale of 1858, however, and until 1914, they are known to have been in the possession of the Tichborne family of Tichborne in Hampshire. Following a public appeal they were purchased by Hampshire County Council in 1975.

Accession no. HCMS1975.175.1-12

Purchased with the aid of the Victoria & Albert Museum purchase Grant Fund, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the National Art Collections Fund, the Elvetham Trust, the Dulverton Trust, the Pilgrim Trust, the Hampshire Antiques Society, David Pumfret Esq., Sir Lynton White, and numerous small donations from Hampshire companies and local people.

Oil Painting of St Mary’s Church, Andover

Look out for this tiny painting in Andover Museum, tucked round the side of the case in the Weyhill Fair Room.

The picture is by an unknown artist and is undated, but shows the old St Mary’s Church that was demolished in the early 19th century and replaced by the present building in a revival of the Gothic style. The churchyard wall remains, along with some early monuments which were salvaged and transferred to the interior of the new church.

The door of the church in the painting has a round arch typical of the Norman or Romanesque style, with a double row of ‘dog’s tooth’ or zig-zag decoration. Between the two sets of windows above the door is a panel which carries ‘1727’ in very faint letters. This may have been the year the picture was painted. Sheep and a pair of longhorn cattle are being driven though the churchyard, possibly to escape the approaching storm heralded by the grey cloud massing overhead.

We are indebted to the Friends of Andover Museum for the gift of this painting and its view of Andover’s past which has long since disappeared.

Items made by the Bishops Waltham Clay Company, 1866-1867

It’s little known that for about 18 months between1866 and the autumn of 1867 a company in Bishops Waltham made upmarket table ware.

In the early 1860s a top-ranking civil servant and successful writer, Arthur Helps, was buying up land to enlarge his estate. Within a year or two he discovered he had bought the rights to a deposit of fine terracotta clay, not far from where he lived at Vernon Hill House. For him this wasn’t just a business opportunity, but the chance to experiment with a liberal approach to industrial relations which till then he had only been able to write about.

The Bishops Waltham Clay Company started in 1862, making bricks and tiles, but the money Helps invested in schemes such as workers’ housing and in a local branch line was quite quickly lost. In an attempt to avert disaster he went into making wares like those shown here. Even so the company failed completely in 1867, and he was obliged to retire to a house in Kew granted to him by Queen Victoria. Subsequently, Blanchards (Bishops Waltham) Ltd, were to make bricks on the site with rather more success well into the 1950s.

Hampshire Museums Service has about two dozen pieces of this ware acquired from various sources. The best items are displayed at the Allen Gallery in Alton.

Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee toys

Made by a German prisoner of war in Fareham, 1939 – 1945

These painted wooden toys depicting the two famous prime ministers were made at the East Cams POW camp, Portchester Road, Fareham. The maker has used a simple wire cam mechanism to make the figures move when they are pushed along. Churchill lifts his walking stick and Attlee raises his hat.

They were given to Hampshire Museums by Mr Martin, whose mother used to work at the Fareham POW camp. A prisoner gave her the two push-along toys, as well as a painted wooden money box in the shape of a house.

There has been a long tradition of making playthings amongst POWs, perhaps because the toys reminded the men of the children that they had left at home. The products were useful for bartering, particularly if the guards were friendly and they could be swapped for food or other essentials. Some camps held sales of the toys and other handiwork directly to the public. Some of the most intricately carved games, and models were made by the Napoleonic POWs, many of whom were kept in the forts and floating hulks along the south coast of Hampshire.

Sheet of plants collected by Darwin's tutor, mentor and friend John Stevens Henslow

These plants were collected in 1836 by John Stevens Henslow, Professor of Botany at Cambridge. One of his pupils was Charles Darwin who was inspired by Henslow’s teaching and took long, almost daily, walks with him discussing natural history. During his time at Cambridge, Charles Darwin was known as ‘the man who walks with Henslow’.

When Professor Henslow heard that Captain Fitzroy, was looking for a gentleman companion and naturalist for his planned two year trip on HMS Beagle, he recommended Charles Darwin for the post.

During his voyage on HMS Beagle, Darwin collected 1000s of rocks, fossil, plants and animals, as well as taking notes; which eventually helped him to form his theory of evolution by natural selection. Throughout the trip, which lasted five years, Darwin sent batches of specimens to Henslow who sorted through the scientific samples and passed them on to the appropriate experts for identification. He also built up Darwin’s scientific credentials by publishing his observational notes in scientific journals.

Pink Satin Slipper

These 1920s mule-style indoor shoes in shocking pink silk ‘slipper satin’, are quilted, and trimmed with dyed ostrich feathers. With their bright colouring, ostentatious design and dainty heel, they were clearly meant to be shown off, rather than hidden under the bed. However they display little sign of wear: so we may wonder, were they a rather extravagant wardrobe mistake, or a gift from an unwanted suitor perhaps?

These slippers are on display at the Red House Museum, Christchurch, in a new display about Interwar Fashions of the 1920s and 1930s. They are shown with a dressing gown of the period, and around a hundred items of clothing and accessories that allow an exploration of the social changes, and technological advances, of that era.

The Museums Service has recently launched its catalogue of Boots and Shoes featuring hundreds of shoes from the County’s collections. You can search for all kinds of shoes, dating from 1700 to 2000, and including winklepickers, platforms, and roller skates.