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2024-03-31-accounts

The Museum, 41 Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire. SN10 1NS 01380 727369 w ~~ww.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk~~

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Values of the Society

We love Wiltshire!

Our mission is to inspire people to explore the archaeology, history and natural environment of Wiltshire.

Inclusive

We welcome everyone, building meaningful connections through a shared passion for our past, present and future.

Inspiring

We inspire curiosity and creativity through the discovery of our collections and stories.

Sharing

We are a collaborative space for encouraging well-being, enabling research and sharing knowledge.

Caring

We will bring joy to future generations by celebrating life in Wiltshire today and by caring for our Nationally important collections.

Trusted

We act with integrity, and we can be counted on.

Front Cover and Above: Eve. Silbury Hill, by Anna Dillon (see pages 13 and 16)

SUMMARY and OBJECTS

Charity Number 1080096 Company Registration Number 3885649 (A company limited by guarantee)

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (the Society) was founded in 1853 and the Society’s first permanent Museum opened in Long Street, Devizes in 1874.

The Society is a registered charity and governed by Articles of Association.

Objects. To educate the public by promoting, fostering interest in, exploration, research and publication on the archaeology, art, history and natural history of Wiltshire for the public benefit. Mission Statement. To explore the archaeology, art, history and natural history of Wiltshire. Aims. The Society runs the Wiltshire Museum, organises a programme including conferences, lecture and events, learning and outreach for children and schools, provides access to our collections for academic and general researchers, reviews planning consents, supports the Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group, promotes Industrial Archaeology and publishes the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine ( WANHM ) . Further details are included in this Annual Report.

The Collections. These have been acquired by the Society for 170 years and their strength lies in the prehistoric material. The Early Bronze Age collection is of exceptional importance because of its size and range, the uniqueness of many of the objects, the fact that it includes many important items, its association with the World Heritage Site of Avebury and Stonehenge, and its relevance to the history of archaeology. ‘Gold from the Time of Stonehenge’ is on permanent display.

Researchers. Every year academic researchers carry out important research on the collection. There are over 500,000 items in the collections and details can be found in our online searchable database. The collections are ‘ Designated ’ of national importance and ‘ Accreditation ’ status was first awarded in 2005. Overseen by the Arts Council the Accreditation Scheme sets out nationally-agreed standards, which inspire the confidence of the public and funding and governing bodies. It enables museums to assess their current performance, as well as supporting them to plan and develop their services .

The Archive & Library contains a local studies collection of books, journals, newspapers and other printed items including photographs and maps concerned with Wiltshire, all available to researchers. The archaeology section includes a general collection of archaeology books, the principal archaeology journals, the papers of Wiltshire antiquaries and the written records of more recent excavations in the county. The natural history section similarly includes general natural history books, specialist journals and the papers of early natural historians.

Funding. The Society and Museum are funded by its members, past and present; admission charges, Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council, grants from charitable trusts, fundraising activities and income from investments.

The Society holds an Annual General Meeting each year to which all Society members are invited. At this meeting the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] March are presented for approval and Trustees elected.

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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society is committed to promoting the values of a just, inclusive and cohesive society and we take seriously our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. In all we do, we will seek to remove barriers to participation, create opportunities for engagement and meet the needs of all people.

Equality and diversity is being woven throughout our strategic aims. Our objectives for equality and diversity support our strategic aims and specifically focus on three key areas (governance, workforce and audiences), which will be implemented through our equality and diversity action plan.

A Policy is being developed, working with the Wessex Museums Partnership, to work towards embedding and integrating equality and diversity at every level of the organisation, through specific and regular equality and diversity policy review and strategic planning. We aim to raise awareness and actively promote the values of equality and diversity through the appointment of a board level Diversity Champion and by providing training opportunities for trustees. We are working towards ensuring that all levels of staff and volunteers are included in strategic and action planning and to develop a better and more detailed understanding of our audiences and our local demographics, in order to identify our under-represented audience groups. The Society will also ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of development planning in regards to the relocation of the Museum to the Assize Court.

Framed oil on canvas portrait of Eric Walrond, with view of Bradford-on-Avon in the background, and the clock tower from Roundway Hospital, Devizes in the foreground. Commissioned by Wiltshire Museum for the Eric Walrond exhibition (see pages 16 and 29), and funded by grants from the Art Fund and NLHF (see page 12). Signed by the artist, Clifton Powell (2023.1008).*

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WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Charity Number 1080096 Company Registration Number 3885649 (A company limited by guarantee)

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

CONTENTS
Values of the Society 2
Summary and Objects 3
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 4
Community Engagement 6
Letter from the Chair 7
Board of Trustees’ Report 9
Objectives and Activities of the Society
 9
Highlights of the Year 10
Portable Antiquities Scheme 11
Fundraising and Grants 12
Exhibitions 13
Collections - Loans 14
- Conservation 15
- Collections - Acquisitions of the year 16
- Collections - Archaeology 17
- Collections - Art and Archive & Library 18
- Natural History, Numismatics
 20
- Recent History
 21
Research - Archaeology Collections 22
Researchers 23
Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group 24
Publications and Social Media 25
Activities, Events, Conferences, Lectures and Outings 26
Membership 27
Learning, Outreach and Community Engagement 28
Community Curator 29
Volunteers 30
Society Committees and Working Groups 31
Development - Working with Partners and Plans for the Future 32
- Devizes Assize Court project 33
Trustees’ Financial Review 34
Structure, Governance and Management 37
Reference and Administrative Information 38
Report of the Auditors 39
Statement of Financial Activities 41
Balance Sheet 42
Statement of Cash fows 43
Notes to the fnancial statements 44
Collections Trust – Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet 53
Collections Trust – Notes to the Financial Statements 54
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 11 November 2023 55

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Community Engagement

During 2023 we worked with local groups, producing artworks for our exhibition, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire

Forgotten Generations Banner

This banner was created by the Nepali Ladies Craft Group in Tidworth. They meet once a week to socialise and take part in a range of craft activities.

The group were inspired by the life of Albert Jarrett, who featured in the exhibition when creating the banner. They felt an affinity due to their own family links with the Armed Forces and the racism they have experienced. Using scrap fabric and donated materials, the group tried out techniques such as painting onto fabric, wax resist and appliqué.

They also used their own embroidery skills, inspired by African American story quilts, to depict Albert’s story from his early life in Jamaica, his move to Wiltshire to train at RAF Melksham, his service as an RAF engineer during World War II and his journey back to the UK as part of the Windrush generation and the racism he experienced.

The large central square features the logo for the Points of Light award, which Albert received in 2022 for making change in his community, and the lower section represents aspects of his life which he and his family were particularly proud.

His family, of whom he was especially proud are also depicted, alongside representations of his War Service Medal, which he belatedly received in 2021 and the Queen’s Baton which he carried on its relay prior to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The logo of Forgotten Generations, the charity Albert founded with Warrant Officer Donald Campbell, is included and the whole banner is adorned with red and black poppies in remembrance of all service

personnel, but particularly the forgotten generations who are remembered through Albert’s story.

The banner, which is now in the Society’s collection, is signed in thread by all the women who participated in the project.

The Crafty Club

‘The Crafty Club’ is a Tidworth based community club supported by the Army Welfare Service. The club provides time and space for socialising, together with an opportunity to explore new crafts.

Working with artist Tamsin Loveday, they were introduced to techniques including bookbinding, monoprint, decoupage, collage and more, while supporting participants engagement with the themes in the exhibition. Everyday objects, reflecting some of the stories in the exhibition, were transformed using fragments of original artwork created during the project and other source material. The artwork they created included paper cups decorated with collage paper (decoupage), army boots and black poppies, as a thoughtful creative response to the subjects discussed in the exhibition.

All the participants enjoyed learning new techniques and exploring the issues included in the exhibition.

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WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Charity Number 1080096 Company Registration Number 3885649

(A company limited by guarantee)

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Welcome to the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31st March 2024 which highlights some of your Society’s many recent achievements. As you will be aware, we and the Devizes Assize Court Trust (DACT) received Development Stage Funding of just over £300,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Assize Court project which has enabled us to build our team to prepare our Delivery Phase application in 2025. Tremendous progress has been made, with a detailed planning application recently submitted, and there have been some encouraging early fund-raising successes with major charitable foundations and philanthropists.

Whilst we progress the Assize Court project the Museum has very pleasingly maintained real momentum across all of its activities. There have been a series of vibrant exhibitions, which have been highly popular, bringing in many new visitors. The childrens’ and educational programmes have been consistently excellent and well attended, and as usual we have supported a fascinating number of research projects, on subjects as diverse as trepanning and prehistoric environments. The programme of members’ events and lectures – online and in real life - has been stimulating and well received. The collections continue to grow with our active contemporary collections strategy, and a number of generous donations of significant items described later on in this report. Digital access has been enhanced through our new Collections Search database and in the future through participation in the pioneering Museum Data Service. Our greatly valued volunteers have given us 3,300 volunteer hours this year – a vital part of keeping the Society functioning effectively.

You will see an improved position in the financial statements below which form part of this report, with revenue increasing from £361,146 to £560,646. The principal driver for this was grants received to support the Assize Court project. Other revenue streams remained in line with the Museum plan and previous years. Prudent cost control and some helpful recovery in the value of our investments meant that this year’s loss was just £27,000, compared to last year’s loss of £269,000. The Trustees and management continue to focus on minimising the gap between costs and revenue.

I stepped down as Chair in March this year having completed six years. It has been a real privilege to be involved over this time, and I thank all members, trustees, volunteers and especially staff for their support. The Society is a remarkable organisation that punches well above its weight, sharing its treasures and stories in a highly engaging way with a wide variety of audiences. We will be able to achieve even more when suitably relocated to the Assize Court building. I am pleased to be able to continue to support that project as a trustee of DACT.

I am also very pleased that Caroline Kay has been appointed as Chair of the Society, starting in September 2024. Caroline has extensive and highly relevant experience of the heritage sector and of major cultural projects. In the interim Alison Hems has kindly been chairing the Society most ably and attentively.

I hope you enjoy reading the annual report – it will give you a good flavour of a truly impressive year.

Martin Nye

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Conserving the Collections: The Wilcot Hoard

With the generosity of our members and contributors we were able to fund the conservation of this important hoard of Roman bronze vessels, discovered in Wilcot, near Pewsey.

The four vessels were probably buried at the end of Roman Britain, about 1,600 years ago. The vessels were carefully nested inside each other, perhaps using heather, bracken and sedge grasses as ‘bubblewrap’. Although buried at the same time the vessels are of different dates. The largest is a bronze bowl that was made in around 350 AD meaning the hoard must have been hidden after that date. The smallest, a wine strainer, was already over 200 years old, and one of the bowls over 100 years old, when buried.

Before conservation they were so fragile they could not be removed from their packing! However, they were cleaned by conservation experts Drakon Heritage and Conservation.

The hoard was found with the aid of a metal detector by Paul Hart, who promptly reported it to the Wiltshire Finds Liaison Officer. The finder and landowner both generously agreed to donate the vessels to Wiltshire Museum. Following the completion of the conservation and the construction of a special display mount, they went on display in the Museum’s Library Long Room. There was also a talk in January 2023 by Richard Henry, who was the Wiltshire Finds Liaison Officer when the hoard was discovered. Richard is a Roman expert and has published a full report on the hoard in Britannia , a national archaeological journal.

Top Rows: before and after images - PAS and Drakon Heritage and Conservation. Below: Curator, Lisa Brown, carefully displaying the restored hoard

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WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Charity Number 1080096 Company Registration Number 3885649

(A company limited by guarantee)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The Trustees present their Annual Report, together with the financial statements of the charity, for the year ended 31 March 2024.

This Annual Report includes the reports and financial statements set out on pages 10 to 54. The Report of the Board of Trustees should be deemed to be the directors’ report for the purposes of Company Law.

The reports on the following pages show how the Objects of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (‘the Society’) - see below - are achieved to further the charity’s purposes for the public benefit. The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The Director is the senior member of staff responsible for the ongoing operations in consultation with the Chair and his report, and those of the staff, follow, on pages 10 to 33. The Society’s committees and working groups provide a number of services to members and the wider public. They cover a wide range of activities from fundraising, industrial archaeology through to expert advice on planning matters. Their work helps promote the Society and its Museum and Archive and Library to a wide audience and reports are included in this report. The Society could not operate without the hundreds of volunteer hours provided and also the invaluable funding and support of our membership. .

The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Articles of Association and the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY

The objects for which the Society is registered are to educate the public by promoting, fostering interest in, exploration, research and publication on the archaeology, art, history and natural history of Wiltshire for the public benefit . To achieve this the Society:

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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Maintains a museum, library and art gallery, open throughout the year, and mounts exhibitions to stimulate and enhance appreciation of the county of Wiltshire. Loans objects to other organisations.

MISSION STATEMENT

Inspiring people to explore the archaeology, history and environment of Wiltshire

Highlights of the Year

The highlight of the year was the news that our application for Development phase funding to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Assizes for Devizes project had been successful. This news has begun the transformation of the Society and the Museum, a process that we hope will build momentum as we prepare to raise the funding we need to deliver the project.

A major focus for the year was the bringing together of a wide-ranging project team, bringing together the expertise of architects, exhibition designers, consultants, volunteers, trustees, advisors and staff. By the end of the year we were well on our way to developing detailed plans for the building, ready to start looking at plans for exhibitions, displays and the activities that will mean that we can engage with new audiences. The complexity of the task has been shown through the many blocks of colour on the Gantt chart prepared by Nicola Trowell, our able Programme Manager, who is keeping the project on track. She has been supported by her new team - Claire Slack, Project Engagement Officer, Helen Meikle, Project Support Officer and Friday Schoemaker, Project Assistant. I am very grateful to them and the support and challenge of the members of the Project Board, which includes Trustees from both the Society and the Devizes Assize Court Trust as well as their consultant architect, Colin Johns.

We are now looking forward to submitting a Delivery Stage application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in August 2025, alongside bids to many other funders to reach our challenging fundraising target. Once we have raised the funds we need, we can get on with the real task of delivering this exciting project.

It is vital that the Society and Museum continues to develop and thrive without being distracted by the project. This report is full of evidence showing the breadth and depth of activity undertake during the year. The Education programme, delivered by Ali Rushent, engaged almost 1,000 children during the year. The busy exhibition programme developed by Heather Ault brought new visitors to the Museum, with the highlight being the ‘Wessex Airscapes’ exhibition showcasing paintings by Anna Dillon and photography by Hedley Thorne.

Our Community Curator, Amy Hammett, developed two exhibitions that looked at different aspect of diversity in Wiltshire – Lest We Forget – the black contribution to the World Wars and Eric Walrond – the Caribbean author at the heart of the Harlem Renaissance who lived in Wiltshire.

Making exhibitions and events a success relies upon the support of a great team. Karen Jones designed the panels for the exhibition and developed the marketing that brought in new visitors. Rachael Holtom prepared the grant applications that made the exhibition programme possible and Mandy Dixon helped us keep a close eye on the finances. Our volunteers have continued to offer the warm welcome that is so often mentioned by our visitors, supported by Emma Sykes, and the building is kept spotless by Carol Johnston.

Over the last couple of years, we have highlighted the importance of our collections for research. This takes many forms, from researchers using our library and archive collections with the guidance of Jane SchÖn and her team of volunteers, or our archaeology collections, supervised by Lisa Brown. It has also been a year with many important acquisitions, ranging from the personal archive of Kate Fielden to a racing car tyre made by Avon Tyres in Melksham.

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During the year we also implemented a new ‘collections search’ feature on our website, working with our Wessex Museums colleagues and as a step towards involvement in the Museum Data Service. We published another impressive edition of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine , edited by Stuart Brookes and ably supported by Peter Saunders. This featured research by Dr Ellis-Haken on the internationally important Iron Age Marlborough Bucket, which had been featured in one of our many lectures. We are very grateful to all those who have given their time by leading walks and given talks that have engaged so many people in finding out more about Wiltshire’s stories.

Society members are the bedrock of the organisation. Their support is essential for our development, and I am very grateful to them. A special thanks goes to our Trustees, who give so freely of their time and expertise to support the charity. A particular achievement this year was the development of our Society Values – crystallised as ‘We love Wiltshire!’.

Lastly, I would like to give my personal thanks to Martin Nye, our Chair who stepped down at the end of his term of office. He has guided the Society through the challenges of COVID and the Assize Court legacy, and has been an exceptional support throughout the highs and lows of the last six years.

David Dawson

TRAINING

The Collections Officer: Archive and Library has attended several online lectures by The National Archives covering topics ranging from researching your family history, how to use Discovery and using POW records to assist with answering enquires. She also attended an online session in May about ‘Curating Discomfort’ delivered by the Institute for the Understanding of the Past and in October an online session on ‘Legacies of British Slave Ownership’ delivered by the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at UCL.

The Research Libraries UK have continued to run a series of online lectures entitled Inclusive Collections: Inclusive Libraries and she has attended most lectures. The lectures are providing background knowledge and will assist her with the Decolonisation work being undertaken for the WMP NPO.

Portable Antiquities Scheme

The Finds Liaison Officer, volunteers and self-recorders recorded 2532 objects in 2445 records from April 2023 to March 2024. The majority of these finds were made by metal detectorists who reported them to Portable Antiquities Scheme ( www.finds.org.uk ).

Funding has continued via the British Museum/ PAS to finance a part time Finds Liaison Assistant to support the FLO, and the FLA role continues to be split between Alix Smith and Alyson Tanner, in addition to their volunteering with PAS. Our volunteer team numbers were swelled by five students from University of Cardiff during Summer 2023, as part of their placement at Teffont with Dr David Roberts, and we are grateful for their help in creating a large number of PAS database records for finds from a Roman site in Wiltshire. We were awarded Treasure funding during February and March 2024 to fund a Treasure FLA, Jane Hanbidge, to help with our Treasure work. Richard Henry has also been working on several large Roman coin hoards for us as we have had a large number of coins reported to us in over the last year.

Significance based changes to the Treasure Act 1996 came into force on 30 July 2023 as the legal definition of Treasure was changed to include the most exceptional finds of over 200 years old and regardless of the type of metal from which they are made. This new definition makes it easier for museums to acquire more finds of archaeological significance for the benefit of the nation, which are currently not classed as Treasure. However, the bar is set very high, and as yet, no finds reported to PAS Wiltshire have met the new definition.

A number of finds identified and recorded with PAS have been generously donated to Wiltshire Museum by finders and landowners over the past year. We are very grateful to them.

Work in areas where finds have been reported to PAS has included geophysical survey by Mike McQueen at a Roman site in North Wiltshire, and recent excavation/block lift of an in-situ Bronze Age copper alloy hoard found in Central Wiltshire, by the Assistant County Archaeologist, the Finds Liaison Assistants and the Finder. This hoard is now at the British Museum awaiting x-ray and micro-excavation.

Sophie Hawke Finds Liaison Officer for Wiltshire Portable Antiquities Scheme

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Fundraising and Grants

Fundraising is essential to ensure the Society can continue to achieve its aims and ambitions and to work with the local community. The Society’s continued success is rooted in the support of members and the local community through subscriptions, donations and being advocates of our work. Corporate Members include Wansbroughs Solicitors, Venture Chartered Accountants and AC Archaeology. This report highlights some of the work undertaken to fund new interactives, conserve the collection and hold high profile exhibitions. There is more detail elsewhere in the Annual Report.

Appeals and Donations

The Society’s continued success is rooted in the support of members and the local community. Members help fund our valuable work via subscriptions, donations, engaging with the Museum and advocating our work.

Corporate Members and Sponsors during 2021-22 were Wansbroughs Solicitors; Venture Chartered Accountants and AC Archaeology.

We are also grateful for funds received to purchase specific items e.g. the scale wooden model of Springfield House, Potterne Road, Devizes (DZSWS:2023.66) or waiving fees on items acquired for the collection.

We held appeals during the year to conserve two unique items:

(1) The Rev Alfred Charles Smith Presentation Volume : over £650 was raised to fund the essential conservation on this volume, which was donated during lockdown. Originally presented to Rev Smith in 1884 by fellow WANHS members, on the occasion of his only daughter’s marriage and to commemorate his nearly 30 years as honorary secretary of the Society and editor of WANHM. Smith was a pioneering archaeologist, author of “Guide to the British and Roman Antiquities of the North Wiltshire Downs in a Hundred Square Miles around Avebury”. Some of his books including “Pilgrimage through Palestine” and “Attractions of the Nile” are still available online, the latter being reprinted in 2018.

(2) Ernest Farmer photograph Album. This volume contains photographs taken in 1892 in the West Country, including the Wiltshire Thatcher. The conserved album would form the centrepiece of the exhibition A Wiltshire Thatcher (see pages 15 and 18)

Art Fund: Portrait of Eric Walrond.

A contemporary portrait of Eric Walrond was created by artist Clifton Powell was funded by a grant of £2,212 from the Art Fund, £300 from the Heritage Fund, donations from ‘Omnes ad unum’ and Society funds (pictured page 4) .

Arts Council England/Wessex Museums (NPO). These funds enable us to employ and support the activities of an Exhibitions Officer and Community Curator. The NPO will also fund a Street Art project in April 2024, to work with a group of young people to work on their confidence and creative skills, with the aim to divert them from criminal or anti-social behaviours

Association of Independent Museums: ‘Lest We Forget’ exhibition. £14,475 from AIM’s New Stories, New Audiences Fund (through the National Heritage Lottery Fund), for the exhibition Lest We Forget: Black People’s Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire and associated school and community events. The exhibition ran at Wiltshire Museum between November 2023 and February 2024 (see pages 6, 13 and 29).

Friends of National Libraries (FML): £7,000 to purchase a signed first edition of ‘Tropic Death’ by Eric Walrond, printed in 1926. The remaining funds came from the Society’s Collections Trust. Heritage Fund: ‘Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer in Wartime Wiltshire’ exhibition. £8,515 towards an exhibition and activity programme, exploring the life of Caribbean writer Eric Walrond (see also pages 13 and 29).

Wiltshire Community Foundation: After

Schools Club. £1,750 to support workshops, including a hot meal, for families struggling with the cost of living and registered with Devizes Sure Start (Spurgeons). In March 2024 further funds were awarded to continue the scheme for a further three years.

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Exhibitions

Our two special exhibition galleries - the Oexmann Gallery and the Piper Gallery - enables us to offer either two small exhibitions or one large exhibition.

The Exhibitions Officer post is funded by the Arts Council and Wessex Museums Project.

In 2023/24 the Museum delivered a busy Exhibitions Programme once again.

In spring/summer 2023, the Museum held two exhibitions simultaneously: Wessex – Landscapes of Association: an exhibition of works by Rob Pountney and A Love Letter to Wiltshire: an exhibition of paintings by Joanna May . These two shows were on display in the Oexmann and Piper galleries respectively from 18 March through to 11 June 2023.

Rob Pountney’s compressed charcoal drawings are strongly influenced by the rich diversity of the Wessex landscape and in particular works of Thomas Hardy, and for this exhibition Rob created works with subtle and strong contrast of light and shade highlighting geological and archaeological features of the Wiltshire and Dorset landscapes.

Joanna May’s exhibition was a celebration of her 20-year career as a wildlife artist and conservationist and featured early works as well as favourites for which Joanna is renowned. Several additional works drawing on the natural history and folklore of the County were also created especially for the show.

In summer/autumn 2023 came Wessex Airscapes: Elevating Wiltshire – a collaborative exhibition of works by landscape artist Anna Dillon and aerial photographer Hedley Thorne exploring aerial landscapes with a Wiltshire focus (8 July – 15 October 2023). This was Anna and Hedley’s second ‘Airscapes’ collaboration with a previous exhibition showcasing Oxfordshire and Berkshire landscapes at Radley College in 2021.

For this show, both selected sites of personal significance and offered a contemporary take on the landscape through their respective media. They were also joined by Anna’s father Patrick Dillon, who contributed a display of artefacts and documents and wrote a book to accompany the exhibition.

Following on from this, came a further two exhibitions curated by Community Curator Amy Hammett – Lest We Forget: the Black contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer in Wiltshire (both running from 11 November 2023 – 9 March 2024).

Lest We Forget aimed to respectfully tell some of the stories and experiences of the Black community living and working in the Armed Forces in Wiltshire during the two world wars and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer in Wiltshire , explored the life of Eric Walrond (1989-1966) an established writer and author of Tropic Death, who was part of the 1920s New York Harlem Renaissance and lived in Bradford on Avon in the 1940s. Both these important shows subsequently toured to other venues in the County.

Exhibition highlights to look forward to in 2024/2025 are A Wiltshire Thatcher – a Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex , the Oexmann Art Award Competition and Exhibition as well as a Wessex Museums Collaboration with UnCommon People: folk culture in Wessex curated by Simon Costin, Amy de la Haye and Mellany Robinson.

Heather Ault

From the left: “Lest We Forget: the Black contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire”; publicity poster for the Wessex Airscapes: Elevating Wiltshire exhibition; new portrait of Eric Walrond held by the artist Clifton Powell

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Exhibitions - Library Long Room

A number of small displays have been on show the Long Room during the year. They highlight unknown items from the collection, but also complement the main temporary exhibition where possible.

This year however we focused on two key anniversaries and thanks to the high-security display cases we were able to display some William Stukeley items, which had not been displayed before.

Jane Schön

Loans

Loans to and from the Museum remain important in making the collections accessible to as many people as possible. The Museum lends items from its collections for display and research, subject to the proper security and environmental conditions being met. We are particularly pleased to lend objects for special exhibitions at other museums across Wiltshire.

In June 2023 the Heritage Inclusion Manager at Wessex Archaeology, borrowed objects found at the Erlestoke Detention Centre in the 1960s, for a project to support prisoner rehabilitation. These included Roman and post medieval pottery, Roman metalwork, prehistoric flint, animal bone, and some stonework - Iron Age weights, and quern stone fragments.

The ongoing touring exhibition coordinated by Museums Partner and curated by Mike Parker Pearson, University College London - Stonehenge – Ancient Mysteries and Modern Discoveries - opened at Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, Canada on 10 May 2024. Objects from our collections are from the early Bronze Age burials: Amesbury G54 (Stonehenge flint dagger); Roundway G8 (archer Beaker burial); Wilsford G8 (high status female burial with gold and amber). Several new interactives have been added to the show to make it more family friendly.

TO THE MUSEUM

None to report this year.

ARCHIVE & LIBRARY

The Avebury Papers Team at Alexander Keiller Museum, Avebury led by Professor Mark Gillings, Principal Investigator and Dr Fran Allfrey, Research Assistant borrowed eleven W E V Young diaries in 2023 which cover his archaeological work at Avebury during the 1930s. The diaries are to be photographed and included in the AHRC funded project to digitise, explore and share the multimedia archive of Avebury’s Neolithic origins and its subsequent life-history.

The project results including the digitised diaries will eventually be made available through the Archaeology Data Service https:// archaeologydataservice.ac.uk (MSS.4269).

Lisa Brown and Jane Schön

From the left: Objects on display in Canada: Amesbury G54; Wilsford G8; Roundway G8

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CONSERVATION

Our collections require constant monitoring to ensure that they are preserved for future generations. Curatorial staff undertake routine preventative conservation to ensure that objects and archives are displayed and stored in the best conditions that we can achieve, and we have been able to improve the storage of several collections over the last few years.

All remedial conservation is carried out by qualified conservators on the ICON Conservation Register.

A C Smith Presentation Volume

This hand-written and hand-illustrated book was donated during lockdown. It dates from the 1880s and was presented to Rev A C Smith as a memorial of his exemplary and valuable labours on behalf of the Society, in 1884. At that time he had been “for nearly thirty years a most indefatigable and industrious honorary Secretary of the Society and Editor of its Magazine”. The album records members who contributed to a present for his daughter, Jane Emilia Smith, on the occasion of her marriage to the Rev John Penrose (curate of Potterne) in Yatesbury on 22 April 1884, as well as photographs and signatures of many of the donors.

After a successful fundraising campaign, the presentation volume was conserved by Lancefield Conservation. They refurbished and re-backed the large volume, cleaned and repaired the pages and created a digital copy. A bespoke storage box was also made (MSS.4528).

Research into the individuals listed in the album is ongoing, and there will be a display about it in due course.

Hoard of Roman vessels

In December 2023 a hoard of four Roman copper-alloy vessels were conserved and mounted for display by Pieta Greaves, Drakon Heritage and Conservation. The hoard consists of a bowl strainer; Bassin Uni; carinated basin; and an Irchester bowl. The hoard is a ‘structured deposit’ with each vessel nestled within another and all contained within the Irchester bowl. This is an important find for Wiltshire and the second structured deposit found in the Pewsey area, providing further evidence for instability in the last years of Roman Britain (300-450 AD), and part of a wider pattern of hoarding in troubled times. Found in Wilcot, 2017 (2023.2) (see page 8).

Wilcot Hoard

The Wilcot hoard was not ‘Treasure’ as defined by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in 2017, and was generously donated by the finder, Paul Hart, and the Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild (the landowner). The Museum is grateful to WANHS members and friends, who supported the fundraising campaign to conserve the objects, enabling them to go on display.

Victorian Photograph Album

This album was purchased at auction in 2023 and contains a mixture of architectural views, street scenes and portraits of rural workers from around Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset, including Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and The Wiltshire Thatcher image will feature in a major exhibition in 2024 (see also page 18).

The album, entitled Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Whitsuntide 1892. A present to Auntie from Ernest, was conserved by Lancefield Conservation in early 2024. They restored the photograph album by repairing its spine, which had come away, cleaned and repaired the pages and photographs and made a digital copy of the album. A bespoke storage box was also made (2023.7018).

Other items have also been conserved this year thanks to the generosity of WANHS members and a fundraising appeal. Without the funds raised we could not have permitted this work to take place.

Lisa Brown and Jane Schön

Left: Before and After images of the dedication page of the Victorian photograph album; Right - Before and After images of an illuminated page in the presentation volume.

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Collections

We continue to actively collect objects, through our Collections Trust, that tell the story of Wiltshire, to both enhance our displays and strengthen our research collections.

There were many interesting additions made to the collections during the year. A detailed list can be found in the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (volume 117, 2024). Below are some of the highlights.

All Collections are available to search on our new and improved online collections database, which launched in December 2023 www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/search-the-collections . One of our principal aims is to make collections data accessible in the widest possible terms. To date there are 127,500 records of catalogued items on the database, across all collections, along with 23,500 digital images. Below are some of the acquisition highlights.

Acquisitions of the Year

17th century gold mourning ring. The surface is decorated with blue-black enamelling and a death’s head in white, which has lost its facial features. Engraved inside the hoop is a Latin inscription Animae Vita Mors (The Life of the Spirit is Death). The hallmark stamp gives the date 1673-4. Found near Devizes, 2021 and purchased from the finder, Kevo Mehaan. Displayed in the Story of Devizes Gallery (2023.8).

Early medieval gold and garnet pendant, with a dark red cabochon gemstone, probably a reused Roman garnet. Such pendants typically date to the 7th century and feature in high status necklaces. Found in Hullavington, 2022 (PAS Treasure find). The reward was waived by the finder, William Barton, and the landowner, Ashton Hawker. Donated to the Museum (2023.34).

Hoard of six middle/late Bronze Age palstave axes, dating to c. 1400 - 1150 BC. Found in Wilsford, 2021 (PAS Treasure find). The landowner, Malachy Guinness, waived his half of the reward. Purchased using the Bernard Phillips legacy (2023.46).

Framed oil on canvas portrait of Eric Walrond, with view of Bradford-on-Avon in the background, and the clock tower from Roundway Hospital, Devizes in the foreground. Commissioned by the Museum for the Eric Walrond exhibition (see page 13), and funded by grants from the Art Fund and NLHF (see page 12). Signed by the artist, Clifton Powell (2023.1008) (see page 4).*

Framed oil on wood entitled Eve . Silbury Hill, by Anna Dillon, 2023. Created for the exhibition, Wessex Airscapes: Elevating Wiltshire (pictured front cover) . Donated by the artist (2023.1009).

Roman copper-alloy anepigraphic nummus of Constantius II (AD 323-361). CONSTAN/TIVS/ CAESAR reverse type depicting the legend in three horizontal lines, a star above. Mint of Trier. A rare and important find for Wiltshire and of national significance. Found in Bremhill, 2023 and donated by the finder, Robert Daniels (2024.36). Incomplete Roman lead curse tablet, dating to c AD 43 - 410. After the tablet was gently unfolded, the letters on the outer face read: Obverse: X I [...] l ?F or ?S // F I L I ?V S / Reverse: N . The person’s name was probably written on the inner face, and his ‘filiation’ (ancestry) on the outer face. A person’s name was written on lead and buried, to curse them. Found in Clyffe Pypard, 2023 (PAS Treasure find) and donated by the finder and landowner (2023.67).

Items marked with an * were collected as part of the Wessex Museums Contemporary Collecting Strategy and Action Plan, 2020-24.

Contemporary Collecting is the collecting of objects and stories that reflect the recent past and what is happening today. Usually covering the past 50 years from the date collecting is being undertaken, there are two main ways that contemporary material can be acquired.

Passive collecting through offers of donations is one way, but to get a more comprehensive understanding of modern-day life, active and collaborative types of collecting in the form of coordinated projects are usually more effective.

Contemporary collecting means acquiring new material, to fill the gaps identified in existing collections. It also helps to future-proof collections for as-yet-unknown exhibitions and research projects, therefore ensuring that museums remain relevant to and representative of their audiences. A great benefit of contemporary collecting is that the histories fall within living memory, so can be documented with insights from those who experienced them first-hand. This provides museums with the opportunity to work in partnership with other people and communities, to be creative, dynamic, and inclusive.

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Archaeology

Wiltshire Museum closed for the deposition of archaeological archives in January 2013, as the stores were full. An off-site store was purchased in 2019, and from October 2022 depositions from archaeological units, who undertake work in our collecting area, have resumed.

Archaeological archive associated with an excavation, following a previous trial trench evaluation undertaken by MOLA Northampton, at Malmesbury Mills. The remains of part of an Iron Age/Roman farmstead, a medieval pit and postmedieval ditches were uncovered (2023.5).

Various archaeological archives (finds and paper) from developer funded projects, deposited by Wessex Archaeology (2023.9 –21).

Fieldwalking finds from Hardings Farm, Purton Stoke, 2003. Includes Roman pottery and prehistoric flint. Donated by Colin Stares. In 2018-19 a geophysical survey was undertaken at Hardings Farm and Pond Farm, by the WANHS Archaeological Field Group, with results suggesting possible prehistoric and RomanoBritish occupation and activity, relating to the local availability of mineral and salt water (2023.22).

Early medieval cast silver sword pyramid mount, dating to the late-6th or 7th century. The decorative setting is missing. The function of pyramidal mounts is uncertain, but it is likely that they were used to help secure the sword in the scabbard. Found in Allington, 2020 (PAS Treasure find). Purchased (2023.25).

Early medieval cast silver strap-end, dating to the 9th or 10th century. It has a moulded animalhead terminal with a snubbed snout and bulbous eyes. Other decoration could be a plant motif. Small areas of niello inlay survive within the decoration. Found in Ogbourne St Andrew, 2021 (PAS Treasure find). Purchased (2023.26).

Archaeological archive associated with an excavation undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology at land south of Filands, Malmesbury (2023.29).

Late Bronze Age/early Iron Age hammerstone and pottery sherds from the Blackberry Lane midden site at Potterne. Found next to a badger set. Donated by Thomas Sheldon (2023.32).

Polished flint axe found in the garden of Brook House, Cherhill in 1958. A sharp cutting edge is still visible and are signs of reworking down one side. Donated in memory of Mr T and Mrs D M Owen, by Mrs Mair Lewis (2023.35).

Early medieval coin brooch made from a gilded silver penny of Edward the Confessor, dating to the early 1050s. The coin has been modified by adding a hinged pin and catch plate. Coin jewellery was a popular fashion accessory in Anglo-Saxon times, particularly in the second half of the 11th century. The silver penny is a rare variant of the Expanding Cross type, and the moneyer is Godesbrand of Shrewsbury. Found in Box, in 2021 (PAS Treasure find). Purchased with funds donated by the Box Archaeological and Natural History Society, after they wound up in April 2024. (2023.38).

Various archaeological archives (finds and paper) from developer funded projects, deposited by John Moore Heritage Services (2023.39-41).

Archaeological archive associated with an excavation at The Pippin, Calne, 2021, by Worcestershire Archaeology (2023.42).

Various archaeological archives (finds and paper) from developer funded projects, deposited by Foundations Archaeology (2023.48-65).

Bronze Age sheet gold strip or ribbon, dating to c.2100 - 1150 BC. The surface is decorated with six parallel grooved lines. Its original function is unknown, but the one remaining terminal tapers with a fine hooked end, suggesting that it may have been part of a bracelet or other piece of jewellery. The strip was folded several times prior to deposition. Found in Heytesbury, 2021 (PAS Treasure find). Purchased (2023.45).

Incomplete late medieval/early post medieval cast copper alloy figurine, from the side arm of a processional cross, dating to 1400 - 1530. A standing figure, probably female, hooded and wearing a long robe and possibly holding a staff. There are traces of gilding, but corrosion products adhere to the object making accurate identification difficult, but it is likely to be the Virgin Mary. Found in Urchfont, 2023 and donated by the finder, Daniel Greenway, and the landowner, Philip Snook (2024.3)

From the left: Bronze Age palstave axe (2023.46); 17th century gold mourning ring (2023.8); Roman anepigraphic nummus of Constantius II (2024.36); Bronze Age gold strip or ribbon (2023.45); Medieval gold and garnet pendant (2023.34); Incomplete Roman lead curse tablet (2023.67); Incomplete medieval figurine (2024.3); Not to scale.

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Art

St John’s, Devizes , framed oil on canvas by John Wragg, RA (1937-2020), who lived in Devizes. Shows a couple embracing outside St John’s Church, Devizes. Donated in his memory by his son Julian (2023.1004) - pictured rear cover .

Three framed watercolour and gouache paintings by the artist Jim Condell. Portrait of an Avebury Megalith (erected 2600 BC) , 1998; Badgers by Moonlight, Horton, Wilts , 1997 and Wiltshire Landscape of Yesteryear, Pewsey Vale, 1999. Donated by Brian Edwards (2023.1005.1-3).

Six framed prints of Devizes scenes donated after the closure of Devizes Community Hospital, in 2023. Includes the Market Place, the Crammar and St James’ Church, St John’s Court, St John’s Alley and Church, the Kennet and Avon Canal, as well as Salisbury Cathedral (2023.1006.1-6).

Framed compressed charcoal drawing of one of the Avebury standing stones, set in the landscape of the World Heritage Site. Signed and dated, Rob Pountney, 2013. Donated by the artist (2023.1007) - pictured rear cover .

Archive and Library (22/23 figures in brackets)

The Archive and Library collection continues to grow. During the year 12 (13) books were purchased and 101 (107) were donated, of which 12 were donated by the authors, contributing to the 115 (120) new acquisitions to the library. Four books written by Eric Walrond were displayed in an exhibition about him (see page 13). Book purchases are still low due to financial constraints.

There were 88 (132) new additions to the Archive collection and all but one were donations. This included a collection of 44 diaries spanning 1928-1975, four accessions marking the death of Queen Elizabeth II and five accessions related to the Coronation of King Charles III. There were over 300 (400) new acquisitions to the photographic collection (all but one photograph album containing 111 photographs were donations), including four photograph albums, one of which was compiled in 1892 and featured the Wiltshire Thatcher and five postcards.

Highlights include:

DR KATE FIELDEN ARCHIVE

In February 2024 we accepted the archive of archaeologist, archivist, curator, author and campaigner, Dr Kate Fielden, who died in July 2023, aged 79. The archive consists of documents, correspondence, maps, offprints and photographs relating to her work on the Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Sites. Also included is the archive of Lord and Lady Kennet. The archive is closed to the public and has restricted access. Donated by Rowena Winkler, Dr Fielden’s sister (MSS.4766).

BOOKS

As mentioned in the 2022/23 Annual Report a gift of approximately 500 archaeological books was received in December 2021, some of which were signed by the author or previous owner. A further 58 books have now been accessioned into the Library, bringing the total accessioned to 90 books, with approximately another 20 to check! Books not accessioned are sold to raise funds for the Library. Donated by John S S Stewart (Book.18698-18700; Book.18705-18706; Book.18720-18733; Book.18759; Book.1879718805; Book.18841-18851)

Three editions of Tropic Death , a collection of brilliantly impressionistic portraits of the author’s native West Indies by Eric Walrond, were purchased for the Eric Walrond exhibition (see page 13). Two editions were displayed and the 2013 edition was used for research to create the displays. (Book.18745; Book.18746; Book.18861). Purchased.

Avon Tyres. A History, compiled by Peter McNally, former Technical Director for Avon Tyres. The booklet was given to all Avon Tyres employees on the day before the closure of the Melksham site in December 2023. The booklet came with the Avon Tyres collection (2024.2). Transferred by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd. (Book.18855)

Buildings and Prospects by John Piper (1948) , published by The Architectural Press Ltd. The book includes the chapter ‘ Letter from Devizes ’ (pp.124-128) (Book.18866). Purchased - pictured rear cover .

From the left: ‘Tropic Death’, by Eric Walrond (Book.18746; Book.18861); ‘Avon Tyres. A History’ compiled by Peter McNally (Book.18855); A biography on 3/9627 Private Frank Amor by Geoffrey Amor. (Book.18856)

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A biography on 3/9627 Private Frank Amor of B Company 2nd Battalion The Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regiment , published by Geoffrey Amor. The book is associated with Frank Amor’s Wiltshire Regiment embroidery, held in the collection. Donated by Geoffrey Amor, the grandson of Frank Amor (Book.18856)

JOURNALS

Each year the Archive and Library receives a large number of journals and newsletters via subscriptions, journal exchanges or gifts from donors. These include titles such as Britannia , Archaeology International , the Hilperton and Staverton parish magazine , the Wiltshire Family History Society Journal , Devizes The Messenger, The Journal of Roman Studies and the J ournal of the Prehistoric Society to name a few. This year the number of journals acquired decreased from 170 to 160 (excluding the large collection of 81 Hilperton and Staverton Parish Newsletters). This is still higher than normal for journals and newsletters as some societies are still catching up with their publishing post Covid-19 pandemic.

DOCUMENTS

Collection of minute books, account books and subscription ledger from the Potterne and District Conservative Club, 1907- 1994. Donated by Dennis Willmott, Potterne, who had held numerous committee roles since 1989 including Chairman (MSS.4678).

Original architect plan by F W Troup, FRIBA, Architect, Grays Inn Square, London, for the Devizes War Memorial (dated 11 October 1920). Donated by Patricia Holloway, the granddaughter of war memorial builder, Ernest Edwin Davis (MSS.4679).

Collection of family history documents relating to the Burt family who ran ‘Burt’s Ironmongers’ at 41 Market Place, Devizes. The collection spans three generations and includes wills, certificates, correspondence and photos. Donated by Ken Burt, Halifax, Canada, who is the great, great grandson of Joseph Burt (see photograph below), great grandson of William Henry Burt and grandson of Stanley Burt (MSS.4688).

Cuttings scrapbook compiled by Mayor of Devizes (1913-1915), Herbert Sainsbury. It contains telegrams from Buckingham Palace, petitions of support from town Burgesses, lists of fallen soldiers, Wiltshire Regiment ephemera, menus and invitations. Purchased (MSS.4704).

Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race information booklet, c. late 1960s/early 1970s. The booklet aimed to increase the odds of crews completing the race. Donated by Tony Hack (MSS.4714).

Collection of diaries by William Stratton Beaven (1906-1984), who lived in Woodborough. Their is virtually an entry every day from 1928 to 1975. A detailed account of the diaries is featured in Trilithon no.98. Donated by David Carson, a relative of William Beaven (MSS.4720).

Programme of the Devizes Town Band commemorative WWI 100th anniversary event held at St John’s Church, Devizes on 11 November 2008. Donated by Colin Thomas, who attended the event (MSS.4730).

Obituaries of Ruth Goddard (daughter of Canon E H Goddard) and John Piper, both distinguished past members of WANHS. Also contains report of Downland Symposium held on 3 July 1977. Donated by Sue Teale (MSS.4738).

Leaflet produced by St James’ Church, Devizes for the service held prior to Covid-19 lockdown, March 2020. The leaflet includes details about measures to protect against Covid-19. Donated by Antonia Tolhurst (MSS.4744)*.

Collection of research material relating to Sidney Douglas Kirk (1893-1918), an Australian Serviceman who served with the Australian Machine Gun Corps during the 1914-18 Great War and is buried at Sutton Veny. Donated by Peter Little, a local historian (MSS.4760).

Stonehenge car park ticket for one car, given away free with a pre-war guidebook, dated 1938. Donated by Sarah Prince (MSS.4708 & Book.18719)

Mapping Amesbury: 1726-1911. A project in local history using a modern approach, includes images from the collection. Donated by the author, Mrs Andrea Chalmers (MSS.4696).

From the left: Photograph of Joseph Burt (MSS.4688); Photograph of Herbert Sainsbury (MSS.4704); Diaries by William Stratton Beaven (MSS.4720); Devizes Town Band commemorative event programme (MSS.4730). .

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National Service documents of Ronald Thomas Gray who did his National Service in the Royal Army Pay Corps and was stationed in Devizes between 1952 and 1954. Donated by relative Anne Gray (MSS.4752).

PHOTOGRAPHS AND POSTCARDS

Collection of 29 photographs of Ronald Thomas Gray (see MSS.4752). Corporal Gray is pictured in all the photographs, many are official photographs of his platoon. Donated by Anne Gray (2024.7001).

Two albums of young people’s activities at the Southbroom Centre, Victoria Road, Devizes c.1960s – 2010s. Donated by John Saunders, part of the community group who set up Devizes Youth in 2014 (2023.7001).

Album of 66 black and white photographs of churches and architectural structures in and around Devizes. Devizes, Wilts, 1914Photographs by A. W. Hennings ’, 1914. Predominantly of churches in the Devizes area but also of architectural points of interest in other buildings. The book belonged to John Goldsborough, a partner at Bateman & Bateman Architects, Birmingham, who is photographed in some of the photographs. The photographers’ monogram, AWH, is on each page along with the place name. Donated by Peter Sutton, RIBA (2023.7002).

The Big Lego Brick Build at Stonehenge during May Half Term, 2023. Nine digital photographs of the finished Lego Build, and a publicity flyer by English Heritage. Donated by Jade Walker, Social and Content Executive, Stonehenge Visitor Centre (2023.7004 & MSS.4701).

Black and white photograph of the 1928 Bradford on Avon hospital carnival, identified through a social media call out. Found amongst a collection of local history items collected by the donor, Barrie Barrett of Rowde (2023.7014).

Two black and white photographs of Devizes Hospital: one of senior medical staff (early 20th century) and one of staff and patients on Lavington Ward, Christmas Day, 1927. Donated by Sussanah Long, B & NES Swindon and Wilts Integrated Care Board (NHS) (2023.7006)

Four photographs relating to Avebury including, one of a group of uniformed men in front of The Barn at Avebury, circa WW2. W E V Young is sat in the front row holding a trophy. Donated by Barbara Fuller, together with her research notes for a WANHS lunchtime talk she gave about him in January 2004 (2023.7005 & MSS.4712).

Photograph album containing over 100 black and white photographs, titled Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury, Whitsuntide, 1892. A present to Auntie from Ernest . The photographs are of architectural views, street scenes and portraits of rural workers from around Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset, as well as views of Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. The photograph of The Wiltshire Thatcher featured on a Led Zeppelin album cover. Research about Ernest Howard Farmer and the photographs will be featured in a major exhibition opening in April 2024. Purchased at auction (2023.7018).

Collection of eight black and white stereograph photographs of Devizes, Brighton, Southsea and London (late 19th/early 20th century). The photographer, John Chivers, had a photographic studio at 25 Sidmouth Street, Devizes, from 1896 until at least 1907. Donated by local historian Barbara Fuller (2023.7019).

Natural History

No acquisitions to report this year.

Numismatics

Early medieval silver penny or sceat, of Primary Phase Series C2ii, dating to c.AD 690-710. Mint: SE England, probably East Kent. OBVERSE: Radiate bust, facing right, runic æpa in front of face, broken A, annulet, and pellet behind head, pyramidical neck rests on curved exergual lines either side of beaded line, three annulets below, rather than two pellets either side of annulet. REVERSE: a beaded standard containing TOTII legend, crosses to sides, Ts at angles. The coin is hexagonal suggesting it has been carefully clipped.

Early silver pennies, or sceattas are relatively rare finds in Wiltshire. Found in Broughton Gifford, 2022 and donated by the finder, Stephen Olliver, and the landowners, Emma Ross and Robin Cox (2023.44).

From the left: Photograph from the collection of Ronald Thomas Gray(2024.7001); Albums of Southbroom Centre, Devizes activities c. 1960s – 2010s (2023.7001); Spye Park from the album by A. W. Hennings (2023.7002)..

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Recent History

Vinyl stickers/labels for THE MOONRAKERS. Wiltshire Bowls Association. DEVIZES BOWLS CLUB. Donated by Brian Edwards (2023.23)*.

Royal Doulton teacup with THE WILTSHIRE MOONRAKERS transfer print. Donated by Ruth Gilliam Hill, who’s father owned a bric-abrac shop in Shrewton (2023.27).

Large wall hanging tapestry, made in 1991, to commemorate the 850th anniversary of the Devizes Royal Charter. The scenes depicted include an aerial view of Devizes with the Market Place, castle and white horse. The tapestry was made by pupils, staff and parents of Wansdyke School, Devizes in a project supported by Wiltshire’s Arts Adviser. The artist, Julianne Worrall Hood, set up the tapestry frame in the school hall. In more recent years the tapestry hung in the stairwell of Devizes Town Hall before being transferred to the Museum in 2023 by Devizes Town Council (2023.28).

Victorian layette bag for a baby’s nursery. Named (in ink) ‘Mitchell’/‘Salthrop’. Items include napkins, nightgowns, and pillowcases. Once belonged to a relative of the donor, who lived in Marlborough. Donated by Mrs P Joel (2023.31).

Small stoneware glazed brown jar with a cork stopper and broken handle: 40 / H G BARREY / WINE MERCHANT / DEVIZES. Found near the Town Hall, Devizes, and donated by Thomas Gaiger (2023.47).

20th century bone china teacup with transfer print. MARKET CROSS DEVIZES on the front, and the legend of Ruth Pierce, Potterne. 25th January 1753, on the reverse. Stamped TYTHERLEIGH DEVIZES on the base. Tytherleigh’s was a china and glass merchants in Devizes (1861-1988). Donated by Dr H Hawthorn (2023.33).

16 medals and badges for archery and other sporting activities in Wiltshire and 12 for traditional longbow archery. Includes the WILTSHIRE AND DORSET ARCHERY ASSOCIATION medals, the DEVIZES BOWMEN and CHIPPENHAM ARCHERS. Two medals on ribbons for the WILTSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST SARSEN TRAIL AND NEOLITHIC MARATHON. One medal for the BAG 4 SPORT 24 HOUR SPIN-A-THON, 2014. Donated by Brian Edwards and Jackie Davies (2023.36)*.

Scale wooden model of Springfield House, Potterne Road, Devizes, a 19th century Regency villa. Displayed in the Story of Devizes Gallery. Purchased at auction and funded by the current owner of the house, Paul Tumim (2023.66).

Baseball cap from Cherhill Church of England Primary School, with a White Horse logo embroidered onto the front. Donated by Brian Edwards (2023.37)*.

BlackRose of Remembrance fabric wreath made by BlackPoppyRose - a charity working for the remembrance of the African, Black Peoples, West Indian, Caribbean, Pacific Islands and Indigenous Communities contributions to Global Wars that have paved the way for the ‘Cultures’ we know and understand today. The wreath was featured in ‘ Lest We Forget: The Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire ’ exhibition (November 2023 - March 2024) - see page 13. Purchased (2024.1)*.

Collection of objects from the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd, Melksham (previously known as Avon Tyres/Avon Rubber Company). Following the closure of the factory in December 2023 these items were gifted to the Museum. Includes examples of the types of tyres made at the factory (historic and modern); clocking in/out machine; hand tools for tyre making; coat of arms; other items made by the factory, including a gas mask and dog toys; various trophies and cups for motoring events. (2024.2).

Lisa Brown, Jane Schön and David Dawson

From the left: Medieval silver penny or sceat (2023.44); Scale model of Springfield House, Potterne Road, Devizes (2023.66); BlackRose of Remembrance fabric wreath(2024.1); stoneware glazed brown jar (2023.47). Images not to scale

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Research: Archaeology Collections

Promotes, encourages and undertakes research and publishes newsletters, an annual magazine, reports, periodicals, books and other literature which are relevant to its activities.

Due to the prolonged impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are a reduced number of research visits to the Museum again this year. We communicate the outputs of research through our online collections database, a programme of conferences and lectures, through publications such as our annual Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, and by updating gallery displays.

Museum Data Service and Wessex Museums Virtual Collections

In November 2022 the Museum was selected as an ‘early adopter’ of a new MDS project, which collates millions of collections records from across the UK and makes them available online. Other museums included in the first cohort were the Ashmolean, National Museum of Wales, Science Museum Group and Norfolk Museums. In late 2022, 126,000 MODES records and 23,000 digital images were sent to Knowledge Integration and in 2023 - 24 a further 1,500 MODES records and 500 images were shared with the MDS.

Our Wessex Museums partners later shared their data and the Wessex Museums Virtual Collection website launched at the end of the year: www. wessexmuseums.org.uk/wessex-virtual-collection/

This collaboration between the Wessex Museums Partners (Wiltshire Museum, Poole Museum, Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, and The Salisbury Museum) offers a searchable database featuring over 250,000 items. The Virtual Collection brings together nearly 30,000 images from two different collections management systems – MODESXML and MuseumIndex+. The initiative, supported by Arts Council England (ACE), is aimed at making collections more accessible and navigable through a user-friendly interface.

Working with The Museum Platform and Knowledge Integration, the database was designed to use the same digital infrastructure as the Museum Data Service (MDS), and created tools that can be used by other museums to showcase their own collections from their own websites, utilising the full potential of the MDS.

Operation Nightingale: Prehistoric Midden Pottery Fingerprint Project. Richard Osgood

In February 2023, Richard Osgood, Senior Archaeologist and Advisor for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, spent four days at the Museum, working with military veterans from Operation Nightingale, to search for fingerprints on pottery excavated from the late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age midden sites at Potterne and East Chisenbury. The aim of the project, in collaboration with the Military Police, is to create a prehistoric ‘potters database’. Work is set to continue on this project in 2024-5.

Wessex Museums Decolonising Collections Framework

The Decolonising Collections Framework (approved September 2023), is supported by an Action Plan individual to each museum in the Wessex Museum partnership.

Decolonising involves creatively reimagining the way museums work, who they work with and what they value. It covers all areas of practice and creates a framework to better support people and institutions. Decolonising is a collective activity, which can be messy, thoughtful, imaginative, and emotional. It is driven by the desire for justice and equity in that it aims to rebalance power and representation away from the coloniser narrative of history and society. This work is intersectional as it challenges structural inequalities across the board to redress forms of historic and ongoing harm . Museums Association. Decolonising Practice 2022.

The purpose of the Framework is to put the Wessex Museums firmly and consistently on the path to decolonisation, with meaningful, effective and collaborative public engagement. Through this work we want to understand the stories of those who have been oppressed and where there are connections to our collections - whether it is related to the empire or by more recent prejudices conveyed by the bias of curators and historians. We want to tell honest stories about how objects have come to be in museums - who they were given by and how and why the museums decided to accept them.

Our first research project is the reinterpretation of the John Britton ‘Celtic’ Cabinet, through a decolonial lens. The cabinet was owned by George Watson-Taylor of Erlestoke Park, who was the MP for Devizes from 1826 to 1832. He was the son-in-law of a slave trader and his fortune came from sugar produced on extensive estates in Jamaica, which held an enslaved population of more than 2,000 men, women, and children. The results of the project will be showcased at the Museum.

Operation Nightingale Fingerprint project

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Researchers

Abigail George, PhD candidate, Southampton University: researching the Mesolithic of the Upper Kennet Valley, Oliver’s Hill Field, Cherhill. Smith and Evans on behalf of WANHS,1967

Emma van der Velden, PhD candidate, Southampton University: assessment of Roman inhumation burials across the South of England through isotope analysis, to establish patterns of diet and migration. Romano-British burial from Bratton, BRA495.

Jack Rose, MSc Bioarchaeology, Bournemouth University: researching the cause and survival rate of Neolithic and Bronze Age trepanations. Snail Down barrow cemetery trepanned cranial disc, Nicholas Thomas, 1953-7.

Anna Reeve, independent researcher, Ancient Cypriot collections in UK museums: Late Bronze Age Cypriot base ring juglets said to be found in Pans Lane, Devizes in 1861.

Ed McSloy, Finds Manager, Cotswold Archaeology. Peter Warry, Director of the Brandiers Farm excavation, 2022-3 excavation of the tile kiln at Brandiers Farm, Minety: Examined comparable material from Park Farm, Oaksey, Anthony J Scammel, 1973-4.

Gywain Jones, MSc Bioarchaeology, Southampton University: understanding the diet of the community who used Millbarrow Neolithic long barrow as a funerary monument, in combination with the osteological analysis to provide information on subsistence practices, and further commentary on pastoral and/or agricultural patterns of the area during the middle Neolithic. The barrow was excavated in 1855 by Mr Eyles and Alistair Whittle in 1989.

Dr Martyn Allen, Oxford Archaeology, UKRI funded project between Oxford Archaeology and the universities of Oxford and Exeter, the Archaeology Data Service and Historic England, Rewilding Later Prehistory . The period from 2500 BC to AD 43 is a key tipping point in the transition from wild to farmed landscapes in Britain. Rewilding Later Prehistory ( https:// rewilding.oxfordarchaeology.com) examines the full makeup of Bronze and Iron Age plants and animals in diverse study areas to create an original methodological and interpretative toolkit for investigating archaeological wildlife. Accessed horse bone and teeth from various later prehistoric sites in the Museum collections.

Professor Robert Hosfield, Department of Archaeology, Reading University: researching the Palaeolithic flint hand axes from Knowle Farm, Little Bedwyn. The axes feature localised gloss that is highly unusual and which has been recognised as a distinctive feature of the Knowle Farm artefacts since their first discovery in the early 20th century. Varied explanations have been proposed for the gloss, but as yet there has been no consensus of opinion.

Research: Archive & Library

All visits to the Archive and Library are prebooked and this year has seen an increase in both the number of visiting researchers by 70% and the number of enquiries by 41% compared to last year.

There were 386 enquiries this year: 104 visiting researchers and 282 email enquiries. Of the 104 visiting researchers 52 were members and 49 were non-members, an increase of 53% and 145% respectively. The majority of these visiting researchers were undertaking local history research (61%) mainly in and around Devizes and the surrounding villages, 23% carried out archaeological research and 11% undertook family history research.

The Archive & Library is not fully open to volunteers as there is still a backlog of acquisitions to process, however, five volunteers have continued to answer enquiries and provide scans of documents or photographs, where possible to the researcher. Donations were received from some of the researchers.

Research topics included: the Battle of Roundway, Stonehenge, Imber village, Erlestoke, Devizes Castle, Caen Hill Locks, Roundway Hospital, Violet Charlesworth, W. E. V. Young, John Aubrey, Richard Colt Hoare, Rev. A.C. Smith, maps of Salisbury, 18th century informers, pylons in Pewsey, lost footpaths, the winter of 1962/3, as well as numerous family history requests including the Offer family of Devizes, the Cloud family of Devizes (an early Quaker Family), the Hungerford family and information about individual family members including Ethel Sandell. Several Victoria County History authors have visited to research Clarendon, Kington St Michael and Swindon.

Jane Sch ö n

Researcher at Work Dr Richard Madgwick of Cardiff University

Lisa Brown

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Research: Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group

Operates an archaeological field group which encourages members to become involved actively in the current archaeological scene in the county.

The Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group (WAFG) is a community archaeology group, working to professional standards. It carries out excavations and fieldwork in Wiltshire including geophysical survey, ground survey and field-walking and organises the annual Archaeology in Wiltshire Conference, held each year in Devizes. Anyone can get involved in WAFG projects, which range from researching prehistoric sites to 20th century archaeology, from desk-based research, field walking and excavation.

Membership is open to members of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. Regular reports appear in our Trilithon newsletter, and on the WAFG Facebook page.

Over the past year WAFG members have been very active, both in running and supporting WAFG projects and supporting broader research projects across Wiltshire. These have included participation in the Cardiff University project investigating the Roman site at Teffont and the Cotswold Archaeology led excavation investigating Roman tile kilns at Brandiers Farm near Minety.

Seend Excavations

WAFG’s initial excavations in 2022 revealed the base of a 17th century brick kiln, one of the earliest excavated in Wiltshire and one of very few to be excavated nationally. In another part of the site a series of shallow trenches, which contained a large amount of burnt charcoal and some pieces of burnt iron ore, were excavated, dating evidence pointing to the Roman period. These have been interpreted as evidence of iron roasting, a step taken before the ore was smelted, and those dating to the Roman period are a rare find, with those at Seend considered to be unique in Wiltshire.

WAFG returned to Seend in September 2023. A new larger evaluation trench was opened close to the previous trench. Further evidence of Roman iron roasting was uncovered, along with a flattened area considered to be a working surface contemporary to the roasting activity. All the evidence is pointing to a considerable level of Roman industrial activity related to iron roasting at the site. To the west of the brick kiln, a number of test pits targeting areas where geophysics had indicated potential areas of intense magnetic response, were also excavated. In one of these, large quantities of broken tiles, including roof tiles, ridge tiles, floor tiles and even malting floor tiles were recovered. These all seemed to be of a similar date to the brick kiln. As excavations progressed, substantial brick walls, which may form part of an earlier tile kiln, were revealed. If proven to be of early 17th century date, it will be one of the earliest tile kilns found in Wiltshire. In amongst the tiles, a number of pieces of what appeared to be pottery wasters were retrieved. These had a distinctive design similar, but not the same as, Crokerton Ware, potentially making it a new pottery type. The pottery assemblage comprised of kiln misfires/wasters suggests there is also a post-medieval pottery kiln nearby, producing Crokerton-like pottery to be used in the local area.

WAFG hope to explore the tile kiln site further and hunt for the possible 17th century pottery kiln when we return for a further season of excavations in September 2024.

Teffont

Some 40 WAFG members took part in a very successful dig at Teffont in July, 2023. The large excavation and post-excavation training project was directed by David Roberts with Cardiff University. The excavations focused on a multiphase complex Roman site to the west of Teffont Evias, which probably functioned as an ancillary site to the main temple complex on the ridge above. The most significant feature excavated was a pool building, which held a >2.5m deep stone-lined pool beneath a vaulted ceiling in one end of an elaborate structure. It is likely to have been built around the end of the 1st or first half of the 2nd century AD, and was deliberately demolished and infilled in the early 4th century AD. Several other structures were excavated and the site as a whole showed activity from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

WAFG members also very much appreciated being taught the essentials of assessing pottery and animal bone remains by Drs Clare Rainsford and Rachel Seager Smith, using freshly excavated assemblages from Teffont, on the twoday courses which were available to members.

Despite several days when conditions nearly resembled the Somme, the mixture of students and WAFG members proved very successful as both groups brought different talents to bear and benefitted from wide ranges of expertise.

Image from the possible tile kiln trench at Seend (Photo: Mike McQueen)

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Post Excavation

Using different approaches to encourage and broaden access to archaeological activities, the WAFG have continued to run post-excavation sessions at Wiltshire Museum in which all WAFG members are invited to participate. This has attracted many who have never done any form of ‘hands-on’ archaeological activities before, across a broad age range. The sessions have involved the cleaning, recording and cataloguing of archaeological finds assemblages from excavations – both those undertaken by WAFG and other collections of material that, for any number of reasons, have become ‘orphaned’ and not adequately prepared for accession to Museum collections. Our most recent activities have focussed on preparing the animal bone and other bulk-finds from the major WAFG excavation

of the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age site at Mothers Anthony’s Well for final deposition with the Museum and the cleaning, sorting and cataloguing of finds from the 2022-2023 WAFG excavations at Seend. As part of the most recent series of sessions, the WAFG also worked with a pottery specialist to run a training workshop for our members looking at how to identify prehistoric and Roman pottery. Further training workshops are planned.

A huge thank you must be extended to all WAFG volunteers who supported our ‘Post-Ex Sunday’ sessions. We look forward to welcoming you back in the autumn of 2024!

Alistair Thomson, Wendy Bishop and Mike McQueen

Publications and Social Media

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (WANHM)

Our annual magazine continues to be the journal for reports on archaeological discoveries in Wiltshire. Members receive a free copy and it is available to non-members for a modest charge. The 2023 volume (no. 116) included the following articles:

Treasures in the Attic: Testing Cunnington’s assertion that Stone 32c is the ‘type’ sample of Andesite Group A (Rob A. Ixer, Richard E. Bevins, Duncan Pirrie and Matthew Power); Middle Neolithic mortuary activity, a ring ditch and late prehistoric re-use and occupation at Hunter’s Moon, Chippenham (Tom Wells); Avebury’s Waterscape (Steve Marshall); Late Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age and RomanoBritish Settlements at Black Furlong, Blackland, Calne Without (Bernard Phillips); Iron Age and Romano British Occupation at Drummond Park, Ludgershall, Wiltshire (Adam Howard and Clare Randell); The Marlborough Bucket: A new analysis of imagery within the artistic context of Late Iron Age Southern Britain (Rebecca L. Ellis-Haken); Picking up the Pieces: A reevaluation of Romano-British pewter tablewares in Wiltshire (Wil Partridge); Products of the Clay Country: aspects of tile, brick and pottery making in Roman and medieval Minety, North Wiltshire (Richard Moore-Colyer); Excavation of later prehistoric and medieval features at Pound Farm, Lyneham, Wiltshire (Clare Randall and Steven Bush); The re-use of Budbury hillfort and the development of Bradford-on-Avon in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries (Jeremy Haslam); Lend Me Your Ears: the poem ‘Longleat’ of 1575 (Graham Bathe, Ian Purvis and Sally Thomson); The Rediscovery of St Thomas’s Medieval Doom in the Nineteenth Century: Elizabeth Wickens, Henry Moses and the Restoration by Clayton and Bell (Christopher Daniell); Medieval Settlement at Marsh Farm, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire (Andy Taylor);

Downton College of Agriculture 1880-1906: early agricultural education on the WiltshireHampshire border (Tony Pratt); Wiltshire and the 1902 Education Act (Ivor Slocombe).

Notes and shorter contributions included: Drew’s Pond, Devizes. From fishpond to pleasure ground: an analysis of its origins and function (Wendy Bishop); Dracontia: William Stukeley’s unacknowledged debt to Thomas Twining (Steve Allen); A 1699 Quaker Marriage Certificate (Kate Macdonald); Reviews (edited by Stuart Raymond); Excavation and Fieldwork in Wiltshire 2022 (compiled by Will Baker, Elizabeth Darlington and Bob Clarke); Highlights from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) in Wiltshire in 2022 (recorded by Sophie Hawke); Additions to the Collections, 2022.

The volume was edited and indexed by Dr Stuart Brookes, with editorial assistance from Peter Saunders (Peter also coordinated the publication for the Society), plus Graham Bathe, Simon Draper, Stuart A. Raymond, Will Baker, Elizabeth Darlington and Sophie Hawke. Thanks are due to all involved in producing such a well-respected journal, and especially to the many authors for their contributions.

Trilithon

This newsletter is a mixture of articles, items of interest and news about events and is sent to members annually.

Engaging audiences online

Our e-newsletter is sent regularly and is our main source of engagement for events. We also use social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to engage and develop our audience. Social media is a great way to publicise upcoming events and news at the Museum and is an opportunity to reach new audiences, as well as sharing details about our collections in a more immediate way. We can also engage with audiences unable to physically access the Museum or collections.

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Activities, Events, Conferences, Lectures and Outings

Organises lectures, conferences and visits to disseminate greater knowledge and appreciation of our heritage, to both the Society’s members and wider audience.

During 2023/24, 387 (318) events, courses, school visits and talks took place, including the acclaimed Archaeology in Wiltshire Conference and Industrial Archaeology Conference, talks at the Museum and in the community, walks in the Wiltshire landscape, wood engraving, stone carving and writing for wellness courses and use of the Museum lecture hall by external organisations. Over 70 non-school activities for under 18s were held and we also participated in local community events such as Heritage Open Day and the popular lantern making workshops..

Thank you to our speakers and walk leaders for their contributions to the Society as most do not charge a fee or claim expenses, and to everyone who helps with organising and running all our activities.

April 2023 Curious Kids: Kings and Queens Easter Holiday Activities: Easter themed Holiday Activities: Spring wildlife

Lecture: What lies beneath – new light on Roman Cunetio, Mildenhall , by Mark Corney, held in Marlborough Museum Explorers Club: Iron Age

Walk: Drawn to Oare: Eric Ravilious landscapes in the Vale of Pewsey, led by David Dawson Young Curators Club: Iron Age

May 2023 Day course: Stone Carving with Andrew Ziminski Family Heritage Days: Lest we Forget Holiday Activities: Medieval Crafts Lecture: Stonehenge: A Brief History , by Mike Parker Pearson Museum Explorers Club: Hare and wildlife art Online Talk: Human Henge 2016 – 2023: Walking with intent in ancient landscapes , by Laura Drysdale, Director of the Restoration Trust and colleagues, Melanie Rogers, Danny O’Donoghue and Martin Allfrey (English Heritage)

Online Talk: The houses of Fonthill: lost, recovered, rebuilt, by Dr Caroline Dakers (University of Arts London) for the VCH* Young Curators Club: Hare and wildlife art

June 2023 Curious Kids: Tudors Day course: Wood Engraving with Robin Mackenzie Museum Explorers Club: Roman Themed

Online Talk: The William Cunnington Letter Books, 17991810 , by Jane Schön (Collections Officer: Archive & Library) Online Talk: The Wiltshire Traveller , by John Chandler for the VCH* Walk: Drawn to Oare: Eric Ravilious landscapes in the Vale of Pewsey , led by David Dawson Young Curators Club: Roman Feast

July 2023

Curious Kids: Romans

Home Education Session: Fossils, dinosaurs & prehistoric sea creatures Museum Explorers Club: Archaeological Investigations Online Lecture: Richard Colt Hoare and the discovery of Stourton Castle, the House before Stourhead , by

Martin Papworth (National Trust), with David Dawson

Online Talk: Roman Trade & Industry in North Wiltshire , by Mike Stone for VCH* Outing: Stonehenge Landscape Walk , led by David Dawson Walk: Pewsey Downs , led by Isobel Geddes Young Curators Club: Archaeological Investigations

August 2023 Curious Kids: Dinosaurs and Fossils Summer Holiday Activities: Dinosaurs and Underwater Sea Creatures Summer Holiday Activities: Prehistoric Discoveries Summer Holiday Activities: Summer Textiles and Crafts Summer Holiday Activities: Viking Explorers Walk: Uffington Castle, the white horse and Wayland’s Smithy , led by Isobel Geddes.

Wessex Airscapes WALK: Pewsey Downs , led by Glyn Coy (Hidden Wiltshire), with Anna Dillon and Hedley Thorne. Wessex Airscapes WALK: Westbury White Horse, led by Glyn Coy, with Anna Dillon and Hedley Thorne.

September 2023 Curious Kids: Egyptians Day course: Stone Carving, with Andrew Ziminski Day course: Wood Engraving, with Robin Mackenzie Heritage Open Day and family craft activities Lecture: The Mystery of Wansdyke , by Dr Alex Langlands Museum Explorers Club: Rock Detectives – fossils and rocks Online Lecture: Boles Barrow: excavations old and new , by Richard Osgood, MBE (Defence Infrastructure Organisation) Online Talk: New to the Museum: Wiltshire’s stories through our collections , with David Dawson Online Talk: Wiltshire manors and manorial documents , by Dr Mark Forrest for the VCH*

Wessex Airscapes Walk: Avebury and surrounding area , led by Glyn Coy, with Anna Dillon and Hedley Thorne. Young Curators Club: Rock Detectives – fossils and rocks

October 2023

Conference: Industrial Archaeology 2023 Curious Kids: Toys from the past Family Activity Session: Eerie-on-Sea Family Activity Session: Trick or Treat!

Holiday Activities: Halloween and Autumn themed Lecture: Contemporary art, aerial photography and the Wiltshire landscape , by Patrick Dillon. Museum Explorers Club: Greek myths and mask making Young Curators Club: Greek myths and mask making November 2023 Curious Kids: Victorian Homes Day course: Wood Engraving, with Robin Mackenzie Lecture: The Hunt for Stourton Castle , by Martin Papworth Museum Explorers Club: Prehistoric Monuments Online Talk: Francis Kilvert and tales of Langley Burrell , by Dr Louise Ryland-Epton, Contributing Editor, Wiltshire VCH Young Curators Club: Prehistoric Monuments December 2023 Book Launch and Talk: Walking the White Horses , by David Clensy Curious Kids: A Tudor Christmas Fun Quiz Night Lecture: Flint and fire: the first half million years of early humans in Britain , by Dr Rob Davis (Pathways to Ancient Britain project). Museum Explorers Club: Winter traditions and Christmas past Young Curators Club: Winter traditions and Christmas past January 2024 Curious Kids: Woodland Creatures Lecture: Roman Hoards from Wiltshire , by Richard Henry Museum Explorers Club: Romans vs Celts Online Lecture: Eric Walrond: A Caribbean American Writer in Exile in Wiltshire , by James Davis (City Uni. of New York) Young Curators Club: Romans vs Celts February 2024* Book Club: Eric Walrond Curious Kids: Dinosaurs and fossils Holiday Activities: Valentines and spring themed art Museum Explorers Club: Discover Ancient Egypt Online Lecture: Lest we Forget, by Selena Carty, founder of BlackPoppyRose Young Curators Club: Discover Ancient Egypt

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Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society: Membership

Members are very important to the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society and in addition to free entry to our award-winning Museum and special exhibitions, they receive other benefits:

2024 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Bronze: Individual - £46.50 Joint/Family - £59.50 Student - £20.00 Member Organisation - £60.00 Amber Donor - £72.50 Gold Donor - £135.50 Corporate membership - £125 and £325 Jadeite - £275 Life (over 50) - £1,000 Life (under 50) - £1,500 Subscriptions run for 12 months from the first day of the month of joining. Student membership is open to individuals enrolled on a full-time accredited course of study, or on a part-time course of higher education leading to a recognised qualification in the areas of the Society’s interests. A variety of subscription and payment options are available, including monthly payments.

to the 50,000 books, documents, maps and images in our library and archive.

There were 65 new (or re-joining) memberships in the year (82 members); 98 (104) in 2022/2023.

NEW MEMBERS 2023/24

Mr James Allen, Market Harborough Mr Simon Allum, Princes Risborough Ms Chloe Arbury, Laverstock Ms Bridie Baines, Marlborough Ms Josephine Bestoni, Salisbury Mrs Teri Brewer & Mr Michael Wilcox, Wells Mrs Margaret Broomfield, Devizes Ms Kamara Buchanan, Tetbury Mr Stephen Bull, Devizes Mr Ben Chambers, Braunton Ms Donna Clark, Warminster Dr Martin Clarke, London Mr Andy & Mrs Alice Clarke-Greening, Devizes Ms Heather Cochrane, Pewsey Dr Vanessa Coote, Marlborough Ms Christine Cox, Poulshot Mr David Coxon, Nottingham Mr Ralph Dicker, Salisbury Ms Annie Fiducia, Devizes Mr James Flanagan, Axbridge Mr Brian & Mrs Judith Flynn, Melksham Mr Wayne & Mrs Janet Ford, Swindon Mr Nicholas & Mrs Lesley Gainey, Devizes Mrs Stella Genever, Devizes Mr Ian Glennie, Calne Ms Celia Godfrey, Llantwit Major Dr Michael Gooding, Romsey Ms Anne Graham, Devizes Mrs Nicola Harris, Devizes Ms Ann Holman, Devizes Ms Kimberley Hulse, Devizes Mr Leslie & Mrs Vivienne Ibbotson, Devizes

Mr Michael Jarvis, Calne Mr Ray Josey, Devizes

Mrs Caroline Kay & Dr James Heffer, Bradford On Avon Mr Wolfgang & Mrs Susan Kettler, Bromham Xander King, Devizes Mr Brian Kingham, Marlborough Mr David & Mrs Toni Knapp, Swindon Ms Maria Kneafsey, Salisbury Mrs Anita & Mr Graeme Livermore, Calne Ms Yvonne Loth, Swindon Ms Anabel Loyd, Marlborough Ms Rose MacDonald & Mr Shawn Smith, Salisbury Mr Michael May, Devizes Mrs Tracy McPhail, Devizes Mrs Margaret Moles, Devizes Devon Nance, Prestwich Mrs Amanda Nicholson & Mr Steve Douglas, Trowbridge Mr Nigel & Mrs Angela Norman, Marlborough Mr Peter & Mrs Sarah Orr, Marlborough Mr Alexander Rae, Fovant Ms Rachel Reed, Castle Cary Ms Catherine Roberts, Melksham Mr David Sabin & Ms Kerry Donaldson, Calne Dr Ian Selby, Winchester Ms Alison Sewell, Sutton Benger Mr Alan Sims, Devizes Mr Christopher & Mrs Roisin Southwood, Salisbury Ms Alyson Stott, Pewsey Ms Patricia Sullivan, Bath Mr Stephen & Ms Jane Thatcher, Stonehouse Mrs Noella Thomas, Devizes Ms Helen Thomson, Bristol Ms Louise Watson, Chippenham

March 2024

Archaeology in Wiltshire Conference 2024 Curious Kids: Farmyard Fun Lecture and Book Launch: St Giles Imber: In a Different Light , by Tony Hack MA FSA Museum Explorers Club: Medieval castle and banquets

Online Talk: Assizes for Devizes – an Update , by David Dawson

Young Curators Club: Medieval castle and banquets

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Learning, Outreach And Community Engagement

Provides activities for young people to enable them to appreciate and develop their understanding of the local environment and its history (including school visits to the Museum and workshops at schools). Engages with local community groups to offer arts, culture and heritage activities for all generations.

This year has seen a large variety of activities taking place at the Museum, to engage children and young people and encourage them to become lifelong museum visitors. The Museum galleries are regularly filled with the sound of excited children exploring the collections. This can be through our popular school sessions during term time, children visiting with their families at the weekends the holidays, and even groups during the evening and overnight with our out of hours sessions.

Schools

Over 950 children have visited with their schools this year. Many of these have been repeat visits from schools who value our sessions as part of their school learning programme. School groups can learn about their local area though our displays and handling collections. They can find out about Prehistoric Wiltshire, the AngloSaxons, Romans, or more recent topics like the local history of Devizes. With the help of our wonderful volunteers, we can lead interactive, multi-sensory days which use artefacts, give the groups the chance to explore the Museum, and to take part in hands on activities such as dressing in costume, role play, craft activities and games.

We also visit schools all over the county, taking collections and linked activities to groups that may not find it easy to visit, perhaps due to the costs involved, or sometimes because it is logistically difficult to make a visit to the Museum. A lot of our outreach visits are to pre-school and infant age children and special Education schools and groups.

Families

We continued to offer two or more days of activities during each school holiday week. With popular themes and sessions linked to our exhibitions where possible, these craft based activities are often over-subscribed with waiting lists. Families enjoy taking part in activities with a mix of ages, and parents seem to enjoy getting involved too (Perhaps sometimes they enjoy the crafts even more than their children do!)

We also continued to run our three museum clubs for different age groups this year. Our longestablished Young Curators Club is particularly well attended, with some of our members having participated for 6 or 7 years! Sessions this year sessions included a Roman Feast, an Egyptian escape room, Greek myths and Roman vs Celts.

We hosted sessions for the Devizes Lions Arts Weekend, took part in The Salisbury Museum’s Archaeology Festival and continued to offer a programme of events for home-educated children to meet demand.

We look forward to the coming year, with plans to engage local families and school children with the Assize Court Project. It is exciting to be involved in this project, but also important to continue to make full use of our existing galleries and displays. With many groups already booking for sessions in the new academic year and next year’s temporary exhibition programme, including the Oexmann Art Competition and the Un/Common People folk exhibition, it is already looking to be a busy year for schools and families visiting the Museum.

Ali Rushent

Colourful creations at the holiday activity workshops

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Community Curator

The Community Curator post is funded by the Art’s Council NPO via Wessex Museum.

Amy Hammett was on maternity leave from September 2023, and welcomed Alexander in October. Zoe Lay temporarily covered her maternity cover alongside existing staff.

Activities undertaken during the year included: After School Club . Held on the third Thursday of the month, we host, in collaboration with the The Family Hub (Wiltshire Council) and Spurgeons, a free after school club for 6-11 year olds (with younger and older siblings welcome) offering activities and a free healthy meal for them and their parents. The scheme is funded by the Wiltshire Community Foundation.

Curious Kids. Held monthly on Saturday morning it provides activities for children aged 2 to 4 years old. Themes ranged from Dinosaurs to Egyptians to Farmyard Fun!

Eric Walrond - The Heritage Funded exhibition, which ran concurrently with the Lest we Forget exhibition, told the story of Eric Walrond (18981966), a Caribbean writer who made his name in the USA before moving to England, and then eventually to Wiltshire. Here he lived a quiet life in Bradford upon Avon and worked at the Melksham rubber factory. Behind the scenes his writing continued reflecting on his views on the second world war and the racism experienced by black soldiers whilst in the UK. He committed himself to Roundway Hospital in Devizes for poor mental health in the 1950s, before returning to London, where he died in 1966.

The funding (see page 12) enabled community work to be undertaken, including writing workshops for those struggling with mental health, led by creative writer and illustrator Flis Tattersall, using sections of text from the life and works of Eric Walrond. A book club session was held in February 2024 at the Museum discussing his writing and a talk took place at Melksham Library in April 2024. The exhibition was also displayed in The West Barn, Bradford on Avon from 16 March to 7 April 2024.

Lest we Forget This Aim funded project (page 12) enabled us to host an exhibition on the Black contribution to the world wars in Wiltshire, and workshops to create commemorative pieces of art included in the exhibition.

The community activities included a Paper Project with the Tidworth Craft Group and a ‘Forgotten Generations’ banner created by the Nepali Ladies Craft Group in Tidworth. The group were inspired by the life of Albert Jarrett, who featured in the exhibition, and using fabric and their own embroidery skills, they created a banner to represent aspects of Albert’s life (see page 6).

The exhibition later transferred to Lydiard House, Swindon, with a few panels also replicated for display at the Merchant’s House, Marlborough. Youth Panel The Youth Panel’s accessible “Roman Smells” interactive was installed in the Roman Gallery. This sensory interactive is installed at a height which can be accessed by most children and wheelchair users, with simple language in the explanation panels to ensure it can be engaged in by a wide range of people. They also ran a successful family day in October.

During the year, and in preparation for Activity in the autumn of 2024 we are working with the Wessex partnership on their provisionally titled exhibition ‘We are Wessex’. This includes conducting focus groups with staff, volunteers, the youth panel and different community groups, in order to determine the level of interest and enthusiasm for a Trust-wide exhibition on Folk. These conversations explored what the word folk meant to these groups and what they might expect to see in the exhibition.

In 2024/25, in addition to continuing to work on ongoing projects, there will be a 10-week project with artist facilitator Nick Halahan working with young people via Wiltshire Council’s Youth Justice Service, to explore and develop ideas to create street art style artworks.

on behalf of Amy Hammett

From the left: Puppets made at a Curious Kids session, creativity at the Halloween themed Youth Panel event.

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Volunteers

Provides opportunities for volunteers, without whom the Society could not offer the scale and variety of activities.

It has been another busy year for our volunteer team and were delighted to welcome many new faces, including new members to our youth panel, front of house and maintenance teams.

Over 3,300 hours of volunteer time was logged between April 2023 and March 2024. This equates to a financial value of nearly £50,000, calculated using National Lottery Heritage Fund methodology. Hours are slightly up compared to the 2,978 logged in 2022/23.

Volunteers play a vital role in all aspects of running the Museum and Society. They welcome visitors, look after researchers in our Library and Archive, assist with school groups and family activity days, help with maintenance and decorating, gardening, administration, mailings and events. We have a growing student volunteer programme, focusing on skills development through creative projects. Trustees are also volunteers and we are thankful for the time and expertise they continue to dedicate.

Bath Spa University placements

This year two placement students worked on a project linked to the Devizes Assize Court. Anita Sala and Cynthia Ganabadhi, created a travelling exhibition to showcase plans for our National Lottery Heritage funded project to turn Devizes Assize court into a new museum. During the summer of 2024 they will go out into the community to gather public views on the project. People will be able to vote on what they would like to see in the new museum space, handle objects from our collection and share our vision for the future of Wiltshire Museum. The travelling exhibition will culminate in a month long, interactive exhibition at the Museum.

Archive & Library

A team of 18 Library volunteers usually catalogue the Archive and Library collections, adding to the online catalogue and scanning the photograph collection. Five Reader Services volunteers have returned and are still assisting the Collections Officer with cataloguing the backlog of acquisitions that arrived during the lockdowns. The remaining volunteers are yet to return but many have continued to undertake their own research whilst at home, answer the occasional enquiry and transcribe oral history recordings.

The returning volunteers have been answering enquiries and assisting with visiting researchers and their requests. We could not provide the service we deliver without our excellent team of volunteers and hopefully we can welcome the rest of the team back soon when we fully reopen.

Helen Meikle, an MA student who did her placement in the Archive & Library during 2022, continued to volunteer remotely and transcribed a number of oral history testimonies. She also continued to research the William Cunnington letter book correspondents in her spare time, before rejoining the Museum in the autumn of 2023 to assist with the Assizes for Devizes project.

Looking ahead

We are looking forward to another year working alongside our enthusiastic team. Areas of focus will be to develop an exciting training programme for volunteers and ‘growing’ our gardening and community teams.

Our continuing thanks to every individual who has offered their time in supporting the Museum. Nicola Trowell, Jane Schön, Emma Sykes and Helen Meikle

In Memory of Astrid Bleich

Until Spring 2023, Astrid was a regular member of our Front of House team greeting our visitors with a style and wit all of her own – there was no messing with Astrid!

A German national Astrid was a teacher and social worker in Dusseldorf and a PA for English/Dutch Journalists in Holland, which led to a 14 year post at the Hague as an international secretary. A one year experience in England resulted in her decision to stay and she completed her Teaching English as a Foreign language qualification, acquired a certain level of French and taught Dutch and German at Liunguarama International Language School. Astrid was also recruited by an international tour company to guide tours to Holland, Germany, Belgium and Paris.

Additionally she worked on freelance basis for the Wiltshire Constabulary as an interpreter/translator in magistrate/crown courts and HM prisons. Astrid discovered her love of culture and history during her years working at the Bowood House estate and at Wiltshire Museum. She certainly had a very colourful life and enjoyed her time here at the Museum. She will be greatly missed.

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Thank you to our volunteers:

Sandy Haynes Amanda Ralfe Phil Andrews Netta Hemmins Stuart Raymond Geraldine Bateman Malcolm Holland Jo Redding Eliza Bates Abigail Hooper Mary Rennie Judith Bishop Mary Kane Kahlen Robinson Wendy Bishop James Kay Sue Roderick Mike Borro Dallas Kendall Doug Roseaman Jane Brunning Ann King Anita Sala Jan Bryant Wendy Lansdown Jonathan Sanigar Sandy Corbyn Graham Lever Jessamy Saunders Michael Cornwell Maggie Lewis Peter Saunders Jean Covington Ralph Lewis Harvey Skinner Dave Coward Sarah Longbotham Peter Small Carol Creed Stella Maddock Emerson Smith Jan Dando Ella Marsden Mike Stone Catherine Dawson Christina McClean John Surowiec Dylan Deloughery Mike McQueen Michael Teale Phil Edwards Helen Meikle Alistair Thompson Amy Ellis Peter Melsom Esme Thompson Paula Evans Susan Miles Peter Tolhurst Pauline Ferguson Philippa Morgan Christine Tucker Remi Ferreira-Pike Sara Morgan Laura Turner Helen Fishlock Jo Noble John Watts Michael Fletcher Philip Nokes Maggie Watts James Flood Sonny O’Sullivan Wendy Weller Alexandria Fraser Curran Bill Perry David Weston Jackie Gardiner Ivan Philips Jirina Wheatley Jeff Goatman Ann Phillips Mike Williams Jill Goatman Sue Power Heather Wilson Lisa Harding Penelope Price Jones Paul Wilson Angela Prophet

Committees and Working Groups follow up on specific issues

We are always looking for more people to be involved in our work, a great way to meet people and to develop skills and experience.

A303 Working Group

The Working Group continued to monitor developments, including court cases, on decisions concerning the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel, but has not needed to meet.

In July 2024 the new Government decided to cancel the scheme.

David Dawson, Director

Buildings and Monuments

This working group no longer meets, but if a significant case arises in Wiltshire, then the Working Group will be reformed.

Industrial Archaeology

The 2023 conference was a great success with nearly 100 people from all over the South West attending. Plans are in hand for the 2024 conference. The committee continues to act as a focus for Industrial Archaeology matters in the County and liaises with other interested bodies

Finance Committee

This committee ensures that the assets of the Society are managed in compliance with the various rules and guidelines pertinent to the WANHS status as a registered charity and limited liability company, and promulgates appropriate policies and procedures.

The routine and day-to-day monitoring and management of approved budgets is delegated to the Review & Development Committee.

The Finance Committee meet when events demand it.

Rathbone Investment Management provide regular reports on the investment situation.

Doug Roseaman, Committee Secretary

31

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

DEVELOPMENT

Working with Partners and Plans for the Future

Archaeology Archives and Off-site store

After nine years of closure to the deposition of archaeological material from commercial fieldwork, the Off-site store opened to the deposition of archaeological archives in October 2022. A phased delivery of the backlog is underway extending into 2024-5.

For projects notified to us after 1 April 2024 a flat fee of £110 (+ VAT) per standard size box has been implemented, an increase of £20 per box from the previous level.

Stonehenge Museums Partnership

We have kept in regular contact during the year, developing joint marketing where this has been possible.

Strategic and Forward Plans

We are continuing to work towards achieving the objectives set out in the 2019-2024 Strategic Plan for the Society and Museum to continue to thrive as the Assize Court project proceeds. An Interim Strategic Plan will be completed in 2024 to identify priorities up to the point when we hope to be awarded Delivery funding for the Assize Court Project.

The Forward Plan for 2023-2024 detailed priorities for the year ahead, including the implementation of the Development Phase of the Assizes for Devizes Project, the exhibition programme (Wessex Airscapes, Lest We Forget and Eric Walrond) in addition to our usual wide range of activities. The Plan has monthly objectives and is reviewed by the Board on a quarterly basis.

The majority of the targets set at the beginning of the year were achieved.

.

Wessex Museums Partnership

The Wessex Museums Partnership brings together Dorset Museum, Poole Museum, The Salisbury Museum, Swindon Museums and the Wiltshire Museum.

During the year the Wessex Museums Partnership progressed delivering the four year, Arts Council supported National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), project to improve collections care, enhance the exhibitions programme and work with new audiences. Our Community Curator built links with community groups and developed the Lest We Forget and Eric Walrond exhibitions. Our Exhibitions Officer supported the exhibitions programme and developed plans for future joint exhibitions, including a John Piper exhibition planned for 2026.

The Partnership is supported by the Wessex Museums Trust, a charity that aims to support museums in Wiltshire and Dorset. The Trust fundraises to enable the delivery of projects that the individual museums are not able to undertake on their own and take a more active role in the management of the NPO. The Society is represented on the Board by the Director.

As of April 2024 the existing partnership of Dorset Museum, Poole Museum, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Museum was joined by Swindon Museum,, which comprises Museum and Art Swindon (due to open in 2024), STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, and Lydiard House Museum.

In 2024 Arts Council England announced that the Wessex Museums National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status would be extended for a further year, ending in March 2026.

Lisa Brown and David Dawson

Depositions at the archaeology store.

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Plans for the Future: Devizes Assize Court

In June 2023 the Museum was awarded development funding of £300,748 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for our ambitious project to revitalise the Devizes Assize Court as a new home for the Museum and its internationally important collections. The project ‘Assizes for Devizes: Unlocking Wiltshire’s Stories’ aims to transform the much-loved Grade II* listed but derelict Devizes Assize Court into a world-class cultural destination, enabling us to truly fulfil our Mission to care for, celebrate, and share the extraordinary story of Wiltshire’s past.

This initial funding supports the ‘Development Phase’ of our project – a two-year planning period to develop architectural plans, alongside designs for the Museum’s new galleries and an exciting programme of community activities and events.

The project has made huge leaps forward since June 2023. We now have an appointed staff project team, who are working closely with a range of expert consultants to develop our plans for the building. To help us in progressing our plans, we have been joined by new members of staff – Claire Slack and Helen Meikle. They joined us in November 2023, working alongside Nicola Trowell, our Programme Manager.

Nicola has worked at the Museum for 7 years and worked closely with the Director on developing the Round 1 application to the NLHF.

Claire is our Project Engagement Officer. Claire’s role is to develop an ‘Activity Plan’ for the project. This involves consulting a wide range of audiences to create a plan of the activities and events we want to run during the project and after we open the new site.

In the middle of 2024, we will be appointing a Project Intern to the team. This role will focus on skills development and providing the needed experience to kickstart their heritage career.

The project’s architects, Purcell, and their experienced design team have been working closely with the Museum, the Devizes Assize Court Trust and local organisations, to bring to life a shared vision for the new site as a cultural and community destination at the heart of Wiltshire. The plans include two large, designated learning and event spaces, new galleries, a special display space capable of hosting national-standard exhibitions, and a café that makes use of the new open space behind the Assize Court.

Claire and Helen have been hosting a wide range of consultation events, advisory groups and pilot project in the local community. Over 1,000 people have been involved in the project so far!

We are aiming to submit a planning application to Wiltshire Council in August 2024. An application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund will then be submitted in summer 2025 for the major funding that is needed to make the project a reality.

Over the next year, the Museum will be preparing applications to Trusts and Foundations, as well as seeking support from philanthropists and benefactors. If successful, work on the building will begin during 2026, with the aim to open the building in 2030. A major public fundraising appeal will be launched once the major commitment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been secured.

Nicola Trowell

Helen is our Project Support Officer. Helen supports the day to day running of the project, including marketing and volunteer management. Before joining us, she undertook a placement with the Museum working on collecting memories from local people for our Voices of the Devizes Assize Court project.

Artist’s impression of the front building, Richard Carman.

33

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

TRUSTEES’ FINANCIAL REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

TRUSTEES’ FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are directors of the company for the purpose of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under the Law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society and the Income and expenditure for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Internal risks are minimised by the establishment, documentation and regular review of a robust system of internal controls. Procedures have been implemented for the authorisation of all transactions and projects are costed initially and monitored on a regular basis.

The Board continued to employ Rathbone Investment Management Limited to manage both the investment portfolio and the endowment fund with the primary objective to achieve a balanced return from income and capital at the low end of a medium level of risk.

The Society does not hold any indemnity insurance against any liability for negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust by a Trustee.

RISK ASSESSMENT

The risk assessments for all galleries are reviewed regularly and a risk assessment is made of all activities undertaken. On the financial side, a budget is prepared each year assessing the likely income receivable and costs of activities, which is monitored carefully and reported to the Trustees on a quarterly basis.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

The principal risks facing the Society include falls in the Stock Market which affect the investment portfolios, long-term staff or Trustee absence, inadequate staffing with dependence on a small team of full-time employees, physical risks to the collections or buildings from fire, theft or floods and reductions in grants from local authorities. The Trustees manage these risks by having an investment policy at the low end of medium risk with regular reviews from the investment managers, by having processes for trustee succession, by conducting reviews of staff availability and development and by regular reviews of security.

The Trustees consider, in line with the Charity Commission advice, that the Society should have unrestricted funds (i.e. designated funds plus unrestricted reserves) equivalent to at least one year’s core costs, that is some £400,000 to provide a measure of security; however, as the Society has become heavily dependent on its investments to provide ongoing but uncertain income for its operations, unrestricted funds have to be substantially greater than £400,000 to provide a measure of security since unrestricted funds are used to support the charitable activities of the Society where there is a deficiency of net income on core activities or to take account of new opportunities.

The Unrestricted Funds balance at 31 March 2024 was £571,833 (£634,511 at 31 March 2023).

The balance of Designated Funds (which are part of total unrestricted funds) was £415,223 at 31 March 2024 (£409,601 at 31 March 2023). The purpose of Designated Funds can be changed by the Board of Trustees. However, it must be borne in mind that the Designated Funds are and have been used to meet expenditure not charged to core activities such as the running costs of the Hopton Store, the Librarian’s salary, the Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group and the depreciation charge on the Art Gallery and high security cases. Therefore, Designated Funds can only be utilised for other purposes if the expenditure they defray either ceases to exist or is charged to core activities.

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Restricted Funds at 31 March 2024 of £376,241 (£362,024 at 31 March 2023) must be used for a specific purpose. The capital at 31 March 2024 of £511,473 (£490,007 at 31 March 2023) in the Endowment Fund is not distributable.

Included within the net book value of tangible fixed assets of £315,215 is the land and buildings of the Museum. These assets are carried in the accounts at a net book value of £283,426 (£289,441 at 31 March 2023). The net book value of this property is substantially smaller than its actual market value. There is provision in the Charity Accounting rules for tangible assets like the Museum land and buildings to be shown at market value in the accounts. However, the Trustees have decided that, for the moment, the property should be shown at net book value. This property is now used for the purposes of charitable activities but, if the Museum were to move, it may be available to generate funds to support the new opportunities.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Society had a busy year with a similar level of activity to that of 2023. Income associated with museum, library, outreach and other charitable activities was slightly below the previous year. However, due to grants and contributions associated with the Devizes Assize Court Trust Project total revenue was £536,344 compared to £361,147 in the year ended 31 March 2023. After adjusting for the costs associated with this additional include, overall expenditure was down by 5%. The recovery of the capital markets meant that gains on the Society’s investment were £57,710 against a loss of £114,703 last year.

Unrestricted reserves (i.e. Unrestricted Funds less Designated Funds) decreased in the year by £68,300. This was due to a deficit on operating activities of £79,385 and gains on investments of £11,085.

The operating deficit of £79,385 represents a £44,703 improvement on the adjusted budget deficit. This was mainly due to unplanned rates rebates relating to the current and previous years.

Designated Funds increased during the year by £5,622 mainly because of gains on investments (£12,566) and expenses allocations.

The Society continues to receive support from Wiltshire Council with a grant of £12,780 and Devizes Town Council of £4,000. Both grants will be maintained at this level in 2023/24 but their continuation at this level or at all is not certain for future years. These funds are very valuable as they support core expenses. Specific project grants enable the Society to extend its work in ways it would be unable to undertake without such support and the Society is extremely grateful for all the grants it receives.

Restricted Funds increased by £14,217 due to the gains on investments allocated to these funds (£12,593) and a legacy of £2,000.

Investment income from the Society’s main portfolio and from the Sandell Trust was £68,621 which was a decrease on the previous year (£2,929). The overall return on investments on the combined main and endowment portfolios and including income and revaluation and trading losses was a gain of 7.58% compared with a loss of 5.56% the previous year. This improvement in the value of the Society’s investments reflects the general recovery seen in the world’s capital markets as inflation rates have come under control and economies stabilised. The overall income return before investment management expenses was 2.90% compared with 2.82% the previous year.

The Society does not have a specific policy on social, environmental or ethical considerations. However, its investment managers have a corporate strategy that means that these are taken into account in all aspects of their business activities.

ENDOWMENT FUND

The Fund’s portfolio is managed at the low end of a medium risk mandate. The Endowment Fund balance increased during the year by £21,466 due to gains on securities and the gain resulting from the year end revaluation.

Under the terms of the Endowment Trust the capital is not available for distribution but must be invested to provide income for the Society at some future date to be decided by the Trustees. The Trustees have reserved the right to transfer income received by the Fund to unrestricted reserves from the year ended 31 March 2010. Net investment income of £12,262 after investment expenses of £2,917 was transferred to the unrestricted reserves during the year ended 31 March 2024.

COLLECTIONS TRUST

There are over 500,000 items in the Collections Trust of which 2,500 are displayed in the Museum. There are also some 30,000 items in the Archive and Library collections. Most of these items are assets which were acquired before 1 April 2005 and have no value placed on them in the accounts. These continue to be catalogued and conserved with some items on loan elsewhere as described on page 14. More recent items costing over £1,000 each and totalling £48,741 are included in the balance sheet at cost. During the year donations of £8.879 were received by the Trust and acquisitions of £11,558 of items costing less than £1,000 were made. These acquisitions are described on pages 16 to 21.

35

INCOMING RESOURCES AND LEGACIES RECEIVED AUDITORS David Owen & Co. were re-appointed as auditors of the Company at the Annual General Meeting on 12 November 2023 and have expressed their willingness to continue to act. This report has been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. statement of Recommended Practice applicable lo charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and in accordance with the special provisions of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities. The Trustees have taken all steps which they ought to have taken to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Society's auditors are aware of that Information. So far as the Trustees are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the Society s auditors are unaware. Incoming resources are allocated on the basis of the purposes for which they are raised, the income for designated and restricted funds being credited to the unrestricted fund and restricted funds respectively. The accounts include £376,241 for restricted funds and £511,473 for the Endowment Fund. These funds are not available to the Society for general use and must, therefore, be disregarded when assessing the Society s financial position. FORWARD PLAN Each year the Board approves a Forward Plan that contains objeclives and targets for the year. The 2023124 Forward Plan contained targets within the following calegories.. exhibitions and displays., collections., development,. projects., Assize Court., learning and outreach., and governance and core activities. Within the context of management resources good progress was made in most of these areas - see page 32. PARTNERSHIPS For many years the Society has enjoyed a close relationship with the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum as demonstrated by the reciprocal arrangement for free entry to the museums for members of each organisation and co-operation on exhibitions. Although, by mulual consent, the Directors have ceased to be nominees on the other's Board, good communication is maintained through the Wessex Museums Partnership. Supported by Arts Council England and led by Poole Museum Service, the partnership also includes The Salisbury Museum and Dorset Museum. The support of Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council in providing revenue grants to the Museum is gratefully acknowledged together with the contributions to the Board of their nominated Trustees. We are pleased to continue working in partnership with English Heritage and Salisbury Museum through the Stonehenge Museums Partnership. The Board is aware that progress through partnership is the most effective pathway to success and will be pursuing every available opportunity to build strong partnerships. Approved by the Trustees on 26 September 2024, and signed on their behalf by.. Dr Alison Hems Chair, on behalf of the Board of Trustees 36

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Constitution

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (the Society) is a company limited by guarantee, registration number 3885649, governed by its Articles of Association and a charity, registration number 1080096. The latest Articles of Association were agreed by the members at the October 2015 Annual General Meeting. The Objects of the Society are detailed on the inner cover. The members of the Society are subscribing members; in the event of the Society being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member.

The Society is the corporate trustee of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Collections Trust, a linked charity, registration number 1080096. The Collections Trust holds all the heritage assets in its collections. The Society does not hold the endowment of the Collections Trust as corporate property.

The Society is also the corporate trustee of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Endowment Fund, a linked charity, registration number 1080096. Under the terms of the Charity Registration the accounts of the Fund are included in the Society’s accounts but as a separate charity its funds do not form part of the Society’s assets.

Directors and Trustees

The Directors of the charitable company (the Society) are its Trustees for the purpose of charitable law and throughout the report are referred to collectively as “the Trustees”.

The Society can have a maximum of 20 trustees. The Chair, Deputy Chair and Treasurer (the Officers) and nine Trustees are elected by the membership, with re-election after three years. Trustees, excluding the Officers, can serve a maximum of six years. Officers are elected annually from amongst the Trustees but can serve for no more than six years in any one role. As nominating bodies, Devizes Town Council and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Trust, can each appoint one Trustee, and Wiltshire Council can appoint two Trustees. The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Trust no longer appoint a Trustee to the WANHS Board. The Trustees have the power to co-opt additional Trustees who serve until the end of the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) at which they may be nominated and elected.

The Society is governed by the Board of Trustees which meets regularly throughout the year. It determines the general policy direction of the Society and discusses matters of importance to the Society. It approves and monitors budgets,

Forward and Strategic Plans, all developments, the prioritisation and allocation of resources and approves trustee appointments. Trustees bring outside experience and knowledge which supports that of our small staff.

There is a Review and Development Committee which meets regularly to review the management and financial affairs of the Museum delegated to the Director and his staff. Standing committees and working groups are formed as needed to deal with specific issues.

Risk Management

The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed including those related to the operations and finances of the Society and Museum, Archive & Library, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate any exposure to major risks. The Risk Register is regularly reviewed and updated as necessary.

Investment Powers

The Trustees have the power to invest in such stocks, shares, investments and property as they see fit. The Trustees have engaged Rathbone Investment Management as investment managers and a Finance Committee reviews the portfolio and investment strategy.

Trustee appointment, induction and training

The skills and experience of existing Trustees is reviewed annually and, together with future needs, taken into account when seeking new trustees. The Board has a succession plan and has drawn up a trustee role description. Vacancies are advertised to members and through archaeological and voluntary media. Prospective Trustees are invited to visit the Museum to discuss the role prior to a formal interview. A panel, including the Chair and Director, reviews applications and interviews candidates. References are obtained and checks on eligibility to be a trustee and company director made. Those who are considered suitable are recommended to the Board to go forward to the Society’s AGM for election by members.

There is an induction process to help Trustees understand their new role. An induction pack includes information on governance, accounts for recent years, forward plans, minutes of recent Board meetings, policies and other relevant information. New Trustees receive copies of Charity Commission advice (e.g. The Essential Trustee ), are signed up for their e-mail updates and receive a personal tour of the Museum, Archive & Library buildings. From time to time Trustees are offered training courses.

37

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

LEGAL INFORMATION

Names and registration numbers

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (the Society) is a company limited by guarantee, registration number 3885649 and a charity, registration number 1080096.

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Collections Trust is an unincorporated, linked charity, registration number 1080096.

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Endowment Fund is an unincorporated, linked charity, registration number 1080096.

PATRONS

J B Bush, CVO, OBE, CSt.J, JP (died May 2024) P Harding, DUniv, FSA, MIFA D Inshaw Mrs S R Troughton, CSt.J, HM Lord-Lieutenant for Wiltshire

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Chair:

Martin J Nye, MA (Cantab) to 28 March 2024 Alison Hems, BA, PhD, AMA, FRSA - from 28 March 2024

Deputy Chair:

Alison Hems, BA, PhD, AMA, FRSA

Hon. Treasurer:

Chris R Kelly, BSc, FCA, FloD

Elected Trustees:

Richard Cardiff

Clare Dobbin, MA, BA (Hons) Nicola Harris - elected 12 Nov 2023 Gillian Kenny, MA, PhD - resigned 23 May 2023 Ruth B. Kerr, MA, BA (Hons) Earl Kerry - elected12 Nov 2023 Alfred La Vardera, FCPFA, MSc - to 12 Nov 2023 Katie Marsden, BSc (Hons) Daniel S Miles, BA, MA, MIfA - to 12 Nov 2023 Lachlan Robertson, MA, BSc

Nominated Trustees:

Member, Devizes Town Council (from May 2021): Cllr. Mrs C Gay, BA (Hons), Dip Ed, FPS Members, Wiltshire Council: vacant

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

STAFF AS AT 31.3.2024

Director: David Dawson, BA, FSA, AMA Curator: Lisa Brown, BA (Hons), MA Marketing & Administration Manager: Karen Jones, BA (Hons) Museum Assistant: Administration: Emma Sykes, BA Collections Officer: Archive & Library: Jane Schön, BA (Hons), MA Community Curator: Amy Hammett, BA Exhibitions Officer: Heather Ault, BA

Finds Liaison Officer: Sophie Hawke (employed by The Salisbury Museum, funded through the British Museum and other partners) Finance Officer: Mandy Dixon Learning & Outreach Officer: Ali Rushent, BA, MA Museum Assistant: Carol Johnston Assizes for Devizes Project Staff: Programme Manager: Nicola Trowell, BA (Hons) Engagement Officer: Claire Slack, BA (Hons), MA Support Officer: Helen Miekle, BA (Hons), MA _[part-time]_

FORMAL APPOINTMENTS

Auditors : David Owen & Co., 17 The Market Place, Devizes, SN10 1BA Bankers : Lloyds TSB plc, 38 Market Place, Devizes, SN10 1JD

Investment Managers: Rathbone Investment Management, 8 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7AZ Company Secretary: Mrs K P Jones, BA (Hons)

Hon. Solicitors : Wansbroughs, Northgate House, Devizes, SN10 1JX

Editor - Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine : Stuart Brookes, BA (Hons), MA, PhD, PGCTiLL

REGISTERED OFFICE

41 Long Street Devizes Wiltshire SN10 1NS

38

Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

REPORT OF THE AUDITORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise of the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK”.

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standards, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concerns

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other Information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and,

except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ Report included within the Trustee’s Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement (set out on page 34), the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company or the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a

39

true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary lo enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due lo fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees, are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability lo continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, mallers related lo going concern and using the going concern basis of accountin9 unless the Trustee's either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. The risk of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud was discussed within the audit team and tests were planned and performed lo address these risks. We identified the potential for fraud in the following areas.. misappropriation of cash and other assets, undisclosed related party transactions outside the normal course of business. We identified the greatest risk of material impacl on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud and revenue recognition of legacies, grants and investment income. We crilioally reviewed judgements and provisions included within the financial statements and examined the associated cut-off issues. Prior period forecasts were compared to actual results to ensure past jlidgemenls made were reasonable in comparison with eventual outcomes. We reviewed financial statements disclosures and tested lo supporting documentation to assess compliance with relevant laws and regulations discussed above. We enquired of the Iruslees about actual and potential liligalion and claims. We obtained independent confirmations from your bank regarding balances at the year-end in addition lo any oulslanding charges. We performed analytical procedures lo identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that might indicate risks of material misstalemenl due to fraud. In addressing the risk of fraud due to management override of internal controls we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting eslimales were indicative of a potential bias Due to the inherent limitations of an audit. there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misslalemenls in the financial slalemenls, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards, For example, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion. forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresenlalions, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations and cannot be expected to delecl a11 fraud and non- compliance with laws and regulations Use of our Report The report 15 made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might slate to the charity s trustees those mallers we are required to slate to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility lo anyone other than the charitable company and the charity s Iruslees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the f inancial statements Our objeclives are lo obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial slalemenls as a whole are free from material misslatemenl, whether due to fraud or error, and lo issue an Auditor's Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance bul is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAS {UK) will always delect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on Ihe basis of these financial slalemenls. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website al.. hltps.'//www.frc.org.uld aiidilorsrespoiisibililies. This description forms part of our Auditor's Report. Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud We identify and assess the risks of material misslalement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate lo provide a basis for our opinion. In identifying and addressing risks of material misstalemenl in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulalions, our procedures included the following.. We obtained an understanding of laws and regulations that affect the company, focusing on those that had a direct effect on the financial slalemenls or that had a fundamental effect on ils operations. Key laws and regulations that we identified included the UK Companies Act 2006, Charities Act 2011, tax legislation, data protection legislation and regulations imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority IFCAI with regards lo the provision of insurance policies. We enquired of the trustees, reviewed correspondence with HMRC and reviewed meeting minutes for evidence of non-compliance with relevant laws and regulations. We also reviewed controls the trustees have in place lo ensure compliance. We gained an understanding of the controls that the trustees have in plaGe to prevent and delect fraud. We enquired of the trustees about any incidences of fraud that had taken place during the accounting period. Mr Joseph Bunlon (Senior Statutory Audilorl For an on behalf of David Owen & Co, Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 17 The Markel Place, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1 BA Dale, 26 September 2024 40

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds
2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £ £
Income and Endowments from:
Donations and legacies 1 116,466 2,000 - 118,466 108,425
Charitable activities 2 344,104 - - 344,104 138,945
Other trading activities 5 62,395 - - 62,395 75,166
Investments 7 13,379 7,123 15,179 35,681 38,610
Total 536,344 9,123 15,179 560,646 361,146
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 8 62,165 1,484 2,917 66,566 61,321
Charitable activities 9 572,770 6,015 - 578,785 454,361
Total 634,935 7,499 2,917 645,351 515,682
Net gains/(losses) on investments 14 23,651 12,593 21,466 57,710 (114,702)
Net income/(expenditure) (74,940) 14,217 33,728 (26,995) (269,238)
Transfers between funds 12,262 - (12,262) - -
Net movement in funds (62,678) 14,217 21,466 (26,995) (269,238)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 634,511 362,024 490,007 1,486,542 1,755,780
Total funds carried forward 571,833 376,241 511,473 1,459,547 1,486,542
----- End of picture text -----

41

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024 2024 2023 Notes Fixed Assets Tangible Fixed Assets Managed Investments Securities Cash 15 315,125 329,539 16 707,615 12,556 731, 781 10,771 720,171 742,552 Managed Endowment Investments Securities Cash 16 495,486 15,537 469,659 28,898 511,023 1,546,319 489,551 Total Fixed Assets 1,561,648 Current Assets Stock Debtors Cash al Bank Total current Assets 14,467 123,175 60,036 197,678 12,929 38, T08 131, 669 183,306 17 Liabilities Credilois.. Amounts falling due within one year Net Current Assets 18 170,197 130,273 27,481 53,033 Total assets less Current liabilities Creditors.. Amounts falling due aller more Ihan one year 1,573,800 114,253 1,459,547 1,614, 681 128,139 1,486,542 19 The funds of the Society Endowment Funds Reslricled income funds Unreslricled funds {including Designated funds) 22 511,473 376,241 571,833 1,459,547 490,007 362,024 634,511 1,486,542 23 24 These financial slalemenls have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject lo the small companies regime and FRS 102 Section 1 A. The notes on pages 44 10 54 form part ol these financial statements. DrA Hems, Chair kMsF C R Kelly, Honorary Treasurer 26 September 2024 42

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Total
Funds
2024
£
Cash fows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
(a)
(159,727)
Cash fows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
35,681
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
(6,212)
Proceeds from sale of investments
253,731
Purchase of investments
(206,682)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
76,518
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period
(83,209)
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April
(b)
171,338
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March
(b)
88,129
(a) Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) to net cash fow from operating activities
2024
£
Net income/(expenditure) for the year as per the Statement of Activities
(26,995)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
20,626
(Gains)/losses on investments
(57,710)
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
(35,681)
(Increase)/decrease in stocks
(1,538)
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
(84,467)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
26,038
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
(159,727)
(b) Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
2024
£
Cash at bank and in hand (incl. investment cash)
88,129
88,129		 Total
Funds
2024		 Total
Funds
2023
£

(159,727)		 £
(158,096)
35,681
(6,212)
253,731
(206,682)		 38,610
(5,248)
203,292
(64,901)
76,518 171,753
(83,209)
171,338		 13,657
157,681
88,129 171,338
2023
£
(26,995)
20,626
(57,710)
(35,681)
(1,538)
(84,467)
26,038		 (269,238)
22,932
114,703
(38,610)
2,804
4,064
5,249
(159,727) (158,096)
2024
£		 2023
£
88,129 171,338
88,129 171,338

43

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Statement of Accounting Policies

Basis of Preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with:

The Company qualifies as a small company under the Companies Act 2006 and under SORP. However, the Company has continued to comply with the requirements of large charities and to this end has produced a cash flow statement for the accounting period and comparative figures for the previous accounting period.

The Company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value except for the discounting of the liability for the pension deficit or unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

Company Status

The Company is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the Company are subscribing members. In the event of the Company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member.

Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £4,000 are capitalised and included at cost. Grant funded purchases are written off in the year of acquisition unless capitalisation is required as a condition of the grant. Depreciation is provided on all fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost on a straight-line basis over the expected useful economic life as follows:


economic life as follows:
Freehold Land Nil
Freehold Buildings Over 50 years
Fixtures, fttings and equipment Over 5 years

Investments

Net gains and losses are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities and analysed between realised gains and losses and unrealised gains and losses in note 14 to the financial statements. Investment income has been accounted for on the basis of the due date of payment. Investment income and gains and losses in the Main Fund are allocated between Unrestricted Funds (including Designated Funds) and Restricted Funds on the basis of the average net assets of those funds.

Stock

Incoming Resources

Allocation of Expenditure

Throughout the financial statements, where it is necessary to allocate staff or other costs over objective heads (i.e. Museum Services, Library Services, Educational Services, etc.) this has been done on the assessment of the Director.

Pensions

During the year to 31 March 2024 pension provision was made for 11 employees by membership of a Pension Trust Scheme which is principally a defined contribution pension scheme. All employees who are not in the scheme are offered pension auto-enrolment into the scheme where applicable. Employer’s contributions of £13,863 have been charged to staff costs as incurred. The Scheme has a limited guarantee on losses under the scheme for those members of staff who transferred to it. This has led to small additional amounts in respect of a deficit being recovered from the Society.

Some years prior to the year ended on 31 March 2017 the Society ceased to be a scheme employer in the Wiltshire Pension Fund and, as stated in the 2012 report, entered into an agreement with Wiltshire Council to reimburse the deficit by payment of £21,000 for each year up to and including December 2031. Full provision of the liability was originally made in the accounts to 31 March 2016 for the amounts payable to December 2031, discounted at 5% per annum over the payment period. An amount of £7,114 was charged in the accounts to 31 March 2024 ((£7,790 (2023) and £8,432 (2022)).

Reserves

The reserves at 31 March 2024 are located to Unrestricted Funds, Restricted Funds and Endowment Funds. Unrestricted Funds include Designated Funds.

Stock consists of purchased goods for resale and unsold publications. Stocks are valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value after making allowance for obsolete and slow-moving stock.

44

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Going Concern

These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The Trustees consider the use of the going concern basis of accounting appropriate as there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt about the ability of the company to continue as a going concern.

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Endowment Fund

The Endowment Fund is a charity established to raise and hold capital, the income from which will be used to support the activities of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. The Company is the corporate trustee of the Fund which shares the Company’s charity registration number. Under the terms of the Charity Registration the accounts of the Fund are included in the Company’s accounts but, as a separate charity, these funds do not form part of the Company’s assets. The investment income from the Endowment Fund is credited to the Unrestricted Funds.

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Collections Trust

The Company is the Corporate Trustee of the Collections Trust which own the Collections. On 3 March 2004, the Charity Commission issued a Uniting Direction under Section 96(5) of the Charities Act 1993 stating that the Collections Trust shall be treated as forming part of the Company for the purposes of registration and accounting. The Direction points out that the Company will be the reporting charity and the Collections Trust will be the linked charity. However, “the Company does not hold the endowment of the Collections Trust as corporate property. The Company is the trustee of the endowment and hold the property in trust. At no time can the endowment of the Collections Trust be considered an asset of the Company”.

Accounts for the Collections Trust have been set up within the Company’s books and separate bank accounts have been established. Acquisitions for the collections are made by the Collections Trust. The Collections Trust Accounts are included as a separate schedule with these financial statements.

45

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Total
Funds Funds Funds 2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £ £
1 Income from Donations and Legacies
- -
Membership Subscriptions 45,781 45,781 42,535
Donations and Tax Refunds 34,745 - - 34,745 26,854
-
Legacies 3,000 2,000 5,000 6,096
Income transferred by Old Society
Sandell Trust 32,940 - - 32,940 32,940
-
116,466 2,000 118,466 108,425
Income from Donations and Legacies for Unrestricted Funds includes £50 (2023 £247) for Designated Funds.
2 Income from Charitable Activities
Grants and Contributions 3 288,626 - - 288,626 81,776
Admissions 39,676 - - 39,676 35,657
Exhibitions Commissions 5,237 - - 5,237 13,001
Education Receipts 10,565 - - 10,565 8,511
- -
344,104 344,104 138,945
3 Income from Grants and Contributions
- - -
AIM/HF Lest we Forget 13,890 13,890
- - - -
Arts Council - Wealth of Knowledge 25,984
- - - -
Cunnington Letters Books 1,182
- -
Community Curator Projects 1,750 1,750 2,797
- -
Community Kick Start Project 1,500 1,500 3,030
Devizes Assize Court Trust 153,895 - - 153,895 -
Devizes Town Council 29,000 - - 29,000 4,000
Ernest Cook Trust - - - - 31
- - - -
Hardy’s Wessex Exhibition 3,170
- - -
National Heritage - Eric Walrond Exhibition 6,998 6,998
Swire Foundation 20,000 - - 20,000 -
- -
Wessex Museum Partnership 43,600 43,600 22,100
Wiltshire Council 12,780 - - 12,780 17,280
Sundry Contributions for Projects 5,213 - - 5,213 2,202
- -
288,626 288,626 81,776
2024
4 Grants carried forward
£
Cauldrons - Broomsgrove 556
Devizes Area Tourism 1,257
Stonehenge - Avebury Bus 5,153
Wessex Museum Partnership 7,970
Wiltshire Community Foundation 3,000
Sundry Contributions for Projects 180
18,116
----- End of picture text -----

46

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Total
Notes Funds Funds Funds 2024 2023
5 Income from Other Trading Activities £ £ £ £ £
Shop Sales 6 32,904 - - 32,904 38,599
Other Sales - - - - -
Museum Income 27,326 - - 27,326 35,662
Fundraising Events 2,165 - - 2,165 905
- -
62,395 62,395 75,166
6 Shop Sales
- -
Shop sales 32,904 32,904 38,599
Less Purchase cost 22,732 - - 22,732 21,641
- -
Gross Profit 10,172 10,172 16,958
Gross Profit % on sales 30.91% 43.93%
7 Investment Income
Income from Investments 13,379 7,123 15,179 35,681 38,610
13,379 7,123 15,179 35,681 38,610
8 Expenditure on Raising Funds
Cost of Sales
- -
Shop 22,732 22,732 21,642
Salaries 10,668 - - 10,668 10,061
Members' services 3,444 - - 3,444 2,791
- -
Marketing 5,436 5,436 2,297
- -
Fundraising costs 11,926 11,926 11,673
Investment management costs 2,787 1,484 2,917 7,188 8,064
Support costs 5,172 - - 5,172 4,793
62,165 1,484 2,917 66,566 61,321
9 Expenditure on Charitable Activities
Museum Services 236,443 - - 236,443 258,726
- -
Library Services 38,381 38,381 47,024
Educational work 39,991 - - 39,991 34,142
WANHM 16,547 - - 16,547 15,127
Support and governance costs 241,408 6,015 - 247,423 99,342
-
572,770 6,015 578,785 454,361
Expenditure on Charitable Activities for Unrestricted Funds includes £18,081 (2023 £13,865) for Designated Funds.
Support and governance costs include audit fees of £7,200 (2023 - £6,800)
----- End of picture text -----

Total
2024		 Total
2023
10
Staff costs		 £ £
Wages and Salaries 259,497 221,728
Social Security costs 15,102 11,705
Pension costs 21,427 19,935
296,026 253,368

47

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
Staff costs attributable to activities :
£ £
Cost of raising funds 10,668 10,061
Charitable activities:
Museum 175,603 149,922
Library 29,720 27,802
Education 31,717 25,133
Governance 48,318 40,450
296,026 253,368
In 2024 £77,998 (2023 £10,825) of staff costs were funded from grants for projects.
Pension costs include £7,114 (2023: £7,790) relating to charges for deficits in previous years.
During the year £21,000 (2023: £21,000) was paid towards the liability for the Wiltshire Council Pension deficit (see note 20).
No employee received emoluments for the period exceeding £60,000.
Key management personnel which consist of the Trustees and the Director were paid a total of £61,633 (2023 £58,368).
This amount is gross of employer’s contributions towards pension and National Insurance.
The average number of employees in 2024 was 4 full time and 9 part time (2023: 4 full time and 8 part time)..
11 Trustees’ Expenses
No trustee either received or waived any emoluments for acting as Trustee during the year.
Trustees’ expenses totalling £0 (2023 £0) were paid during the year
12 Transactions with Related Parties
There were no transactions with related parties during the year 2024 (2023 - £0).
13 Operating Leases
Payments for operating leases for a telephone system and for a photocopier amounted to £3,850 (2023 £2,842) during the
year. Minimum lease payments are payable as follows:
----- End of picture text -----

2024 2023
£ £
Not later than one year
 4,094 4,602
Later than one year and not later than fve years 12,518 2,794
16,612 7,396
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Main
Portfolio
£
Endowment
Portfolio
£
Total
2024
£

Total
2023
£
14
Gains/(losses) on investment		 assets
Realised gains/(losses) (3,290) (1,752) (5,042) (6,176) (11,218) (12,702)
Unrealised gains/(losses) 26,941 14,345 41,286 27,642 68,928 (102,000)
23,651 12,593 36,244 21,466 57,710 (114,702)

48

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

15 Tangible Fixed Assets

Opening Cost at 1stApril
Addition - Amesbury Storage Facility
Closing Cost at 31st March
Accumulated Depreciation at 1stApril
Charge in year
Accumulated Depr. at 31stMarch
Closing Net Book Value at 31st March		 Freehold
Land
£
72,750
-
Freehold
Buildings
£
298,487
-
Fixtures,
Fittings &
Equipment
£
91,489
6,212

Total
2024
£
462,726
6,212
Total
2023

£
457,478
5,248
72,750 298,487 97,701 468,938 462,726
-
-		 81,796
6,015		 51,391
14,611		 133,187
20,626		 110,255
22,932
- 87,811 66,002 153,813 133,187
72,750 210,676 31,699 315,125 329,539

The freehold land and buildings transferred from the original unincorporated Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (Charity no. 309534) in November 2003 were included in the balance sheet at book values. Other tangible fixed assets acquired or created since have been included at cost. The Trustees have decided not to apply a valuation to the property.

16 Quoted Fixed Asset Investments
Opening Market Value at 1stApril
Purchases
Sales
Net profts/(losses) :
Realised
Unrealised
Closing Market value at 31stMarch
17 Debtors
Trade Debtors
Prepayments
Grants and Donations receivable
Gift Aid refund receivable
VAT recoverable
Monies owed by the Collections Trust
Monies owed by the Old Society		 Main
Portfolio
2024
£
731,781
110,653

Endowment
Portfolio
2024
£
460,659
96,028

Main
Portfolio
2023
£
978,823
-

Endowment
Portfolio
2023
£
466,711
64,901
842,434
171,064		 556,687
82,667		 978,823
166,939		 531,612
36,352
671,370
(5,042)
41,287		 474,020
(6,176)
27,642		 811,884
(7,412)
(72,691)		 495,260
(5,291)
(29,310)
707,615 495,486 731,781 460,659
Total
2024
£
5,427
25,341
74,022
5,144
10,501
-
2,740
123,175
Total
2023
£

5,635

16,397

7,138

6,601

197

-

2,740
38,708

49

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

18
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Grants received in advance
Trade Creditors
Accruals
Taxes including NIC
Pension defcit (see note 20)
Prepaid membership subscriptions
Other income in advance
Monies owed to the Collections Trust
19
Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year
Pension defcit (see note 20)		 Total
2024
£
18,116
68,854
27,798
4,968
20,442
24,284
5,615
120		 Total
2023
£
46,476
11,863
15,732
3,431
20,442

23,596
8,733
-
170,197 130,273
114,253 128,139
114,253 128,139

20 Pension Deficit

The Society has an agreement with Wiltshire Council to reimburse a deficit with the Wiltshire Pension Fund in relation to two former employees by payment of £21,000 for each year up and including December 2031. Full provision, subject to discounting at 5% over time from 31 March 2018 has been made in creditors. The charge for the year to 31 March 2024 for the discounted part of the provision was £7,714 (2023 £7,790).

21 Analysis of net assets between Funds

Analysis of net assets between Funds
Fund values at 31 March are represented by:
Tangible Fixed Assets
Managed Investments
Current Assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Endowment
Funds
£
Total
2024
£
Total
2023
£
119,275
195,850
-
315,125
329,539
618,134
102,037
511,023
1,231,194 1,232,109
118,874
78,354
450
197,678
183,306
(170,197)
-
-
(170,197) (130,273)
(114,253)
-
-
(114,253) (128,139)
571,833 376,241 511,473 1,459,547 1,486,542

22 Endowment Funds

Endowment Funds
Balance at
1 April 2023
Income
£
£
Endowment Trust Fund
490,007
15,179
Income in the Endowment Trust Fund includes:
Legacies
Investment Income		 Balance at
1 April 2023
£
490,007		 Income
£
15,179		 Investment
expenses

£

(2,917)
Gain on
investments
£
21,466
Inter-Fund
Transfers
£
(12,262)
Balance at
31 March
2024

£
511,473
£
-
15,179
15,179

The Endowment Trust Fund is a separate charity, of which the Company is the corporate trustee. It is established to raise capital, the income from which will be paid to the Company for its general use. The funds are invested separately and do not form part of the Company’s fixed assets.

50

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

23 Restricted Funds

Balance
at 1 April
2023
£
English Heritage Fund
7,359
Legacies and Donations
134,692
Oexmann Fund
14,937
Amesbury Storage Facility
192,210
Wiltshire Environment Gallery
12,826
362,024
Income in the restricted funds includes:
Legacies
Grants
Other trading activities		 Balance
at 1 April
2023
£
7,359
134,692
14,937
192,210
12,826

Income
£
-
2,000
-
-
-		 Investment
income
£
144
2,661
294
3,772
252
Expenses
(incl.
investment
expenses)
£
(30)
(554)
(61)
(6,801)
(53)


Gain on
investments
£
255
4,705
519
6,669
445
Inter-
Fund
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
Balance
at
31 March
2024
£
7,728
143,504
15,689
195,850
13,470
362,024 2,000 7,123 (7,499) 12,593 - 376,241
£
2,000
-
-
2,000

The restricted funds may only be used for specifc purposes :

Amesbury Storage Facility Storage facility for archaeology archives deposited after 2021. English Heritage Fund To finance specific publications and projects. Legacies and Donations Legacies and donations received for use in future projects Oexmann Fund To finance a biennial art exhibition. Wiltshire Environment Gallery This fund was originally set up to cover the cost of Museum refurbishments to create a new Environmental Gallery. Discussions are proceeding to enable the Society to use some or all this money for the refurbishment of the office suite and the purchase of essential equipment.

These fund balances at 31 March 2024 are held as part of the Company’s overall assets and cash at bank. Investment returns have been allocated pro-rata to the average balance of individual funds in the year to 31 March 2024.

51

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

24 Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted Funds
Designated funds:
Improvement Fund
Library Fund
Archaeological Field Group
Programme Committee
Publications Fund
Ready to Borrow Applied
Shearing Library Fund
The Crofton Story
Wiltshire Life
Other unrestricted funds		 Balance at
1 April
2023
£
Donations
and
Legacies
£
Other
Income
(incl.
investment
income)
£
Expenses
(incl.
investment
expenses)
£
Gain on
investments
£
Inter-
Fund
Transfers
£
Balance at
31 March
2024
£
13,896
-
273
(57)
482
-
14,594
999
3,178
46
(424)
81
-
3,880
3,231
-
850
(1,106)
-
-
2,975
17,311
-
340
(71)
601
-
18,181
24,717
-
485
(101)
857
-
25,958
38,347
-
-
-
-
-
38,347
92,854
-
1,734
(9,829)
3,066
-
87,825
409
-
8
(2)
14
-
429
217,837
-
4,223
(6,491)
7,465
-
223,034
409,601
3,178
7,959
(18,081)
12,566
-
415,223
224,910
67,507
457,700
(616,854)
11,085
12,262
156,610
634,511
70,685
465,659
(634,935)
23,651
12,262
571,833

The purpose of the designated funds (which may be changed by the Company's Board of Trustees and which remain part of the unrestricted funds) is currently:

Archaeology Field Group To fnance archaeological activity.
The Crofton Story Income from the sale of this publication.
Improvement Fund
Library Fund
Programme Committee
Publications Fund		 Established by the original Society to fnance improvements to the Museum.
To fnance items of library conservation and management.
To fnance members' events.
To fnance publications (the expenditure is the cost of a write down in the value of
stocks).
Ready to Borrow Applied The balance represents capital expenditure funded by Ready to Borrow Grant and
contributions used to defray the depreciation costs of new tangible fxed assets over their
useful life.
Shearing Library Fund To fnance the cost of employing a part-time Librarian and small library equipment
purchases.
Wiltshire Life To fnance the care and development of the Wiltshire Life Society Collections.
The expenditure consists of direct costs and does not include curatorial charges.

Allocation of expenditure from Designated Funds is reviewed regularly. The timing of expenditure is over a period which matches requirements of each purpose, potentially over a number of years. These fund balances at 31 March 2024 are held as part of the Company's overall assets and cash at bank. Investment returns have been allocated pro-rata to the average balance of individual funds in the year to 31 March 2024.

52

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

COLLECTIONS TRUST - Linked Charity Number 1080096 FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Income and Endowments from:
£
£
Donations and legacies
8,879
-
Charitable activities:
Grants
-
-
Sale
-
-
8,879
-
Expenditure on charitable activities:
Acquisitions costing less than £1,000
Museum
3,233
-
Library
8,355
-
11,588
-
Costs
Sundry
-
-
11,588
-
Net income/(expenditure)
(2,709)
-
Balance at 1 April 2023 brought forward
64,783
4,252
Balance at 31 March 2024 carried forward
62,074
4,252
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2024
Heritage Assets
Opening Balance at 1 April
Acquisitions over £1,000
Closing Balance at 31 March
Current Assets
Cash in Bank
Intercompany Debtors
Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
The Funds of the Trust
Balance at
1 April
2023
Income,
Grants &
Donations
Inter Fund
Transfers
£
£
£
Unrestricted Funds - Museum and Art
64,783
8,879
-
Restricted Funds
4,252
-
-
69,035
8,879
-		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Income and Endowments from:
£
£
Donations and legacies
8,879
-
Charitable activities:
Grants
-
-
Sale
-
-
8,879
-
Expenditure on charitable activities:
Acquisitions costing less than £1,000
Museum
3,233
-
Library
8,355
-
11,588
-
Costs
Sundry
-
-
11,588
-
Net income/(expenditure)
(2,709)
-
Balance at 1 April 2023 brought forward
64,783
4,252
Balance at 31 March 2024 carried forward
62,074
4,252
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2024
Heritage Assets
Opening Balance at 1 April
Acquisitions over £1,000
Closing Balance at 31 March
Current Assets
Cash in Bank
Intercompany Debtors
Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
The Funds of the Trust
Balance at
1 April
2023
Income,
Grants &
Donations
Inter Fund
Transfers
£
£
£
Unrestricted Funds - Museum and Art
64,783
8,879
-
Restricted Funds
4,252
-
-
69,035
8,879
-		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
8,879
-
-
Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
2024
Total
£
8,879
-
-		 2023
Total
£
-
-
-
8,879 - 8,879 -
3,233
8,355		 -
-		 3,233
8,355		 1,685
163
11,588
-		 -
-		 11,588
-		 1,848
-
11,588 - 11,588 1,848
(2,709)
64,783		 -
4,252		 (2,709)
69,035		 (1,848)
70,883
62,074 4,252 66,326 69,035
48,741
-		 48,741
-
48,741 48,741
17,465
120		 20,294
-
17,585 20,294
-
17,585		 -
20,294
66,326 69,035

Expenditure
£
11,588
-		 Balance at
31 March
2024
£
62,074
4,252
69,035 8,879 - 11,588 66,326

53

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

COLLECTIONS TRUST - Linked Charity Number 1080096

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Museum and Art Collections: The collections fall within the definition of heritage assets for the purposes of the Charities SORP.

Accounting Policies:

  1. No value has been placed on the collections held prior to 1 April 2005. To establish a value would involve significant costs, onerous compared to the additional benefit derived by the users of the financial statements.

  2. The Trustees have adopted a policy whereby acquisitions costing less than £1,000 are not capitalised but are written off in the year of purchase.

  3. Acquisitions costing in excess of £1,000 are capitalised and stated at cost as heritage assets. No depreciation is provided on heritage assets as all are deemed to have indefinite lives.

  4. Policies for acquisition, disposal and conservation of heritage assets meet Accreditation Standard, which has been awarded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), and have been approved by the Board of Trustees.

Summary of Transactions:
Cost of acquisitions of heritage assets
Value of assets acquired by donation and not reported
in the Balance Sheet
Carrying amount of heritage assets disposed of and
proceeds received
Cost of assets written of in year of purchase as per
accounting policy		 Year to:
31.03.2024
31.03.2023
31.03.2022
31.03.2021
31.03.2020
£
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
2,470
2,325

11,588
1,848
3,530
1,379
2,054

54

WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Charity No: 1080096 Company No. 3885649

MINUTES OF THE 24[th] ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE COMPANY held on Sunday 12 November 2023, commencing at 3.00 pm at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes

01/23 Present

Trustees: Mr Martin J Nye (Chair), Mr Chris R Kelly (Hon Treasurer), Ms Ruth Kerr, Mr Alfred la Vardera, Mr Lachlan Robertson and 29 members of the Society.

In Attendance

Mr David Dawson (Director) and Mrs Karen P Jones (Minute Taker and Company Secretary).

02/23 Apologies for Absence

Apologies had been received from: Mr Richard Cardiff (Trustee), Mrs Barbara Clauson, Mrs Chris Gay (WANHS Trustee – Devizes Town Council nominee), Dr Phil Harding, Dr Alison Hems (Trustee), Lord Kerry (Trustee elect), Mrs Val Knowles, Mr Christopher Joseph, Ann and Andrew Walker.

03/23 Chair’s Welcome

The Chair, Martin Nye, welcomed members to the Annual General Meeting of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (Company limited by Guarantee).

The meeting acknowledged those members of the Society who had died since the last AGM,

Barrie C Barrett, Astrid Bleich (a front of house volunteer), Lt Col Colvin Chamberlain (a former WANHS Chairman), Nicky Clarke (a library volunteer), Joan Davies, Lynda Dyson, Michael Hunt, Christopher Miles, Tony Morton, Joy Northey, Margaret Oram, Mark Prescott, Dorothy Robertson, Rick Rowland (a former WANHS Trustee), Tim Schadla-Hall and Gwendoline Wayne

Note: these names are those notified to the Membership Secretary; the Society apologises for any omissions.

04/23 Minutes of meeting held Sunday 13 November 2022

Proposed by Mr Peter Saunders and seconded by Mr John Surowiec, the minutes of the AGM held on 13 November 2022 were adopted as a true record of the meeting. The resolution was passed nem con.

05/23 Board of Trustees’ Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2023 i) Report by the Chair

The Chair reminded the meeting of the charitable objectives of the Society and that it had been another busy and productive year. He highlighted the conservation of the Piper window, how working with academic researchers helped us look with fresh eyes at the collection and the addition of Swindon Museums to the Wessex Museums Partnership. The Annual Report highlighted the range of talks, events, walks and activities for children that had been undertaken in the year.

Work was ongoing with the Devizes Assize Court Trust (DACT) on the joint bid for the Assizes for Devizes Project. An application had been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in February 2023 for the Development Phase of the project. The application had been successful and work was now underway in developing the project and an application for the Delivery Phase to be submitted in 2025. Additional staff had been recruited to work on the project, alongside a fundraising consultant to advise on raising match funding.

The accounts for 2021/22 had showed revenue of £750,000 due to the receipt of legacies and the success of the Eric Ravilious: Downland Man exhibition, but this was not repeated in the 2022/23 financial year, which showed a loss of £269,000, due not only to lower revenue, but also the turbulence in the stock market. The situation was obviously not sustainable and was being kept under review.

The Chair thanked the staff, who worked extremely hard with limited resources, the volunteers, who gave many hours to ensure the Society and Museum could operate, and also to his fellow Trustees. He thanked Dan Miles and Alfred La Vardera for their support over the years, both retiring from the Board this year, by rotation.

ii) Report by the Treasurer

Mr Chris Kelly presented his report highlighting the financial situation with a series of slides.

The main message was that the finances had not repeated the success of 2021/22, and in fact there had been lost on investments in the year of £115,000, resulting in a negative movement in funds. The major difference was in donations, legacies and charitable activities (admissions and shop income) which were lower than the previous year. The Treasurer had analysed the various income streams and all the controllable activities were on or above the five year average.

Costs were increasing but controlled where possible. £150,000 had been withdrawn from investments to support the activities of the Society within the year, and the value of investments had also declined due to the turbulence of the stock market in late 2022. Investment performance continued to be monitored and in the Treasurer’s opinion was not unrealistic in the light of market conditions, with Rathbones taking a defensive strategy, as requested by the Trustees.

55

The challenges facing the Society were much the same as last year: Overcoming constrained resources, continuing to maximise existing revenue streams, developing and growing new revenue opportunities, reducing reliance on revenue that we cannot influence and leveraging the Society’s assets – people, collections and facilities. All of these it was hoped it could be met by moving the Museum to the Devizes Assize Court. As the project developed the accounts would be separated and reported on separately with cost controls and fundraising an important element of the project. It was anticipated that the move to the Assize Court would take place in 2030, before which it may be necessary for the Society to commit some of it’s funds to the project.

The Treasurer advised that there was no need to panic as 2021/22 had not been a typical year, unlike 2022/23 where a deficit budget of £100,000 was usual, but with gains on investments and legacies usually offsetting the operating deficit. Cost control and revenue generation were under constant review and in the short term we would need to do as much as we could with what we had, before the move to the Assize Court and longer term financial security could be achieved. A former Treasurer noted that the Society had more investments than in 2016/17, with the receipt or legacies an important aspect of achieving financial security. The strategy of Rathbones was probably right and should be continued.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 are available from the Museum’s website or the Museum Office.

iii) Report by the Director

The Director noted that the Society was in a better financial position than many similar organisations as a result of legacies received over the years and budget controls. The previous two years – one good – one bad – were exceptional.

He highlighted the many activities undertaken in the year including school visits and costumes made by the Devizes Fine Arts Society for the use of school groups. Holiday Activities continued to be popular and community activities were expanding; with funding from Wessex Museums it was possible employ staff to develop this aspect of the Museum’s work. The Youth Panel continued to be busy and their Halloween event had been attended by 150 people, in just 2 hours. They had also built confidence and technical skills by producing podcasts. The Community Curator had worked with Fairfield College and the Wiltshire Youth Offending Team to work with disadvantaged young people.

Research continued to be important and the Wiltshire Archaeology and Natural History Magazine (WANHM), continued to be appreciated by members and other county societies. Dr Stuart Brookes, Peter Saunders and Stuart Raymond were all thanked for their continuing involvement in producing the annual volume, which was an important part of what we do. The Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group were resuming activities after the Covid-19 pandemic and had been busy over the summer at All Cannings and Seend. Research had been undertaken on the Upton Lovell Shaman burial and an oral history project recorded memories of people who had worked in the Devizes Assize Court. Research findings were shared with a wider audience, through talks, the Wiltshire Archaeology Conference and publications such as WANHM.

Exhibitions were an important part of the Museum’s work. Two new display cases in the Library Long Room had been funded by legacies from Dr Pamela Gough and Dr Lorna Haycock. The entries in the Oexmann Art Competition and Exhibition had been as eclectic as ever and the Hardy’s Wessex: The landscapes that inspired a writer exhibition, a joint project with our Wessex Museum partners, had showed that we visitors travelled from Dorset to visit it.

Additions had been made to the Collections during the year – again as varied as ever. The Director highlighted a few of them (a full list is recorded in WANHM each year): a model of Stonehenge, the Lacock Irchester Bowl, a Barge-wear teapot recording the marriage of Elizabeth Bennet, an embroidered toy lamb from the County Asylum, a cuttings book reflecting events of the 1986 Stonehenge solstice, photographs recording the death of Queen Elizabeth II and journals and books received in the library.

During 2023/24 work continued as usual, despite the work involved in applying for NLHF funds for the Assizes for Devizes project. There had been a number of well-received exhibitions - Wessex – Landscapes of Association: an exhibition of works by Rob Pountney; A Love Letter to Wiltshire: an Exhibition of Paintings by Joanna May and Wessex Airscapes: Elevating Wiltshire - A collaborative exhibition between aerial photographer Hedley Thorne and landscape painter Anna Dillon, exploring aerial landscapes – which had all been very popular and provided income in the form of commissions on sales and the sale of shop stock. Trails had been developed for Wiltshire Council’s Discover Wiltshire app, including the Battle of Roundway Trail which was now out of print. The Wilcot Hoard of Roman bowls had been conserved thanks to a fundraising appeal and would be going in display in late 2023. A Presentation Volume given to the Rev A C Smith had been rescued from a skip during lockdown and would be conserved once sufficient funds had been raised.

The week before this AGM had been particularly busy, particularly with the issue of a press release about the discovery of the original image of the Wiltshire Thatcher used on the Led Zeppelin IV album in 1973. The photograph was by Ernest Farmer who toured Wiltshire and Dorset and will feature in an exhibition at Wiltshire Museum in 2024.

The Director concluded by thanking colleagues, members, volunteers and Trustees, without whom it would not be possible to do as much as we do.

Proposed by Mr Alfred La Vardera and seconded by Mr Clare Conybeare, the meeting received the Trustees Report and Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023, together with the Auditors Report. The resolution was passed nem con.

06/23 Election of Trustees

There were two nominations for the two vacancies this year. Both candidates had been proposed and seconded by the Board of Trustees and Proposed by Mr Alfred La Vardera and Seconded by Katie Marsden, the meeting duly elected Nicola Harris and Simon Kerry to the Board of Trustees nem con.

56

07/23 Values of the Society

Ms Ruth Kerr briefed the meeting on how the values came together and that they had been developed with volunteers, staff and trustees, to reflect what we feel and what we do. These values apply to our current location and will change as the Assizes for Devizes Project progresses. The meeting noted the new values:

08/23 Appointment of Auditors

Proposed by Mr Lachlan Robertson and seconded by Mr Peter Saunders, the meeting re-elected Messrs David Owen & Co as Auditors, and authorised the Trustees to determine their remuneration. Nem. con.

09/23 Any Other Business The meeting was opened to members but no items were raised.

In closing the Chair advised the meeting that this was his last AGM as Chair as he would be standing down in March, as required by our Articles of Association, having served six years in the role. It had been a privilege to Chair such a great organisation. He would continue to tell people about the collections, events and good work carried out by WANHS.

He thanked the Board of Trustees, Director and his staff and members for their ongoing support and enthusiasm.

There being no further business the Chair closed the meeting at 4.15 pm.

The meeting was followed by an opportunity to visit the two new exhibitions and hear a talk about them by the Director: Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer living in Wiltshire

Date of next Meeting: November 2024, at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, Wiltshire

57

Above: Buildings and Prospects by John Piper, includes ‘Letter from Devizes’ (Book.18866); St John’s, Devizes, framed oil on canvas by John Wragg, RA (1937-2020) (2023.1004); Below: Framed compressed charcoal drawing of one of the Avebury standing stones, set in the landscape of the World Heritage Site, by Rob Pountney. (2023.1007). More details of these acquisitions on page 18.

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 41 Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire. SN10 1NS Tel: 01380 727369 Company No - 3885649 Registered Charity No - 1080096 VAT Registration No - 140 2791 91

www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk

58