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Athelstan Museum
@athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
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The Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Capturing the History of Malmesbury, burial place of St Aldhelm and King Athelstan, birthplace of Thomas Hobbes, and much more...
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athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Our joint event with #Athelstan1100 and Wessex Week, with the support of Princeton University Press. @princetonupress.bsky.social

Athelstan & the Birth of a Kingdom
David Woodman
Professor of History at Robinson College, Cambridge
Friday 16 January - 7.00pm - Malmesbury Town Hall
#history
David Woodman Talk: 'Athelstan and the Birth of A Kingdom' An insightful talk by acclaimed author and historian Prof David Woodman exploring Athelstan's role in the creation of England. David will also be happy to sign copies of his new book 'The First King of England - Athelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom'. Friday 16th January at 7:00pm Malmesbury Town Hall £10.00 A joint event with Athelstan Museum and Wessex Week
November 21, 2025 at 9:31 AM
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thomhobbessociety.bsky.social
THE THOMAS HOBBES ANNUAL SUPPER

21st NOVEMBER 2025, Malmesbury Town Hall

Tickets are on sale for our popular evening dinner event ending with an after dinner talk by Dr. John McCormack:
Thomas Hobbes - The Executive in the Boardroom.

Click for details and tickets.
www.thomashobbesofmalmesbury.org
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury Society (THoMS)
The Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury Society. THoMS is a membership society who's principal aim is to promote the discussion of the ideas of Thomas Hobbes.,
www.thomashobbesofmalmesbury.org
October 28, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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sallyrose.bsky.social
Born in #Malmesbury and died at Hardwick Hall in #Derbyshire. Fascinating life.
October 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
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susanabernethy2.bsky.social
Aethelstan, Anglo-Saxon King of England, died on this day in 939

thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2013/07/17/a...
Aethelstan, Anglo-Saxon King of England
Aethelstan was the first King of Wessex to bring together all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. He was well educated, very pious and a collector of saints relics and manuscripts. He was also a f…
thefreelancehistorywriter.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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weird-wiltshire.bsky.social
Halloween Countdown - Day 6 🎃🧵

The Bell, Malmesbury

In the room known as the library, a portrait of a lady is thought to be the melancholy grey lady, but no one knows who she is. Some books say she was a lady forced into an unhappy marriage and she hung herself in the James Ody Room.
October 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Event coming up soon-

Lace Making Workshop

23rd October -
2 sessions - 10.30 to 12.30 & 1.30 to 3.30
Rausing Building, Malmesbury.

Tickets not required (£5 donation requested)

ages 5-95
(under 16s to be accompanied by an adult)
#crafts #workshop #localhistory
Lace making cushion and bobbins.
October 9, 2025 at 9:48 AM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
On This Day, 8th October 1328, Malmesbury Abbey accommodated the boy King Edward III, together with his mother Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, in the abbey guest house (now the Old Bell Hotel). They stayed until the 10th October.
#History #14thC #medievalSky #OTD
Isabella riding to meet her brother, Charles IV, in 1325. 15th-century illustration from Froissart's Chronicles.
October 8, 2025 at 11:41 AM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Malmesbury Wessex Week is nearly upon us once again.

Here are the talks and other events for this year between the 18th and 25th of October.

Tickets are still available on the website,
wessex-week.org
or from the Tourist Information Centre in Malmesbury Town Hall.
#events #history
Saturday Bradley Hopper: Coinage and the 18th October Making of England Malmesbury Town Hall - 7pm - £10 Sunday 19th October Campbell Ritchie: Guided Walk: The visible Influence of King Alfred the Great on Malmesbury Malmesbury Town Hall - 10.30am £7 Adult, £3.50 U16 Tuesday 21st October Liam Wilson: Roman Settlement and After in the Malmesbury area: New evidence from excavations by Cotswold Archaeology Malmesbury Town Hall - 7pm - £10 Wednesday 22nd October Tony McAleavy: Malmesbury and Alfred the Great The Old Bell Hotel garden room Talk - 7.30pm - €10 2 Course dinner and talk- 6pm - £40 Friday 24th October Tony McAleavy: Lull: the monk from Malmesbury who converted Germany Rausing Building - 3pm - £10 Saturday 25th October Andrew Ziminski: Church going around Wessex Malmesbury Town Hall - 7pm - £10 Full details of each event and tickets on the website www.wessex-week.org Tickets also available from the Malmesbury Tourist Information Office.
October 3, 2025 at 8:38 AM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Our latest temporary exhibition is now open, in the Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury, until March 2026.

- Malmesbury and World War Two -

the exhibition features the many aspects of the war which affected everyday life in wartime Malmesbury.

#History #Museumsky #WW2 #20thC #Wiltshire
Photograph of the ‘Wings for Victory’ event on May 15th 1943. Two WW2 fighter planes and a number of soldiers lined up on parade in the Cross Hayes, Malmesbury. Photo: Charles Vernon.
October 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
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fotofacade.bsky.social
The day I visited Malmesbury Abbey was blessed with a rare quality of light which allowed the pattern and iconography on the eight orders of the C12th porch to fizz into life. #thread
Sunlit south porch at Malmesbury Abbey, showing concentric Norman arches carved with intricate foliage and figures, leading into shadowy interior with open wooden doors beyond.
September 24, 2025 at 6:04 AM
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museumtetbury.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 9:57 PM
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northages.bsky.social
Æthelstan, king of the English, from his vill at Buckingham, granted land in Wiltshire to one of his thegns #OTD in 934. Acting as a witness to the charter was Causantín (II) mac Áeda, king of Alba, having been cowed by Æthelstan’s campaign against the Scots. 📸Athelstan Museum #medievalsky
Silver penny of Æthelstan bearing his name, portrait and the title rex to Brit, 'King of all Britons'.
September 13, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Athelstan Museum
kingcharlesireturn.bsky.social
Beside the Romanesque silhouette of Malmesbury Abbey

#Malmesbury #MalmesburyAbbey #Christianity #Faith #Whiltshire #KingCharles #CharlesI #England #History #Royal
September 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury…
#thomashobbes
thomhobbessociety.bsky.social Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury Society @thomhobbessociety.bsky.social · Sep 10
Nice mention in @historytoday.com this month, that Thomas Hobbes was the first to properly translate The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides into English.
#polymath
Bust of Thucydides.
September 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Athelstan Museum
historytoday.com
In 15 years #Æthelstan united the English for the first time. Yet many of the facts about the Anglo-Saxon king remain elusive.

⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free

www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...
Giving Life To Æthelstan
www.historytoday.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:43 AM
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parkerlibcccc.bsky.social
Earliest extant portrait of an English king: Aethelstan (r. 924–927) with St Cuthbert from the Parker Library copy of Bede's two Lives of St Cuthbert (CCCC MS 183)

Prof David Woodman of @camhistory.bsky.social highlights Aethelstan's impact on England's history
www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/articles/new...
Opening of a 10th-century manuscript that is now in the Parker Library as CCCC MS 183. Opening shows a full page portrait of King Aethelstan (d. 939) presenting a book to St Cuthbert, or rather the community of St Cuthbert, then already in exile from Lindisfarne. The full page image has a floral border in red, king under an arch on the left and St Cuthbert in front of a brick structure topped with a cross. Right of the image contains the beginning of Life of St Cuthbert, written in Latin. First three lines in red (rubric) is followed by two lines of monumental script in multiple colours, after which the text itself continues in usual brown ink.
September 8, 2025 at 3:04 PM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Our next Tea Time Talk is coming up.

- The Dauntsey Doom Painting and the Reformation. -

17 Sep 2025 | 2.30pm | Rausing Building, Malmesbury.

£7 (includes tea and cake)

Tickets from the Museum or online here..
www.athelstanmuseum.org.uk/event/the-da...

#talk #events #history #16thC
The Dauntsey Doom Painting and the Reformation - Athelstan Museum
An introduction to the unique Doom painting at the Church of St James the Great in Dauntsey, and how the English Reformation from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I destroyed so much religious art in the 16th ...
www.athelstanmuseum.org.uk
September 5, 2025 at 1:47 PM
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lizsgreen.bsky.social
My highlight was the talk by @holland-tom.bsky.social of @theresthistory.bsky.social about how and why King Athelstan was so important.
And I admit, I nicked the bit about 927 being more important than 1066 and therefore should be better known.
But you know what he's right!
Tom Holland speaking from the pulpit at All Saints Church in Kingston
September 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
On This Day, 4th September 925, Athelstan was crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons at Kingston upon Thames.
#Athelstan1100
In less than 2 years from that date, in July 927, he would take control of the Viking Kingdom of York and become the first King of all England.
#OTD #History #Skystorians #10thC
Coronation stone in Kingston upon Thames.
September 4, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Athelstan Museum
slipperyjack.bsky.social
Going back over pics from last weekend. I like a bit of colourful local legend. In Malmesbury I enjoyed spotting references to Eilmer of Malmesbury, the 11th-century Benedictine monk famous for his early attempt at winged flight. He jumped from the Abbey and broke both legs, but still...
Stained glass window depicting Eilmer of Malmesbury holding a pair of wings. Eilmer of Malmesbury in flight on a piece of tapestry The story of Eilmer of Malmesbury on another locally made tapestry The 1950s pub sign 'Flying Monk' depicting Eilmer of Malmesbury in flight.
August 24, 2025 at 5:19 PM
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corardens.bsky.social
Malmesbury Abbey this evening
Medieval abbey lit up at night Medieval doorway with carvings and benches to either side Tower of church lit up at night with a cross at the top.
August 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Athelstan Museum
northwestbylines.co.uk
A carefully documented farmland lease from the time of the first King of England, Æthelstan, tells us much about the power play in those days
northwestbylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hi...
How a document secured the power of the first King of England
A carefully documented farmland lease from the time of the first King of England, Æthelstan, tells us much about the power play in those days
northwestbylines.co.uk
August 19, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Athelstan Museum
princetonupress.bsky.social
Best of luck to all who are taking part in the #Athelstan1100 Pilgrim Way Walk & Cycle to celebrate the 1100th coronation anniversary of the first King of England!

Learn more about England’s founder king in The First King of England, available 4 September: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom by David Woodman. From one of today’s leading historians of the early medieval period, an enthralling chronicle of Æthelstan, England’s founder king.
August 18, 2025 at 4:11 PM
athelstanmuseum.bsky.social
Coming up as part of the Malmesbury Carnival programme:

Malmesbury Railway Stories

An illustrated talk by Bill Reed in the Rausing Building.

Voices from Malmesbury railway station and the amazing model built by Chris Burch. Plus the locomotive Malmesbury Abbey and its designer GJ Churchward.
Train at Malmesbury Station platform. Malmesbury Abbey is visible below the station platform canopy. Part of the Malmesbury station model showing a model train emerging from the Malmesbury railway tunnel.
August 14, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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paulwhitewick.bsky.social
Packhorse Bridge along the Fosse Way
August 12, 2025 at 11:36 AM