Burton Programme Jan to June 2017

Museum
Upstairs at The Burton there’s a
beautiful museum full of exciting
objects. All of them tell stories
about Bideford’s intriguing, dark
and interesting past...
Bideford History
We welcome you to come and discover
all our stories and create your own
answers to their mysteries. Here are two
objects with secret pasts:
The Bideford Arms plaque
On November 15, 1592 the yacht Bideford
Arms was wrecked on Saunton Sands
during bad weather. All on board were
lost, including Barnstaple resident, Captain
Stevens. This plaque was saved from the
wreckage by the Captain’s widow and
handed down as a family heirloom. But what
lengths did the Captain’s widow go to when
she rescued it – did she battle stormy seas,
rowing out to the wreckage in thick fog with
just a lantern to see?
Anti-royalist graffiti - this 17th century
coin is part of a collection of 453 coins found in
Abbotsham when a family was digging up their
garden. What is so fascinating about it is the “W”
mark scratched on its metal, which is anti-royalist
graffiti. Someone back then, maybe a pirate or a
thief, could have stolen this money and stashed it
away. But, for some mysterious reason, they never
came back to collect it. What happened to them?
RJ Lloyd Collection Item
This is a fabulous piece of 1850
Bideford Pottery; it’s a small cream
jug telling the story of a 19th century
lifeboat rescue. This pot is the
equivalent of us, today, doodling
stories in a notebook, except on
pottery. Carved into the jug is this
poetic line: “I throw out the lifelines
and rescue the perishing”.
Silver
In 18th century England,
towns and cities were
malodourous places.
There was no sanitation,
so people used snuff
boxes – known as
Vinaigrettes – to mask
the stench. These boxes
contained sponges soaked with sweet
oils their owners sniffed.
In the museum there is a huge range of
silver vinaigrettes boxes from 1823.
There are also 800 calling card cases,
many silver (pictured), collected by
Arthur McTaggart Short and used as
part of Victorian society
business etiquette.
Ceramics
There is a dedicated ceramics
exhibition in our museum, containing
over 500 objects. All of them tell
stories and were created using a
variety of artistic methods. Two objects
in the collection are:
Edmund Fishleigh Posset Pot – this
is an 1843 British slipware posset pot,
used in medieval times to put cold
remedies in, such as hot milk curdled
with spiced ale. Looking at the pot,
you can see the small hole where you
drink from is in an impractical place,
especially if you were lying ill in bed.
Pocket Watch Stand – this is an
1848 George Fishleigh Fremingtom
Pottery stand. People rested their
pocket watches in it to turn them into
decorative mantelpiece objects. This
stand appears to be a re-telling of a
Biblical story, but – looking closely – you
can see it also includes Lord Nelson.
14 January - June 2017
Free admission 7 days a week 15