The Salisbury Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1860 |
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| Location | The King's House, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England |
| Type | History museum |
The Salisbury Museum is a cool place in Salisbury, England. It used to be called The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. This museum has one of the best collections about Stonehenge and old things found by archaeologists in the area.
The museum is inside a very old and important building called The King's House. King James I of England even visited here in 1610 and 1613! The building is right near Salisbury Cathedral, which is a famous church. The museum first opened in 1860 at a different spot. It moved to The King's House in 1981.
The King's House has three floors. It has special windows and beautiful plaster on the ceilings. There's also a nice wooden staircase. The main area for special art shows is here. You can also see the family symbol of James I's son, Henry Frederick, in a window upstairs.
The person in charge of the museum is Adrian Green.
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Cool Things to See
The Salisbury Museum has many amazing objects. These tell stories about the past.
The Lake House Meteorite
Imagine a huge rock from space! On September 10, 2012, a 90 kg meteorite went on display at the museum. This space rock might be the biggest one ever found in Britain. For about 80 years, it just sat near the front door of a house called Lake House.
Scientists at the Natural History Museum confirmed it was a meteorite. It landed on Earth about 30,000 years ago. The cold weather during the last ice age helped keep it safe. Later, during the Stone or Bronze Age, people might have put it in a burial mound. The chalky ground also helped protect it.
Ancient Treasures
In November 2011, the museum showed off the Wardour Hoard. This was a collection of over 100 metal objects. They were more than 2,700 years old! Someone found them near Wardour with a metal detector. The hoard included tools like axe heads and chisels. There were also weapons like spearheads and swords. This was a very important find for Wiltshire. Around 2014, the museum also got the Wylye Hoard.
The New Wessex Gallery
In 2012, the museum got a big grant to create a new gallery. This new area is called the Archaeology of Wessex gallery. It opened in 2014. This gallery is super important! It tells the story of Salisbury and the area around it. You can learn about life from prehistoric times up to the Norman Conquest.
The museum has some of the most important old finds in Britain. This includes items from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. You can also see things from the Pitt Rivers Wessex Collection. A famous display is about the Amesbury Archer. He was an important person from the Bronze Age.
Other Collections
The museum has many different types of collections.
- Art Collection: There are over 4,000 paintings, prints, and drawings. These show local people, places, and daily life. Many were made by artists from the area.
- Costume Collection: This collection has clothes from people in Salisbury over the last 250 years. You can see wedding dresses, uniforms, and fancy clothes. There are also samples of special lace made in Downton.
- Ceramics: The museum has a great collection of pottery and ceramics. This includes local pottery and famous pieces from Wedgwood.
- Cutlery: You can also learn about the history of knife and fork making in Salisbury.
See also
