Week one at the Museum of Somerset.

Here we are. One week in. There are so many keys! But this also means... I have the keys to the castle, and that's pretty amazing.

The realities of the job are that the floors are hard, and this means I need to work out the best shoes to wear so I don't start getting bad feet and legs. Lunch is 30 minutes long so I need to decide what and how to have my lunch. Generally these are my only notes for the week. It's all rather overwhelming, leaving a job that you know inside out, to one where you're the newest member of staff and know nothing about the routine or role. I have had headaches pretty much every day so far. Crashing out as soon as I get home.

The curators are not based on site. The VSA team and the volunteers are the face of the museum and the collection within. We answer all the visitor questions. This means that I have a lot to learn! The Museum of Somerset is housed inside Taunton Castle. Wiki has the answer to my first set of questions... 

"Taunton Castle is a castle built to defend the town of Taunton, Somerset, England.  It has origins in the Anglo Saxon period and was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone structured castle, which belonged to the Bishops of Winchester. The current heavily reconstructed buildings are the inner ward, which now houses the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum." 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton_Castle) 

My favourite room in the museum is Discovering. It houses objects collected from around the world, from the start of the 1800's when local explorers and travellers were bringing things back to Somerset. I love the butterflies and the Elworthy charms.  

This week I have only had one #AskACurator moment.  "I have a growing interest in Castle House, who put together the information sheets, and where was the information sourced?" I have yet to find the answers to these, but stay tuned. The source of my interest is a man called Harold St George Gray. He lived in the house as curator of Taunton Museum from 1904 - 1949, working for SANHS. This is information available in Castle House itself, which the museum has managed for only a couple of years.  I want to fact check the information sheet, and add to it.  

All photographs in this post were taken by myself and are only to be reproduced if credited.