Bridgwater Museum Students

Bridgwater's Blake Museum

Students

The Museum welcomes bright and well-motivated students who may wish to help in a voluntary role.

student archaeologists

There are projects of finite duration, and also more open-ended projects which may give insights into the skills needed for Museum work.

A recent project has included cataloguing and illustrating the lingerie collection made at the Baird factory in Bridgwater. Three students worked collaboratively on a Wednesday afternoon photographing the items in the collection and producing webpages, which may be seen here.

The Museum has a wealth of archaeological material in its reserve and core collection. Another recent project of short duration has been photographing and mounting webpages for the collection of terra sigillata, or Samian, ware. The images are here. This work was carried out in a few days mainly in the summer holiday.

Current projects include:

identification, scanning and cataloguing a small part of the photographic collection
writing and mounting display panels for a temporary exhibition on the Diamond Jubilee
assisting with cataloguing
reviewing the textile collection
simple conservation tasks
work on a part of the archaeology collections
developing web resources
photographing particular exhibits for inclusion in the catalogue

If you are interested in any of the above, you should contact the Honorary Curator, Dr P E Cattermole.

If you decide to volunteer for a project, then there are a few simple rules to follow.

Agree a day and time to turn up, and stick to it! (Nothing is more annoying to other volunteers at the Museum than to await your arrival only for you not to turn up.)
If you can't attend for some very good reason, please send an email (as above) a day or so beforehand or, if unavoidable, telephone 01278 456127 on the day.

We are also able to offer work placements for one or two weeks from time-to-time for gifted students, subject to satisfactory interview.

The Blake Museum Bridgwater is established:

to rescue from loss and destruction the relics of our ancestors;
to collect, conserve and to show relics of history relating (principally but not exclusively) to Bridgwater and its immediate surroundings;
to show visitors that Bridgwater is not indifferent to its own history;
to interest visitors in what has happened in Bridgwater since it was granted its first Royal Charter in the reign of King John;
to give the townspeople of Bridgwater pride in their past;
to reveal that great events have taken place within the town and adjacent areas and set them in the context of the history of England;
to honour the lives of great men who have lived or been associated with the town, and, in particular but not exclusively, Robert Blake.

Museum Enquiries.