Four museums are swapping objects to tell stories of the region’s wicked past – from grim and gruesome to strange and shocking!
Poole Museum presents ‘Miserable Maritime Life’, focussing on the hardship for ship crews in the 1700s and 1800s. Its object is the dreaded and menacing cat-o’-nine tails.
Sue Beckett, Curator at Poole Museum, said: “The cat was a terrible punishment used on naval ships, but was only one of the horrors sailors had to face. Researching this project has been fascinating, because however macabre or unbelievable, these are the stories of real people’s lives - people who lived and worked in Wessex.”
‘Wicked Wessex’ is the theme of the latest objects tour by Wessex Museums – a partnership made up of Dorset County Museum, Poole Museum, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Museum. Each has chosen an item from its collection which best fits the theme.
The objects are currently on display at their home museums, then after three months they will rotate around the others in turn until Oct 2019. Each museum is also offering talks and children’s activities based on the theme.
For further information, and museum opening times and admission prices, please look at Poole Museum’s website.
