Sandwich Guildhall Museum
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sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
Sandwich Guildhall Museum
@sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
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Sharing the history of the town and Cinque Port of Sandwich! Visit the museum and 16th century courtroom Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm.
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sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
We've been thinking a lot about the questions we get asked and stories from Sandwich's history that we haven't delved too deeply into. Tomorrow, you get to find out why! Keep your eyes peeled and ears open 👀 for an exciting announcement!

#localhistory #localmuseum #visitsandwich #visitdover
A purple and orange gradient with four different coloured squares on top of it. The top left square is yellow and orange, it has a black silhouette of a rat on it, with a white shield that has text reading "why is there a rat in the museum?". The top right square is red and orange, with the silhouette of a gavel and the text in the shield reads "do you wish to call any witnesses?" The lower left square is blue and yellow, with a silhouette of handcuffs and the shield reads "where were you on 30th March 1934?" and the lower right square is purple and orange, with a silhouette of bread on it and the shield has text reading "are there any other places that share their name with a food?"
August 5, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
We have a student from University of Kent doing a work placement with us currently. Isabelle has been exploring our collections, starting with the Roman Head.
Photograph on a background that has an orange gradient. The photograph is of a Roman statue's head. It is the head of Commodus. It is worn with chips out of it and the statue is mostly missing its nose.
June 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
Here is some of the work from last year's art exhibition, inspired by our Roman Bowl!

The theme this year is our stained glass window. We want to make a brightly coloured space full of artwork, and you can help us! We're accepting submissions now until 3rd August.

#artexhibition #museum
Photograph of pictures hanging on a white wall. There are various sizes of picture and some are unframed. One shows a Roman villa, painted in bright colours, another shows a pile of leaves, with a cross and a blue/green background. Another shows a Roman head with a blue and gold background. Multiple images show the Roman bowl from Sandwich Guildhall Museum, which is a blue/green colour.
June 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
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Let’s do the time walk again! is a project funded by The National Heritage Lottery Fund and created by CCCU in partnership Deal Museum, Ramsgate Clock House Museum and Dickens House Museum and of course, us!

@kentmapsonline.bsky.social
June 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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When you read the description “Sandwich Round Table. Group of men with fake tortoises, 1975” and you just have to know what the photo looks like.
Black and white photograph outside Sandwich Guildhall. There is a van parked behind a group of people. In the foreground are two men crouched down, one of the is wearing the mayoral chains. There are two more men stood to the right and one is holding a sign. There is a boy on the right holding a sign reading “mile of pennies, start.” There are multiple fake tortoises on the floor surrounding the people. The mayor is gesturing towards a tortoise that reads “make a tortoise mile.”
May 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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This year's art exhibition will be based on our stained-glass window! Submissions for art work open on Monday 2nd May and close on Sunday 3rd August. You can visit the 16th century courtroom to view the window in person to get inspired.
A poster for Sandwich Guildhall Museum's Annual Art Competition and Exhibition with the following text: "Call for submissions, Monday 2nd May to Sunday 3rd August." The poster has an orange and brown background. On the background in various colours are outlines in different window shapes. There are faded lighter sections vertically and horizontally across the poster upon which the text is positioned. The text is on the right side of the poster. On the left side is a photograph of the Sandwich's courtroom stained-glass window in an arch shape with a gold border.
May 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
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We’re slowly building a collection of different photographs for the postcards in our shop! We now have Guildhall postcards and Ham Sandwich postcards to join the one of our stained-glass window.

#localhistory #museum #museumshop #postcard
Photograph of three brightly coloured postcards positioned at angles on a white background. One shows the Guildhall with a blue sky behind it, another shows an old road sign reading “Han Sandwich” and another shows a stained glass window of Queen Elizabeth I.
May 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
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We were delighted to welcome students from Sandwich Infant School to the museum this morning! They learnt all about the stained glass window and then helped us with a special project. 👀🎨

#sandwichtown #visitsandwich #sandwichkent #localhistory #localmuseum
Close up of geometric shapes including squares and diamonds, with the style of a stained glass window, which have been coloured in by a child. They are brightly coloured in mostly pinks and purples. Close up of geometric shapes including squares and diamonds, with the style of a stained glass window, which are being coloured in by a child. Most of the shapes are not coloured in, apart from some pink and yellow triangles and diamonds.
May 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
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On this day, 80 years ago, conflict in Europe ceased after war had raged on for six years. The fighting continued in other parts of the world, but the 8th May 1945 saw the surrender of German military operations and became known as Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day.

#VEDay80 #VEDay
Photograph of poppy bunting attached to a wall. The bunting is hung across a hallway parallel to the ceiling. The bunting is casting shadows onto the wall. Overlaid on the photograph is a faded white box with text inside it reading "VE Day 80."
May 8, 2025 at 9:34 AM
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Tomorrow is VE Day. To share the story of the Kitchener Camp, we interviewed @drcweissenberg.bsky.social, creator of the Kitchener Camp Project. Join us as we learn more about Sandwich, a small town with a big history.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube now!

@wienerlibrary.bsky.social
May 7, 2025 at 9:36 AM
sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
This talk complements the exhibition ‘Leave to Land’, curated by @drcweissenberg.bsky.social which uses memoirs, photos, official documents to illustrate the lives of the refugees who came to Sandwich. It is on display from now until Sunday 18th May.
A poster for an illustrated talk. The poster has a blue background with a white section at the top and an angled white section in the bottom right corner. There is red text reading "VE Day 80", followed by white text reading "FOUR THOUSAND GERMAN JEWISH REFUGEES IN SANDWICH 1939-40. Why they came, their role in WW2 1940/45, what happened next." There is an image of the book cover "Four Thousand Lives" by Clare Ungerson. On the right, next to the book, is text reading "Illustrated talk by Professor Clare Ungerson, 6th May 2025, 7pm, Guildhall Jury Room."
May 2, 2025 at 11:56 AM
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Just a series of tiny photos from the 1970s attached together to create a panorama of the river side in Sandwich.
Sepia toned photograph showing grass in the foreground with a river behind. There are boats on the river and behind it, a series of buildings. The main building is a large square, brick building with boarded up windows. Text on it reads “the Invicta Coal & Shipping Co.” Colour photograph with a green tinge. There is grass in the foreground and a river, mostly hidden by the grass. On the other side of the river are trees and a series of buildings. The photograph is made from multiple photos attached together and one of the seams cuts off part of a building. A building on the right side reads “Globe Yacht” and “Slipway.” Coloured photo with a green tinge. It shows grass, with a river behind. There are some boats on the river but only the tops of them are visible. There are buildings being the river, including rooftops of houses. On the right is a large building reading “Watneys, Ales & Stouts.”
May 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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It's the Easter half term! If you're looking for something to do, don't forget the museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. You can visit the museum and 16th century courtroom. We also have clothes for children to get dressed up in and a space to colour in some Sandwich themed drawings!
Photograph of the end of a table, which has colouring worksheets on it. The top sheet shows a shield with a coat of arms, which has been coloured in. There is a pile of colouring pencils on top of the sheets. There is a plastic children's crown, which is red and gold towards the back of the table and a decorative, silver, plastic sword laying diagonally in front of it, on top of the sheets.
April 9, 2025 at 11:16 AM
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On Sundays, we work with the collection. (As well as on Fridays and Saturdays)

Today we came across this postcard showing Strand Street in 1873. We think the Hovis sign is very apt! 🥪
Black and white photograph of Strand Street in Sandwich from 1873. There is a row of Tudor fronted buildings, some are shops. In the foreground a man with a cart is talking to a woman in a doorway. There is a Hovis sign on one of the buildings.
January 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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We may have been closed for a few weeks but we have been doing some important work, particularly ensuring the museum is looking especially shiny for the new year!

We're now open as normal, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm so please do come and visit us.
A photograph of the interior of a museum. There are dark grey interpretation panels with the following titles "Battle of Sandwich", "Whitefriars Priory", "The Huguenots of Sandwich", "Sandwich Custumal" and "The Sandwich Magna Carta" along the walls and inside a display case. The glass doors of the display case are open and there is only one object inside. The rest of the objects are on tables to the side of the room. They have been removed so the cases can be cleaned.
January 9, 2025 at 8:52 AM
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Merry Christmas from the Sandwich Guildhall Museum team!

We’re closed until the 8th January but however you are spending the festive period, we hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
An illustration of Sandwich Guildhall, with a pink background and dark blue outlines. Above it is a blue rectangular section with white text which reads "Merry Christmas!" Both coloured sections have white outlines around them and white snowflake designs across them.
December 24, 2024 at 5:12 PM
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Last but definitely not least, we expanded our team and now have thirty two volunteers supporting the museum!

The front of house volunteers welcomed even more visitors than last year. Thanks to their hard work, we got given a Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award!
A white page with the Tripadvisor logo, which is the black outline of an owl. With Tripadvisor written below it in green text. Under that reads "Travellers' Choice Awards Winner 2024" followed by "Sandwich Guildhall Museum. Reviews from millions of Tripadvisor travellers place this winner in the top 10% worldwide."
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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We were able to be part of the University of Kent's Employability Points Scheme for the second year running. We held an Experience Day for some students and had two students join us for work experience.
Photograph of the Museum Manager and five students, one is sat down, looking at historic documents from the collection and documenting their details. The student that is sat down has a laptop and document in front of her. There are other documents on the table and the manager is gesturing towards one. Everyone is trying to decipher the handwriting in the document.
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
sandwichmuseum.bsky.social
Our wonderful collections volunteers reached 10,000 objects listed, including 1,000 from our Reference Library! They have also repacked a significant number of objects in our new collection store.
Close up of book spines on a shelf. They are all varying shades of brown. Some are embossed or have their volume number written on them. Some have titles, which read "Lyon's History of Dover" and "Boys' Collections."
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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We hosted some small special exhibitions in their very own dedicated space! The first visitor to the first exhibition, all about Sandwich's involvement in the Second World War and D-Day, was the Mayor of Sandwich, Cllr Paul Carter.
Cllr Paul Carter, the Mayor of Sandwich, standing in a small exhibition space. He is holding his hand out towards one of the exhibition cases and is smiling at the camera. There are two flat cases, with objects and labels inside them. On the wall above them are two exhibition panels, one reads "Sandwich's Civil Defences."
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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We collaborated with theatre students in a local secondary school, who created and performed a production in our 16th century courtroom, inspired by the true story of William "Wing" Farley and his trial.
Image of a painting from the late 1800s, showing William "Wing" Farley's trial at Sandwich. The painting depicts the trial in the 16th century courtroom. The room is full of people, including the judge and William Farley himself in the dock. There is a woman in the witness box.
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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In September we held the first of what we hope will be our Annual Art Competition and Exhibition! The focus for the first year was the Roman Bowl and we were able to display some wonderful artwork inspired by it.
A photograph of a woman smiling, standing beside her painting, which is hung on the wall. The painting shows a white bust of a Roman man, with a blue and gold background.
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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In March, we acquired the Roman Bowl with support from the V&A/ACE Purchase Grant Fund and the Museums Association Beecroft Bequest. We're delighted to ensure the bowl remains accessible to the public and we're excited about what else we can learn about it.
A copper-alloy Roman bowl, dating from the 1st Century AD. The bowl is on a stand, within a glass museum cabinet. There is a stand holding metal handles in position on either side of the bowl. The bowl is a greenish blue colour, with areas and speckles of beige.
December 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
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Another day, another interesting find! This is a page from a handwritten booklet of instructions titled Land Measuring and Dividing of Land.
A page from a large handwritten booklet. Taking up most of the page is a diagram of a shape, similar to irregular four sided shapes connected together. There are dotted lines dividing the shapes into triangles with numbers written along them. Below the diagram are a list of numbers and calculations. Text at the top of the page refers to the “content of the following irregular figure.”
November 30, 2024 at 11:41 AM
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It's your last chance to see the Silver Oar and Speaker's Badge on display as our temporary exhibition, Sandwich: Speaker for the Cinque Ports, closes on Sunday 1st December!

#localhistory #cinqueports #visitsandwich #museum
A photograph of the inside of an exhibition cabinet. At the top of the image is an oar, which is made of silver and has an engraving of a crown on the paddle. It is very shiny and has a reflection of a frame and exhibition panel which are on the wall above it. Closer to the front of the cabinet is the Speaker's Badge, a teardrop shaped badge, with silver around the outside. In the centre is the coat of arms for the Confederation of Cinque Ports, which is a red and blue background with three part-lions part-ships on it. The badge has blue fabric attached and is positioned on top of its open badge case.
November 29, 2024 at 8:59 PM