Another mustard pot

We had a couple of these, so why not a third. Artistic folk always reckon a collection of three looks better than a pair. This one was given to us by a former resident of the village who has the sad job of clearing his deceased parents’ home – a home in Market Lavington.

A mustard pot with full local provenance

This is, of course, Workman’s Hall China.

This is Market Lavington Workman’s Hall crockery

When we last featured some of this china we commented that it was almost 150 years old. Now we can report that it has passed that milestone. This pot and all the other pieces we have were made and dated 1865 so they are now 151.

This dates from 1865 so is now over 150 years old.

The Workman’s Hall was a temperance hall and offered people a chance to have a meal and maybe a game with just soft drinks. Many folks took advantage of this establishment, noting its proximity, when built, to The Bell Inn and The Green Dragon. Those requiring alcoholic refreshment could nip out and have a drink very easily. It is doubtful as to whether the hall actually did much for the temperance cause.

But they did produce crockery which has lasted well. And like this mustard pot, items of the set are still finding their way to our village museum.

Thanks to Adrian for bringing us this and other items.

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Workman’s Hall china

From time to time we show a little of our crockery which was made for use in the Workman’s Hall. This facility opened in 1865 and the large variety of china ware dates from them.

Today we can see what might be mustard pots, or something similar.

Lavington Workman’s Hall mustard pot from 1865

There we see one pot with the motif used on all of the crockery.

Here we see the slot in the lid for a spoon. We guess that at one time there’d have been a small, matching china spoon.

Slot for a spoon. Sadly we have no spoon

These pots also have a handle.

A carrying handle

These lovely items are now all but 150 years old and are on display in our kitchen room.

There is much more of the crockery – some on display and some safely stored.

The Workman’s Hall was a temperance institution, but non-drinkers were very capable of being first rate trenchermen!

Vote for…..

Well not for me, obviously – but this post does start in a more personal way than some.

Being involved with a museum is an absolutely delightful thing to do. Like all of us at Market Lavington Museum, your blog writer is a volunteer. There is no personal payment at all for doing it. It is just done for love – and loved it very much is. I’d never pretend that our blog is the most read web page in the world. I think in the world of marketing it would be called a niche product. The audience is really quite small (42396 views in 2013) but it is a dedicated and caring audience.

A Christmas card I received this year had a little extra item in it – an election card.

An election card from the 1865 election encouraging people to support Lord Charles Bruce

We are being encouraged to support Lord Charles Brudenell Bruce in, according to a hand written extra, the year 1865.

This gift had had some research done on it for it might not be natural to imagine Market Lavington and Easterton being part of North Wiltshire – but they were. We do not know that this card was given to a Market Lavington or Easterton elector, but it might have been and other identical cards certainly would have been.

For the record Lord Charles Bruce won the election representing the liberal party and held the seat until 1874. He served in the government of William Gladstone and became a Privy Counsellor.

How lovely that an extra like this should arrive, unannounced, with a Christmas Card.

 

Workman’s Hall Crockery

Edward Saunders, a son of Amram, left money in his will to build a temperance hall in Market Lavington. The hall was built and opened in 1865 and was called the Workman’s Hall. It provided almost all the facilities a workman might want. Food was available along with many forms of entertainment. There was a reading room as well but of course, there were no alcoholic drinks. Soft drinks were available.

The crockery provided for serving meals was lavish in scale and prettily decorated. We have seen some of it before on this blog (click here). Today we are looking at a vegetable tureen.

Vegetable tureen from the Workman’s Hall, Market Lavington and dating from 1865

Sadly, the tureen handles have gone but we can still see this is a delightful piece.

The simple decoration shows up to good effect around the lid handle.

The colouring is simple and the decoration is elegant

And of course, the piece carries the Workman’s Hall motif.

Workman’s Hall, Lavington, 1865 – the motif on all of the crockery

We have plenty of this crockery on display in the kitchen area at the museum and much more, like this tureen, which is in store.

All in the Deeds

This blog is not to do with any ‘doing’ of deeds. It’s about the transfer of land and property from one person to another and the rather beautiful documents that can go with it. It is also a tale of a rather chance find and a journey which has ended at Market Lavington Museum.

Let’s start with the deed or indenture..

1865 indenture or conveyance – recently given to Market Lavington Museum

Here we have one of those large legal documents. It is on that classy legal vellum type paper and beautifully written. It tells of the sale of land between the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford and the Right Honourable Edward Pleydell Bouverie MP. It concerns the transfer of land – being the glebe lands of the Rectory of Lavington and is dated 12^th May 1865.

The document concerns Market Lavington glebe lands

In 1865, Edward Pleydell Bouverie was establishing himself as Lord of Market Lavington Manor. 1865 is the date upon Edward’s brand new Manor House. No doubt for a man with aspirations it seemed appropriate to pay some £2800 for parts of ‘his’ parish. That’s the equivalent of anything up to 4 million pounds today. Altogether Edward purchased a little over 77 acres including a cottage and buildings, orchards and meadows.

The seal set on this document is just gorgeous.

It is a fascinating and lovely document but its arrival at the museum is a wonderful story.

The final gift, just the other day came from the Rector in Market Lavington. He had held the document since 2010 when it arrived, quite unsolicited, with this letter.

Letter received by the Market Lavington rector

So the document arrived in Market Lavington from Northampton where a lady had given it to the sender, to send it to the church concerned. The lady’s late husband had bought it in a car boot sale – we do not know where that was but assume it was in the Northampton area.

But how did it arrive in a boot sale? That maybe something we’ll never know. But we are so pleased that by its roundabout route it has arrived back home

Our museum building is still owned by the Pleydell Bouverie family.

A Clock Face

Today we look at a clock face which once kept the time in the old Baptist Chapel on Chapel Lane. As far as we know the clock works are still in situ above the counter in what is now the fish and chip shop.

This J A Smith of Devizes clock face was onced the timekeeper in Market Lavington Baptist Chapel

The clock is thought to date from about 1865 and clearly carries the name of J A Smith of Devizes. It is not in good order with missing white paint and added daubs and splashes of blue.

Sadly, we know almost nothing of J A Smith. We believe he operated from Devizes Market Place.

The dial measures about 16 inches across and we believe the clock would have been of a kind known as a gallery clock.

We would, of course, love to know more for our records.