
This month I am cheating and choosing three objects for the price of one! Since we took responsibility for the University Herbarium a couple of years ago, we have constantly been unearthing new treasures. The archive volunteers have been working on two collections of objects which came to us with the Herbarium – a box…

Summer has finally joined us and what better summer activity than going for a picnic? But did you know where the tradition of picnics came from? As I watched the skies darkening last Sunday I was hastily doing a mental note of how many family members I could fit round the dining room table to…

An exciting project is taking place the Winterbourne nursery! Sarah Moss, an artist who has had a long association with Winterbourne, is painting a frieze which will extend all the way around the beautiful room in which the Nettlefold children played over a hundred years ago. A draft section of the frieze by Sarah Moss…

Our archive is filled with thousands of treasures from the past, many of which never get to see the light of day. We want to change this, which is why each month we’ll now shine a spotlight on one of our many objects. First up is a perfectly-preserved specimen of sphagnum moss (c. 1900), introduced…

Nowadays knitting, stitching, embroidery, and crochet are great ways to unwind and get crafty. But, back in the 18-1900s, needlework was an essential skill. Curator Henrietta reveals the importance of needlework in the Nettlefold’s lives by flicking through their photo archives. Knitting and other forms of needlework are becoming increasingly popular as people rediscover the…