Scroll down to see what's going on at
Steyning Museum - and more.

Visit Steyning Market on
Saturday Morning, September 4, 2010
to see the
Steyning Museum Stall
for information about what we do
and how to join us.

THE BIG DRAW at Steyning Museum Saturday, October 9th, 2010 12 noon to 4.30 pm Come and join our annual art and history event. All ages and abilities are welcome. Entry and art materials are FREE. The theme this year is "Farming Across the Ages". See the museum's farming exhibits and learn about their history. Choose a special object to draw, with guidance from our creative team, including local artist Katy Sleight. Be part of the Big Draw, as a collage of everyone's work fits together to create an historic scene. Come back again with friends and family to see the finished art work on display at the museum. Sponsored by the Co-op Community Fund

 

Autumn Coffee Morning Saturday, 30th October, 2010 10.30 am to 12.00 Penfold Hall, Church Street, Steyning A warm welcome Refresments Delicious home baking Prize raffle

 

Treasure of the Month Exhibition This month's choice is the Steyning poem by John Stanley Purvis, written in 1915. "Chance Memories" is an evocation of life in the trenches and of longing for the quiet beauty of the English countryside, specifically Mouse Lane in Steyning. The poem can be seen engraved in stone half way up Mouse Lane and also on the outside wall of the Museum, as it formed part of Steyning's Millennium Project. The hand-written original of this moving poem and more Purvis poetry are on display, together with details of his life. He was wounded at the Somme, but you must come and read about the mystery of where he was when he actually wrote the poem, which includes the line "we assault in half an hour."

 

Current Exhibition: Tracing Family Histories Our special summer exhibition is "Tracing Family Histories". It concentrates on four local families: the Woolgars, Wests, Michells and Worsfolds. The displays show how the use of the Museum archives, objects from our collections and enthusiastic help from the families, unravelled the fascinating lives and times of their ancestors. The exhibition raises many questions and not a few smiles. For example, the Michells were brewers, but they had a teetotal tract in their home. The Wests were printers, who advertised "Loose Literature for Languid Loungers" in one of their staid little pamphlets.  The Worsfold story was revealed when three Wiston school samplers were researched. The first, dated 1890, led on to school log books, attendance records and internet discoveries. The Woolgar family is quite remarkable in the completeness of their family history records, tracing their origins far beyond their emergence as Bramber and Beeding wheelwrights in 1779. Having seen these cleverly linked and co-ordinated displays we are sure our visitors will be inspired to start their own family research or to renew their efforts. Exhibits from the Woolgar Collection.

 

Everyone has a Story to Tell . . . Do you live locally or have Steyning connections? Help Steyning Museum to record our past. Did you experience wartime in Steyning - the Land Army, the Home Guard, the British Resistance? Were you educated in Steyning and have memories of the Grammar School? Did you travel on the Horsham Flyer? Do you have information about the market, local farms or traders? Do you remember the Silver Jubilee celebrations and the carnival floats? Have you been involved with local sports clubs or any of the dozens of local clubs and societies? Did you spend your childhood in Steyning or were you an evacuee here? There are a myriad of topics and tales to tell. We want to hear from you. Our interviews will be informal and hopefully enjoyable. If you feel you may be able to help, please make contact. Leave your name and telephone number with a brief idea of your  topic at the Museum for Anne Ketteman, or leave a message for her on telephone number 01903 813333. You can also contact Anne Ketteman via email: contact@steyningmuseum.org.uk

Visit the Museum Shop for a wide range of affordable books and gifts for children as well as adults. Anointing Spoon Replica from the Crown Jewels Price £3

See more here

Steyning Museum is supported by FRIENDS Join the Friends of Steyning Musuem for only £5 a year. See our PDF subscription forms or email: contact@steyningmuseum.org.uk Just fill in the forms and send them by post to the Museum.

Follow the story of our new MUSEUM EXTENSION. See our online Museum Extension picture diary.

Thanks to everyone who supported our Buy a Brick Campaign You donated over £8,500 towards a Museum extension. Go to more Buy a Brick details

Jigsaw Puzzle The Towers Convent School in Upper Beeding was built in 1883 in the style of a French chateau by George Smith, an architect. He lived there with his family and it became known as "Smith's Folly". Go to the jigsaw puzzle.