Local History Shapes Our Identity – New Exhibition at Guildford Museum

Published on: 7 Feb, 2019
Updated on: 7 Feb, 2019

A wolly mammoth’s tooth. Mammoths have not been spotted for some time in Surrey.

A woolly mammoth’s tooth, Roman coins and tales of Guildford Borough’s famous and not so famous figures – these are just some of the untold stories and rich local history being celebrated at a free exhibition at Guildford Museum until March 23.

The exhibition is the result of the Museum’s Our History, Our Identity project – an exploration of the borough’s rural history and identity.

Cllr Nikki Nelson-Smith, lead councillor for skills, arts and tourism said: “The project has been a great success. Listening to local communities’ stories and discussing historical objects has really helped us to understand what the area and villages were like hundreds of years ago. Guildford Museum deserves great credit for capturing the unique stories, which explain our area and how it has developed into a place of character and history. “

Staff and volunteers from the museum attended events around the borough hosted by partner organisations last year including: Wanborough Barn Open Day in August, Ripley Farmers Market, Normandy Village Fete, Ash Museum Heritage Open Day, Commoners’ Day at Effingham Common, Tuesday Café at West Clandon Royal British Legion and Tongham Autumn Fair.

A visitor views a pair of Photographs of old Guildford through a stereoscope.

The project followed on from the ‘Your Stories, Your Museum’ project, where Guildford Museum collaborated with the local community to find Guildford stories.

Cllr Nikki Nelson-Smith

Cllr Nelson-Smith added: “Working with local communities for the ‘Our History Our Identity’ project was really important to discover the history of our borough. Seeing all the different historical objects in our area felt like a journey through our history. One of the most fascinating objects discovered was the woolly mammoth’s tooth, found in Guildford. This captures a great image of what our borough looked like thousands of years ago.”

Alongside the exhibition, there is also a drawing challenge, where visitors can have a go at drawing a portrait of themselves in three minutes using one continuous unbroken line.

Young visitors will be able to handle the mammoth tooth found in Guildford and make their own paper woolly mammoth on Saturday, March 16 from 11am until 1pm at the museum. The event is free and suitable for children four and over.