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The Museum of English Rural Life is part of the University Museums and Special Collections Services

Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections

Review 2012 – 2013

2 Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections | Annual review 2012 – 2013

National Dairying Diploma certificate and medal awarded to Reading student, Anne Hall, in 1922

3Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections | Annual review 2012 – 2013

This year we have taken important steps towards achieving our ambition to renew how visitors experience MERL’s collections through the re-interpretation of the Museum’s displays and our public programmes. Based on the lessons of the past eight years in our new home, we aim to transform the present galleries, adding new space and reconfiguring our collections through ‘Our Country Lives’, a project that will highlight ‘the stories and experiences of people and communities in relation to the skills, technologies and traditions that our collections can so powerfully illuminate’.

Since news of our successful Round 1 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund last November much of our efforts have focused on the development of new ideas and detailed plans for our Round 2 application, to be submitted early next year. But this has also been an exceptionally busy year as a result of securing further

Introduction Museum of English Rural Life

OUR COUN

TRY LIVES•

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funding to support additional projects. These have allowed us to embark on a wide range of activity, including enhancing digital resources and forging a significant partnership with Reading Museum through Arts Council England Strategic Funding. This support for our project ‘Reading Connections’ has brought together staff and resources that will promote joint initiatives to commemorate the First World War and Reading’s important photographic heritage.

We are delighted that the University’s Museums and Special Collections are increasingly recognised as important laboratories for original research and as valuable assets for training and teaching. UMASCS’ contribution to the University’s academic goals has been strengthened in the past year by the instigation of two new important developments: the launch of two joint undergraduate degrees, with teaching based at the Museum, and the launch of the pilot year of a new Collections-Based Research PhD programme.

Another notable development has been the launch of our Special Collections blog to complement the rapidly expanding blogging and social media activity for MERL. It aims to provide new insights into the extraordinary range and depth of the University of Reading’s archives and library collections and explain how our activities and services are designed to improve their accessibility and increasingly extend and promote their use.

Other highlights of the year have, once again, been the success of our major events: a memorable MERL Annual Lecture, delivered by Richard Benyon MP, who drew on his first-hand experience of land stewardship and his role as Minster of the Natural Environment, as well as our most popular MERL Village Fete, attracting a record 2,000 visitors. Staff continue to depend on the

dedicated support and contribution of our exceptional team of volunteers at these events and in helping with almost every area of our work.

Our Country LivesWith the award of a Round 1 pass and development grant of £147,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in November 2012, work began in earnest to plan for how MERL should develop over the coming years. A scheme for capital works has been advanced under the direction of the University of Reading’s Estates and Facilities Department. In June 2013 GUM, a sister company of architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, was appointed as museum designer for the project and the Cultural Consulting Network was appointed to support the activity planning aspect of the HLF bid. During the year Rob Davies, Volunteer Co-ordinator, led a team undertaking thorough audience research amongst existing and potential visitors and volunteers, to be fed into the activity plan. Other MERL staff have been organised into project teams to inform and support the development of a planning application for some adaptations to the current museum building, a new interpretation strategy for the galleries, new ways of considering and attracting our audiences (both actual and potential) and planning for the inevitable upheaval for the collection during the redisplay itself. ‘Our Country Lives’ provides the exciting prospect of delivering a museum that engages a new generation, including urban and rural communities, to learn from our nationally significant collection. Bringing out new narratives and ‘people stories’ will be key to the project’s success. The aim is to submit a detailed Round 2 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund during 2014.

Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections | Annual review 2012 – 2013 5

Visitors to Miller’s Ark Farm in the MERL garden, August 2013


In November 2013 Richard Benyon MP, Minister for the Natural Environment and Fisheries, launched the year with the MERL Annual Lecture, describing his vision for The British Countryside 2030. ‘Human intervention is the only way we are going to protect the countryside we love. The countryside didn’t just happen – it was created by humans’, he told a packed audience. The lecture also touched on the controversial issues of species protection and culling policy. It concluded with a Q & A with the Vice Chancellor, Sir David Bell.

Exhibitions6 October 2012 – 14 April 2013 What to Look For? Ladybird, Tunnicliffe and the hunt for meaningThis exhibition presented a range of different responses to a single illustration of rural life. It focused on a small watercolour by the artist Charles F. Tunnicliffe (1901 – 1979), one of many artworks created by him for Ladybird children’s books. The painting featured in the Autumn volume from the four-book What to Look For series, published between 1959 and 1961. These texts were written by the biologist Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson and charted seasonal change in the countryside. The original Ladybird artwork is held here at the University of Reading, alongside its extensive holdings on rural life. The displays were co-curated by Dr Neil Cocks from the Department of English Language and Literature and Dr Ollie Douglas.

4 May 2013 – 8 September 2013 John Tarlton: countryside photographerThis show presented the countryside of the 1950s–70s through the lens of a commercial photographer, with guest curator Dr Jonathan Brown, MERL Fellow. John Tarlton (1918–80) was one of the foremost photographers of the post-war British countryside. Week by week his work appeared in Country Life, The Field, Shooting Times and other national and regional

Communicating and sharing our knowledge and expertise


John Wollacot, farmer of Oareford, Exmoor by photographer, John Tarlton


magazines. About 12,000 negatives and prints were given to MERL by the late Pamela Tarlton in 2004. The collection was catalogued as part of the ‘Rural Images Discovered’ project, supported by the Foyle Foundation.

24 May to 30 June 2013 An Artist’s year in the Harris Garden: Jenny HalsteadThis exhibition presented the product of Jenny Halstead’s artist residency at the University of Reading’s Harris Garden. Jenny’s paintings and sketchbook studies reflected the seasons, moods and development of the Garden over the duration of a year from October 2011.

MERL seminarsThis year’s programme was organised jointly by Dr Ollie Douglas and Dr Jeremy Burchardt, of the Department of History, and considered the theme of children and the countryside.

20 November 2012 Ladybird books: images of an idyllic rural childhoodDr Lorraine Johnson, Independent researcher and writer

27 November 2012 Country education and late-eighteenth century literatureDr Neil Cocks, Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Reading

4 December 2012 ‘Isolation deadens intelligence’? Elementary education in rural Berkshire, 1850 – 1918Sue Clifford, PhD Student, Department of History, University of Reading

Watercolour by Charles Tunnicliffe featured in the Ladybird book What to Look for in Autumn, 1960


19 February 2013 Wilderness, as a baptism of nature: childhood and the nature fakersDr Sue Walsh, Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Reading

26 February 2013 ‘Fair seed-time had my soul’: childhood, nature and the countryside in modern British historyDr Jeremy Burchardt, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, University of Reading

5 March 2013 The countryside in children’s poetryDr Michael Lockwood, Senior Lecturer in English and Education, Institute of Education, University of Reading

12 March 2013 Little figures, big shadows: country childhood storiesDr Owain Jones, Reader in Cultural Geography, Countryside and Community Research Institute

19 March 2013 Young people, social deprivation and the myth of the ‘rural idyll’Professor Rosie Meek, Professor of Criminological Psychology, Social Futures Research Institute, Teesside University

Top The Duchess of Marlborough presents the Sandford Award to Director of MERL, Kate Arnold-Forster, Curator, Isabel Hughes and Museum Attendant, Morryce Maddams Bottom Richard Benyon MP, Minister for the Natural Environment and Fisheries, gives the MERL Annual Lecture in the Great Hall


In January 2013 MERL received the Sandford Award from the Duchess of Marlborough at a ceremony at Blenheim Palace. This independently-judged award recognises the achievements of historical sites in promoting excellence in heritage education.

Work also commenced this year on the AHRC-funded ‘Multi-Sensory Objects’ project, led by Dr Kate Allen of the Department of Art, in partnership with MERL and students with learning disabilities from Reading College who will be co-researchers to test and evaluate sensory learning in the galleries.

This year’s MERL Village Fete proved very popular, attracting 2,000 visitors, and was supported by staff from across the University of Reading alongside MERL staff and volunteers. Craftspeople and representatives from the Heritage Crafts Association were on hand including a blacksmith, willow weaver and bodger. Earlier in the year, the MERL Apple Day and Traditional Craft Fair also proved their worth as regular events, attracting around 500 visitors each.

A diverse range of holiday activities was offered during the year with a craft theme, including spinning and

Public engagement and outreach

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Researchers for the AHRC funded ‘Multi-Sensory Objects’ project hosted by MERL


corn dolly making. Workshops on bread and butter making and pottery were particularly popular. Jenny Halstead’s sketching workshops which accompanied her temporary exhibition at MERL also attracted a strong following.

The annual visit of Miller’s Ark Farm to the MERL garden in August attracted 350 children and close to 200 adults. During the day the BBC filmed a short piece for the National Lottery Awards, broadcast in the autumn and featuring celebrity dance judge, Len Goodman and the award winning charity, the Ichthyosis Support Group.

Once again, MERL contributed to the University of Reading stand at the Royal County of Berkshire Show, this year winning two awards: best large trade stand and best local trade stand. Other outreach activities for MERL included the Rushall Farm lambing weekend in March 2013 and the Need, Make, Use craft event at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford in August 2013.

MERL is indebted to the strong team of volunteers who support the staff at all public engagement events. The team consists of volunteers from both the student body and the local community. They continue to play an integral part in the running of the Museum and Special Collections Service, supporting staff and projects. A new project for the team this year was ‘Family Guiding’, involving specialist tours aiming to bring the Museum alive for children and families.

Volunteer Co-ordinator Rob Davies likes to support and thank volunteers regularly through opportunities to participate in events and excursions. Along with the Christmas and summer parties, this year there was a trip to Portsmouth museums, the tour guide team visited Ufton Court for inspiration and the conservation and archive engineering team visited Coomb Mill.

The Reading Poetry Festival took place in June 2013, and was open to all members of the community and University. This new event was a collaboration between the Museum of English Rural Life and the Department of English Literature, the Institute of Education and the Languages Department. The event celebrated poetry through performances from a variety of poets, including Iain Sinclair, who spoke at the Gerald Finzi Memorial Lecture. A day was dedicated to children’s poetry, and local schools were invited for a series of workshops with guests including Korky Paul, A.F. Harold and John Hegley. There were two exhibitions, ‘A Poetic A–Z of Reading’ and ‘STUFF: The Look of Poetry’, which were on display throughout the entire festival. Students were involved with running of the event through volunteering and there was a PhD Student Event Coordinator.

MERL’s Heritage Lottery Fund project to collect material reflecting 20th century rural cultures was

Corn dollies from the MERL collection (MERL 86/79/1-2)


concluded at the end of 2012 with the enhancement of catalogue records for the objects collected and the preparation of a touring exhibition. The exhibition consists of six banners, any number of which can be borrowed in combination to suit venues of different sizes. A list of suggestions for loan is available from which host institutions select MERL objects to display alongside their own collections. The first incarnation of the loan ran at the Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL) from November 2012 to March 2013, as the exhibition ‘I Spy the Countryside’. As well as the objects and banners, MEAL supplemented the exhibition with QR codes linking to relevant online content such as articles, videos and music playlists.

The ‘Get Involved’ project was a skill sharing project delivered during 2012 – 2013, funded by the Arts Council England as part of their Strategic Fund, between MERL and Portsmouth Museums Archives and Visitor Services (PMAVS). The focus of the project was primarily on sharing good practice on volunteering and building links with surrounding communities. MERL Volunteer Coordinator, Rob Davies, was seconded for two days a week to work with PMAVS to develop their volunteer structure across several sites, working with Portsmouth City Council, the museum staff and volunteers. This involved delivering training, workshops and consultation, evaluating current resources, and making good practice recommendations across the volunteer programme. The project culminated in a dissemination event for colleagues across the sector.

With a grant from the Arts Council England-funded ‘World Stories’ project, MERL worked with 10 young people from the local community who fall into the Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET) category. Volunteer Co-ordinator, Rob Davies, provided

various roles including photography, filming, costume design and production and gardening, alongside the opportunity to take part in the Arts Award. Many of the participants have continued to volunteer beyond the conclusion of the project, whilst others have moved on to new experiences.

During 2013, MERL was able to host a Permeate Trainee Fellow under an Arts Council England-funded initiative. Genell Watson, a member of the local Reading community with experience of youth and counselling work in the voluntary sector, joined MERL to work on developing contacts with local community groups who are unfamiliar with the Museum and what it has to offer. Activities developed from this include a community quilting project in partnership with Jane McCutchan, MERL Fellow, and an oral history session.

Celebrity judge, Len Goodman, views the MERL garden with volunteer, Jen Woodhams

13Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections | Annual review 2012 – 2013

The major acquisition for the 2012 – 2013 at MERL was a Series 1 Land Rover, purchased with grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures programme and the PRISM Fund. The vehicle had originally been purchased by a West Country farmer in 1949 and he swapped it in the 1980s for a tractor belonging to the second and only other owner.

The Land Rover was found to be in exceptional condition, with a significant number of original features and associated documentation including all the tax discs and log book, as well as the original key fob. The Land Rover, nicknamed ‘MAE’ after her registration number, was conserved and made ready for display by Conservator, Fred Van De Geer, in record time for HRH The Duke of Gloucester to unveil her in March 2013.

Other acquisitions for the Museum include a harness used for collecting faeces from calves during nutritional research under taken by Ian Stobo, a PhD student at the University of Reading in the 1960s and a National Dairying Diploma certificate and medal for

‘proficiency in the science and practice of dairying’, both awarded in 1922 to Anne Hall (1904 – 2004).

The Museum has benefitted from several important archival acquisitions this year, most notably the archives of the Landscape Institute, which includes the papers of significant landscape designers such as Edward Milner White, Dame Sylvia Crowe and Sir Jeffrey Jellicoe. The Institute has also generously provided funding to support the collection.

The records of the Agricultural Economics Society were received along with generous support funding. Other significant additions to the MERL archives included the records of the Royal Forestry Society, additional CPRE records, and the manuscripts of the author ‘Miss Read’. A large number of agricultural films, including many from Massey-Ferguson, were donated by the estate of Richard Watts, a Nottinghamshire farmer who rescued and collected farming footage. MERL has continued to receive many small deposits to the trade records, farm records and document collections, including additional papers relating to Second World War evacuees, the account books of a grain merchant, and the records of the women’s agricultural college at Addersley Hall. Among the more unusual acquisitions were a set of photographs of butter sculpting.

Collections

Billhook used in hedging, coppicing and other woodland trades (MERL 92/10)


The acquisition of Samuel Beckett’s manuscript for Murphy has been the headline acquisition within the Special Collections, and reflected the ongoing importance of the Beckett Collection to University research. The other significant archival purchase was that of the papers of William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, which join the papers of his parents and his younger brother. These cover a wide range of subjects including politics, war service, foreign affairs, the Cliveden estate and prison reform. The papers of the historical novelist Rosalind Laker were generously donated by her estate, and additions were made to the Ladybird, WH Smith and the Andrew Britton archives.

The Museum made a successful loan of items to the Manchester Museum’s temporary exhibition ‘Breed: The British and their Dogs’. These included a bit and collar, which were both used with collie dogs. The exhibition ran between 6 October 2012 and 14 April 2013. The exhibition was visited by 122,364 people, 59% of all visitors to the Manchester Museum during this period.

Prior to the ‘Reading Connections’ partnership, Reading Museum borrowed an evacuee suitcase for use in a display entitled ‘The Bombing of a Southern Town’, mounted to mark the 70th anniversary of a bombing raid on Reading in February 1943, in which 41 people lost their lives and over 100 were injured. The display ran from 25 November 2012 until 4 March 2013.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester and the Vice Chancellor inspect ‘MAE’, the Series 1 Land Rover (MERL 3013/1)


One successful and long-standing loan sadly came to an end this year. The item in question, a Ransomes’ lawnmower, was originally sent on loan in 1996 and has been exhibited in a section devoted to pitch-management at the World Rugby Museum, Twickenham, since this time. In the run up to recent refurbishments it was decided that this display would be significantly altered and the item has since been safely returned to MERL.

Several items from the Special Collections’ Great Exhibition Collection remain on loan to Kensington Palace, where they form part of the Victoria Revealed gallery. Items from the Beckett Collection were lent to the Happy Days Festival in Enniskillen.

During this year UMASCS archivists have assisted other University Collections to import their existing collections data to ADLIB and create access for researchers via Enterprise. ADLIB is the museums’ cataloguing database which allows all the collections to be catalogued to SPECTRUM, the museums’ standard. Enterprise is the University collections discovery service which enables researchers to search across items held in archives, collections and the main library across the University. The Cole and Ure museums, Geology, Typography and Art Collections data was loaded into ADLIB during 2012 – 2013 and it is hoped that access to Enterprise will be available during the coming year. The Herbarium data is the next collections data to be added to ADLIB.

In April 2013 MERL and Reading Museum were awarded £275,000 from the Arts Council England’s Renaissance Strategic Fund for Museums for a year-long project ‘Reading Connections’. It aimed to develop community engagement through the creation of digital resources, oral histories, exhibitions around

the theme of ‘Reading at war’ and local Reading photography. The funding has enabled both museums to share skills and collections to create a programme reaching out to and engaging with local communities. The project also benefitted the local community by addressing issues of employability, through incorporating a programme of ‘fair access’ internships and work experience. The project had five themes: Reading at war, craft, world cultures, local collections and village collections.

Over the last year, work has begun on cataloguing the Evacuee archive held at MERL and on commemorations for the First World War centenary in 2014. The project team and volunteers researched the servicemen, and women, who are listed on the Reading University College WW1 memorial. Information from a variety of external sources as well as the University’s own archives helped to provide as complete a biography as possible for each person listed. The University Archive holds a commemorative

Left Harold Haynes Fenner, First Class Stoker, E. 20 Submarine, 1914–1918; right Arthur William Dore, Trooper, Berkshire Yeomanry, 1914–1918, both photographs digitised as part of the ‘Reading Connections’ project


Left MERL Fellow, Chris Green, takes stock of the agricultural hand tools collection Top right Farmer, Ivor Norris, with ‘MAE’, the Series 1 Land Rover acquired by MERL as part of the ‘Collecting 20th Century Rural Cultures’ project Bottom right Walter Linnet of Bradwell, ‘king’ of the Essex wildfowlers in the 1950s, photographed by John Tarlton


volume of photographs of a large number of the servicemen and this will be a focal point for the University’s commemorations in 2014. A Flickr site was launched where the public can view the photos and information on the servicemen as well as add any records they may have. Research is also to be carried out on servicemen and women who survived. This will culminate in a joint exhibition entitled ‘Reading at war’, opening at Reading Museum in April 2014.

Work also commenced on the local history collections relating to Reading’s rich photographic heritage, which are being digitised and catalogued. These include the Dann Lewis and Philip Osbourne Collier collections held at MERL and Reading Chronicle glass negatives held at Reading Museum, which have been subject to further research.

The founding collections of both project partners have their roots in small village communities. Research is being undertaken into the collections deposited by Lavinia Smith, (East Hendred) and Harold John Massingham, (Winchcombe) at MERL and the collection of Horatio Bland (Burghfield) held at Reading Museum. Contact with these communities started with a view to publicising the collections held in both organisations. Cataloguing, photography and research on the Historic World Objects collection at Reading Museum was also undertaken as part of the project.

The University of Reading, alongside project partners, the University of Chester and the Victoria and Albert Museum, has been creating a database and researching materials relating to all professional productions of Beckett’s theatre throughout the UK and Ireland, through this AHRC-funded project. A database containing details of 800,000 UK performances has

been developed to be launched in Autumn 2013. The Beckett Collection has proved an invaluable resource in identifying productions and enhancing database records. Strong links with international projects, notably AusStage in Australia and an Ibsen-related project in Norway, have been established.

With funds from the Arts Council England’s Designation Development Fund, curatorial staff were able to revisit the MERL classification as part of the ‘Countryside21’ project. The aim was to create a new subject thesaurus as well as re-organising existing digital assets which have been created through recent projects, in order to provide better access in the future. A further survey of video, film and other vulnerable media was also part of the project.

During the year the conservation team, led by Fred Van De Geer, completed an audit of the Museum collections to ensure all locations data is correct. With the introduction of the new ADLIB database and with redisplay of the Museum in prospect, this was the right time to do it.

The polehead project is progressing well with about 60% of the collection conserved, photographed and re-numbered during the last year. A substantial number of newly acquired items were treated prior to integration into the main collection.

Some tentative steps were made to start moving parts of the collection onto the mezzanine, ahead of the ‘Our Country Lives’ project. This will now continue, whilst aiming not to alter the current overall visitor experience. Finally the conservation team suffered the very sad loss of long-time volunteer and friend Bill Simmons who passed away suddenly during the summer.


This was a busy year for MERL Fellows. The principal Fellow for the period 2012 – 2013, Professor Rachel Worth, made numerous visits and undertook detailed research in preparation for her next book-length project. Entitled Clothing the Landscape: Representations of Rural Working-Class Dress 1850 – 1900, this is set to be published by Oxford University Press and the Pasold Research Trust and will make extensive use of the Museum’s collection.

More recently, Jane McCutchan took up residence as a Special MERL Fellow, on a project that will build on her recent MERL-based PhD on the Mechanisation of Agriculture and the British Agricultural Steam Engine Industry, 1840 – 1920. In the course of this activity she hopes to interrogate the under-explored Barnett collection of sewing machines and sewing machine archival materials. Jane has already begun to explore this material and with the help of Permeate Trainee Fellow, Genell Watson, embarked on a series of engagement activities with local community groups.

These made use of original machines from the collection in the context of ‘quilting bees’. In this and other ways Jane hopes to extend our knowledge and understanding of these important items.

The principal MERL Fellow for 2013 – 2014, Chris Green, began work in earnest in September and is set to offer incredible insight and far greater structure to the way in which the Museum classifies and arranges its collection of agricultural hand tools. He is keen to feed into plans for redisplay and to contribute in whatever ways he can to the Museum’s research database and online presence. In contrast with recent years, which have seen a great deal of thinking around archival holdings and photographic materials, this will be a very hands-on Fellowship and Chris has already spent many hours sketching and examining objects in the Mezzanine store.

In July 2013, Director Kate Arnold-Forster and members of the curatorial team were able, with Erasmus funding, to undertake a study tour of Skansen Open Air Museum and the Nordic Museum, Stockholm and the Museum Gustavianum, Uppsala University.

Kate Arnold-Forster, Guy Baxter and Dr Rhi Smith promoted the new Museum Studies undergraduate degrees and Collections-Based Research PhDs in a study trip to the United States in July 2013. This involved visiting the Harry Ransom Center,

Research


HRH The Duke of Gloucester views the MERL collection on the mezzanine with Assistant Curator, Dr Ollie Douglas


University of Texas at Austin, whose collection of literary manuscripts complement the University of Reading’s publishing, printing and Beckett holdings. Visits were also made to Colonial Williamsburg and liberal arts colleges, where contacts were established to attract international interest in partnership projects and recruitment onto our teaching and graduate programmes.

A number of publications were produced and papers given by staff at MERLFelicity McWilliams, A Sense of Place in Bucklebury: Mapping the collections of the Museum of English Rural Life, Berkshire Old and New (Journal of the Local History Association).

Dr Ollie Douglas, Oi, get orf moi laand: Considerations in contemporary and near-contemporary collecting in the English countryside in Owain Rhys and Zelda Baveystock (eds) Collecting the Contemporary (Museums etc). This paper was also presented at Collecting Contemporary Rural Culture: Museums East Share Day at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket in March 2013.

Rebecca Reynolds co-authored a chapter with V&A Higher Education Officer, Leanne Manfredi, called Tales from the Coalface on Museums and Higher Education: learning at the interface, to be published by Ashgate. This included findings from research on students’ experience of the MERL-based museum modules.

Felicity McWilliams, A Sense of Place: Digitally mapping museum collections and Ollie Douglas, Historic World Objects at Reading Museum: Work in Progress, Brave New Worlds: Transforming Museum Ethnography through Technology, Museum Ethnographers Group Conference, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery/University of Brighton, March 2013.

Rebecca Reynolds, panel discussion entitled What do university museums do for students?, University Museums Group conference, University of Oxford, March 2013.

Isabel Hughes, New Approaches for Rural Museums in Britain, Agricultural and rural life museums as conservers of rural heritage and their role in the development of international tourism conference, Estonian Agricultural Museum, Tartu, June 2013.

Greta Bertram, Traditional Craftsmanship as Heritage in the UK: An Exploration of Values in Traditional Basketry in East Anglia, Sharing Cultures 2013; 3rd International Conference on Intangible Heritage, Aveiro, Portugal, July 2013.

Felicity McWilliams, A Sense of Place: Historypin and Ethnography at Home, The Future of Ethnographic Museums, Pitt Rivers Museum and Keble College, University of Oxford, July 2013.

Dr Ollie Douglas, Re-enactment, reconstruction and performance at the Museum of English Rural Life, 1951–1956, Rural History 2013 Conference (European Rural History Organisation), University of Bern/Archives of Rural History, August 2013.

Dr Ollie Douglas, Tied up at the sagging patches with wisps of straw: Re-enactment, reconstruction and performance at the Museum of English Rural Life, 1951–1956, Spaces of Television Conference (Film Theatre and Television Department), University of Reading, September 2013.

In March 2013 MERL staff hosted a Skills Sharing Day for museum professionals with presentations on recent projects including ‘Collecting 20th Century Rural Cultures’, ‘A Sense of Place’, ‘Countryside21’ and ‘Our Country Lives’.


Top The Bridge, Hambledon, digitised as part of the ‘Reading Connections’ project Bottom left Inside the Essex farm bailiff’s cottage parlour, c1947, photographed by John Tarlton Bottom right A member of the Martin family, thatchers in Dorset since the late 18th century, photographed by John Tarlton


Students from both the University of Reading and other universities make up half the volunteer team, participating in various roles across the Museum and Special Collections. Participating students gain skills and experience of a heritage organisation in various roles and practise an application process. Students also have the opportunity to sign up to the RED Award, enabling them to have their volunteering officially certified.

During 2013, Dr Rhi Smith joined the UMASCS staff as Programme Director for Museum Studies. The coming year is the first to offer the Museum Studies & Archaeology and Museum & Classical Studies undergraduate degrees. Module content has been developed to include Museum Communication and Interpretation and Museum History, Policy and Ethics in part 1, and in part 2 Curatorship and Collections Management.

Rhi Smith has also been responsible for planning and initiating new recruitment and marketing activity for the degrees including study days for secondary schools, enrichment days and improved digital outreach and resources.

During 2012 – 2013 MERL hosted two student placements from the Institute of Education; BEd Art student, Philippa Hibbert and Maths PGCE student, Emilie Carter.

The establishment of a new Collections-Based Research PhD programme has involved UMASCS staff in intensive planning and development over the past year. This development aims to offer a new pathway for doctoral research into the University’s outstanding museums and collections, alongside a training programme designed to develop skills in interdisciplinary approaches to objects and archives. For UMASCS this offers exciting potential for extending opportunities for new research from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Among the first pilot cohort starting this session will be students undertaking research on the MERL Evacuee Archive and on the Mills and Boon archive.

Engaging our students



Statistics recording research use of the collections

Research visits to consult 536 MERL collectionsResearch visits to consult 847 Special CollectionsTotal research visits 1383New MERL research users 258New Special Collections 238 research usersTotal new users 496

EnquiriesSpecial Collection enquiries 653MERL enquiries 1166Total enquiries 1819

Website visitsSpecial collections website 31,504 visits (71, 467 hits)MERL website visits 117,200 (1,063,457 hits – this year we are measuring visits rather than hits)

Statistics relating to student use of our collectionsStudent visits 1564Number of HEI courses 23 drawing on our collections

Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections Review 2012 – 2013

For more information, please contact:

Museum of English Rural LifeUniversity of Reading Redlands Road Reading RG1 5EX

[email protected] Tel (0118) 378 8660

www.reading.ac.uk/merl blogs.reading.ac.uk/merlwww.reading.ac.uk/special-collections blogs.reading.ac.uk/special-collections

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Logo strip. Where the logo appears on a blue strip of pantone 293, there must be equal space fromtop of strip to top of logo and bottom of logo to bottom of strip. Artwork here shows 5mm

Cover Chalgrove Brook, Oxfordshire, c1905, digitised through the ‘Reading Connections’ project

Back cover A welcome visitor to MERL’s bee-friendly garden

The Museum of English Rural Life is part of the University ... · we love. The countryside didn’t...

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