St. Laurence, Silchester, Hampshire.
#SteepleSaturday
The oldest walls date back to the early 12th century. The building features flint and stone dressings, partly plastered, with a fish weather vane atop its shingled bell turret. Set charmingly on a mound near the buried Roman city by a pond.
🦇 There’s nothing quite as entertaining as settling down in a comfy garden chair to watch the bats come out to swish and swoop on their hunt for food.
They’re fascinating creatures, but they need our help.
Here’s how you can do your bit 👇
On Sat 2 May, come hear Anne talk about the manuscript's surprisingly wide-ranging contents, from 'fortune-telling' texts to instructions for fashionable styles of singing: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/talk-sumer-i...
close up of red and black gothic or medieval style writing from an original manuscript currently on display at Reading Museum
Sumer is Icumen in is world-famous...but why? A @uniofreading.bsky.social History Prof will be able to tell you why. Come to the talk on 2nd May. On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social.
stone column with inscription in Ogham, on display at Reading Museum
The Ogham stone is a unique and fragile artefact. This battered column is inscribed in Ogham, a Celtic script. It was found in the Roman town of Calleva. View a 3D replica, in stone. In the Art Gallery alongside artwork ‘By Association’ by Adi Toch.
🪦 1995.1.24
Reading Museum
#FridayFinds
Come see the famous and spectacular Sumer is Icumen in manuscript, back in Reading for the first time in over 750 years.
On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social (Harley MS 978)
the display case at Reading Museum showing the Pulsometer display with various scientific items in the case.
New display now open: Pulsometer 125: Engineering
at the heart of Reading since 1901 🔧
Engineering (now SPP Pumps) and Reading’s global impact on science, industry and wartime engineering.
#Pulsometer125 #Reading #IndustrialHistory #Engineering
#MuseumDisplay #LocalHistory #WWIHistory #VictoriaCross
Medieval manuscript of song 'Sumer is icumen in', British Library collection
Was the Reading Rota manuscript, which features Sumer is icumen in, really created in Reading?
Don't miss our talk on Saturday 2 May with Anne Lawrence-Mathers, professor of medieval history at the University of Reading, book now!
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/talk-sumer-i...
@rdgwhatson.bsky.social
photograph showing Reading Abbey ruins with a man in the distance, taken by Dagmara Mętel for Reading Museum
watercolour showing a woman sketching in the Abbey Ruins from Reading Museum's collection
Reading Abbey, 177 years apart...
Watercolour of Reading Abbey ruins by Mary Webster, drawn from nature 16th August 1849, and a photo of the same ruin by Dagmara Mętel in 2026.
Make sure to check out our ongoing exhibition Reading: Then and Now for more trips down memory lane!
The Reading Museum project team holding Roman objects and standing in front of a large Roman mosaic
We have been awarded £80,000 from DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund for our Roman Britain – Reimagined in Reading project
The funding will help create a new interactive gallery to bring to life the story of Romans in Reading
Find out more at www.readingmuseum.org.uk/roman-britain
This doesn't ring any bells with us, I'm afraid. Shame pet chickens would have been a great story for our new Roman gallery!
Yes all the famous features including arrow in the eye (though possible not Harold!)
Yes, we definitely aren't claiming its the original so 'copy' or 'replica' are more accurate 😂😅 It also as a few uniquely different details...
Photolithograph line art showing Duke Street Bridge over the Kennet with a tree on the left and buildings to the right and in the background. By Susan Norman, from Reading Museum's collections.
Photograph showing Duke Street over the Kennet with a tree on the left, taken by Dagmara Mętel for Reading Museum
A familiar sight shown through different mediums 📸 This is Duke Street Bridge over the Kennet: a 1975 photolithograph from a drawing by Susan Norman and a 2026 photograph by Dagmara Mętel for our exhibition Reading: Then and Now. On display now!
🖼️ object no. 1986.127.5
Easter Opening Times at Reading Museum ⭐
Good Friday: Closed
Saturday 4 April: Open as usual!
Easter Sunday: Closed
Bank Holiday Monday: Closed
We are also open today until 4pm: Families can enjoy our Egg Hunt, Easter Bunny Activity and our Victorian Schoolroom session
rdguk.info/Family_Fun_a...
We still have places available on tomorrow's Victorian Schoolroom Experience, inside the historic Reading Abbey Gateway (the location of Jane Austen's school!)
Book now online at:
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/victorian-schoolroom-experience-gateway
colourful handmade easter eggs with chicks and bunnies nestled in grass
Our Little Dragon Easter Egg Hunt has started at Reading Museum!
Families can also enjoy our Easter Bunny Ears Activity - both available every day during opening hours 🐇 🥚 🐉
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam...
#RDG #RDGUK #EasterFun #ReadingMuseum
hand made masks on a grass background
We are getting ready for the Easter Holidays here at Reading Museum!
From Saturday onwards you can enjoy our Easter Craft packs - available every day throughout the holidays during opening hours.
For more info see the Family Fun page on our website..
#RDG #RDGUK #EasterFun #ReadingMuseum
Oil painting of St Mary's Butt's looking towards the church, from Reading Museum's collections
Photograph showing St Mary's Butts with the church in the background, photograph by Gab Gibek for Reading Museum
Then 👉 Now
Travel around 150 years in time with just one glance - St Mary's Butts painted by an unknown artist, late 19th century, and photographed by Gab Gibek in 2026.
See this and many more views of the town in our new exhibition Reading: Then and Now! www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/rea...
a large slab of chocolate with various decorations like small easter eggs.
We're getting ready for the Easter Holidays here at Reading Museum!
Book now for our The Big Chocolate Dig Activity next Wednesday 😋
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam...
#RDG #RDGUK #EasterHolidayFun
Group photo of all the winners, judges and presenters from the 2026 What's On Reading awards
WHAT A NIGHT!
Last night's What's On Reading Awards at Reading Biscuit Factory was truly wonderful - the place was packed to the rafters with nominees and their supporters, plus our fabulous cast of judges and presenters, and it's fair to say a great time was had by all
1/
The Big Jacksons Talk is coming to @readingmuseum.bsky.social this Saturday
Thomas Macey, former employee, company archivist and author of a book about Reading's famous department store, will give an illustrated talk using original archives.
SELLING FAST...
whatsonreading.com/venues/readi...
on the left the musical manuscript of Sumer is icumen in (British Library) and on the right soft toy cat with pink and white stripes, the TV character Bagpuss
What connects 70s horror The Wicker Man and kids TV classic Bagpuss?
Well, both feature ‘Sumer is icumen in’ one of the earliest pieces of English music. The 750-year-old manuscript is at Reading Museum until 9 May, on loan from the British Library.
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sumer-icumen
Thank you to everyone who came to this year's Games Day! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did – did you have a favourite game?
#boardgames #TabletopGaming #DnD #TTRPG #ttrpgCommunity #rdguk
New 1066 theory just dropped!
Sounds fairly plausible, but I’d like to read the conference paper before I pin my colours to the mast
www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
On Saturday 28 March, come hear Jackson's archivist Thomas Macey talk about the firm's place in Reading's heritage, see original archives, and catch the astonishing stores' scale models on their last day on display.
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/big-jacksons...
#diorama #nostalgia #rdguk
Pewter chalice with a wide cup and an edge that has been flattened on one side, showing signs of reconstruction. Reading Museum Collections.
This pewter chalice was found in a grave during the 1890 excavation of a medieval leper cemetery at the Jack of Both Sides Inn, Kings Road, Reading.
It had been clutched in the hand of a middle aged man – some of his finger bones were found under the cup in the grave with his skeleton.
📸 1934.30.3
Come see leading contemporary metal artist Adi Toch's exquisite new sculpture installation, ‘By Association,’ developed in response to the Roman Silchester collection at Reading Museum.
This project was commissioned by The Contemporary Art Society and Reading Foundation for Art.
#metalcraft #rdg
black Bakelite dial telephone
☎️We are carrying out planned maintenance to our phone lines today, Thursday 19 March. Our phone lines may be temporarily unavailable between 10am and midday. You can still contact us via our website contact forms or try calling us again later today.
Thank you for your patience.
Poster image of path between trees, advertising Reading Museum Goes Green'
On Saturday 21 March Reading Museum Goes Green!
Come find out about visiting, exploring, enjoying and caring for local green spaces.
Visit the website to sign up for our free tree walk - led by Reading Tree Wardens.
www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/rea...
#RDG #ReadingMuseum
