Treasures exhibition takes a step forward
A new exhibition called Treasures of Hyde Abbey is set to become one of the highlights of next year’s Hyde900 celebrations. For the first time in five hundred years, Saxon and medieval treasures from Hyde Abbey will be reunited. Chief among these will be manuscripts lent by the British Library and the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and the Hyde Abbot’s crozier from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Following a competitive pitching process, Winchester City Council and Hyde900 have appointed exhibition specialist Springboard Design Ltd to design the exhibition.
Springboard has a track record for creating innovative and informative exhibitions. Joe Ottewill, Springboard’s Design Director, said: ”Springboard Design is delighted to be collaborating on the Treasures of Hyde Abbey exhibition. It will be an interesting challenge to display the artefacts in a way that helps people relate to the lives of Hyde residents 900 years ago. We consider it a privilege to be working on this project.”
The exhibition, which forms part of the Hyde900 celebrations, will open in the Gallery at Winchester Discovery Centre on 6th March 2010 and will run until 2nd May 2010. It has been made possible thanks to an award of £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in June this year.
Free admission, workshops, school visits, lectures, and tours will all help to make the exhibition appealing and accessible to a wide audience. It will give local people the opportunity to discover all there is to know about Hyde Abbey, a great medieval institution with strong links to King Alfred.
The coming months will see staff from Winchester Museums finalise the objects and content of the exhibition, whilst the designers use their skills to present it all in an enjoyable and interactive way.
Geoff Denford, Winchester Museums’ principal curator and project manager for the exhibition, said: “I’m looking forward to working with Springboard and I’m anticipating some surprises in their treatment of the material we have for display.”
Ron Allison, Chairman of Hyde900, added, “I’m delighted that Winchester is once more able to show off its fascinating history. Thanks to the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund we have been able to contract a company of the calibre of Springboard Design Ltd who, I’m sure, will create a thrilling exhibition.”
The exhibition will be the latest in a series of events celebrating King Alfred’s life and legacies. You can find out more about this and about all the other activities organized by Hyde900 for 2010 at www.hyde900.co.uk