ADOPT AN OBJECT
Sherborne Museum maintains an estimated 9,000 artefacts, photographs, maps, documents, textiles, archaeological finds, paintings and books. These provide a
record of the unique cultural, social, and industrial history of Sherborne.
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How to Adopt an Object
There are a range of objects for you to choose from. All you need to do is decide the level of donation you wish to make, choose the item you would like to adopt,
and then complete and return the application form.
Items are available on a first-come first-served basis. The duration of adoption is one year from the date of adoption. Sherborne Museum reserves the right to
lend/store/move an object at any time. The full list of items for adoption is shown above and can be seen on the photographic viewer on the ground floor of the museum.
Abbey School Rocking Horse
Edwardian rocking horse manufactured for A. W. Gamage of Holborn, London. This is fondly remembered by many as being in the infants' class at the Abbey School in Horsecastles
RockingHorse
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25
Bishop's Longcase Clock
A late Georgian longcase clock by John Bishop (1786-1852) of Cheap Street. The case is made of oak, cross-banded in mahogany and centrally inlaid with a shell motif
LongcaseClock
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25
Victorian Dolls House
Owned by the daughter of a local solicitor, our Victorian dolls' house is said to be modelled closely on Sherborne House in Newland. Much of the furniture dates from the 1830s
DollsHouse
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50
Medieval Wall Painting
One of six decorated panels which formed part of a partition wall dividing the ground floor of what is now known as Tudor Rose cottage in Long Street
MedievalWallPainting
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50
Model of H.M.S. Sherborne
HMS Sherborne was a Royal Navy cutter built in 1763 and assigned to support the work of the Board of Customs by operating against smugglers on the south coast of England
HMS_Sherborne
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50
Dried Cat
Discovered in the roof-space of a local barn, our dried cat is believed by experts to have been ritually placed to ward off evil
MummifiedCat
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15
Neolithic Handaxe
Found in a field between the A359 and A30, north of Bradford Abbas, where a range of other archaeological finds have indicated that there was previously an area of human habitation
Handaxe
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15
Parkinsonia Ammonite
At an impressive 20cm in diameter, this polished ammonite belongs to the Middle Jurassic period and is approximately 168 million years old.
Ammonite
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15
Pocket Pistol
A small black-powder pocket pistol with retractable trigger and percussion cap mechanism, manufactured in Sherborne in the early nineteenth century
PocketPistol
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15
Teddy Roe's Horn
A cow's horn used in Teddy Roe's band, which persists as the traditional midnight precursor to Pack Monday Fair. It was discovered by a local builder in a garden in Westbury, Sherborne
TeddyRoesHorn
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15
Trooper Brown's Medals
First World War medal set awarded to Trooper Brown of the Dorset Yeomanry. This includes a Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry during the cavalry charge at Agagia in 1916
TrooperBrownsMedals
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White Mole of Sandford Orcas
The donor of this rare white mole was born in Sandford Orcas, where her father worked as a mole-catcher for many years
WhiteMole
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15
Wilson Botanical Drawings
An exquisite collection of over 190 botanical watercolours by Diana Ruth Wilson (1886-1969), which provides a unique record of local flora shortly before the First World War
WilsonBotanicalDrawings
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50
Telegraph pole warning sign
Cast iron vandalism warning sign used on telegraph poles, dating to the late nineteenth century. Found near Sherborne by the late Gerald H. D. Pitman (1930-2002)
TelegraphPoleSign
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15
Paisley shawl
This shawl, with its striking boteh symbol similar to a teardrop, was once owned by Harriet Ellen Brown. She lived with her widowed mother at the Castle Hotel in Long Street
PaisleyShawl
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15
Lashbrook carriage wheel
Built by Benjamin James Lashbrook (1872-1942) of Brister End, Yetminster, sometime in the early twentieth century, the wheel has traditional pinstripe decoration to the spokes
LashbrookCarriageWheel
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25
Rider's British Merlin
A seventeenth century almanac found concealed in a cottage loft in Trendle Street. Straw from the thatch still adhered to its pages when it was donated to the museum
RidersBritishMerlin
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25
Letter from Thomas Hardy
A handwritten letter from Dorset novelist, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), in which he expresses his support for the famous Sherborne folk pageant of 1905
ThomasHardyLetter
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25
Prayer against the sweating sickness
Piece of vellum discovered in the walls of the old vicarage during restoration works. It was found to contain a prayer to ward off the deadly 'sweating sickness' of the fifteenth century
Prayer
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25
Advertising sign for Seymour's
Seymour and Co. was one of Sherborne's most successful industries, producing lemonade, ginger ale, carbonated soda, cherry cider, ginger beer and other non-alcoholic cordials
SeymoursSign
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25
English patchwork quilt
Created by two sisters, Louisa and Alberta Gartell, this quilt was pulled from the rubble of their home in Newland, which received a direct hit during the air raid on Sherborne in 1940
PatchworkQuilt
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25
18th century wall hanging
Textile fragment consisting of two strips of linen stitched together vertically. It was discovered under 14 layers of wallpaper during renovations at Donore, Long Street, in 1967
WallHanging
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50
Coldharbour post box
Formerly set into the wall on the corner of Coldharbour and North Road, this Victorian wall box remained in use until it was taken out of commission in 1982
PostBox
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50
Miss O'Shea's shell cabinet
Seven-drawer cabinet containing a wide selection of shells, mainly from the Atlantic coast. It has a simple but attractive marquetry veneer of oak, yew and coromandel wood
ShellCabinet
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50
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Silk
