Chertsey Museum

15/12/2024

Here's where to find the Advent windows this coming week

13/12/2024

Friday Frocks – Continuing our Festive theme, here is a wonderfully seasonal and desirable ‘Dinner Dress’ by the renowned couturier Jeanne Lanvin. This bias-cut wool gown dates to 1938. It is decorated with gold leather strapwork, highlighted with silver sequins. During the 1930s the House of Lanvin moved seamlessly from frothy and highly embellished pieces to a sleek, sophisticated silhouette that prioritised cut and body shape over decoration. Cutting fabric on the bias is an important aspect of this approach. Hanging the fabric diagonally allows the effect of gravity to reveal the sculptural, supple qualities of the cloth. Fabric behaves differently when cut this way; it has more movement and stretch, allowing it to cling to the figure, and creating a fluid silhouette which drapes softly as it falls.

11/12/2024

Throwback Thursday - Victory Park, Addlestone, 1960s
Shortly after the Armistice ended the First World War, Addlestone residents started calling for a memorial to be created, and one letter to the Surrey Herald suggested that it should take the form of a recreation ground with a stone monument within it. A site was chosen, near the centre of town, which was large enough to accommodate an Infant Welfare Centre and even a library if sufficient funds could be found. It would be a mighty undertaking with £6,000 needed to purchase the land, but County Councillor Doresa was sure the money would be forthcoming. Initially residents wished it to be called the Peace Park, before Victory Park was settled upon.
In reality, fundraising was more difficult than imagined. Despite fundraising events and door-to-door collections it soon became clear that they would struggle to find the money. By the end of May 1919, £1,000 had been raised for the recreation ground but that was only a third of the cost. Land had been secured, three fields near the centre of town with a combined area of just over three and a half acres, but would cost £2,500 and the fields would have to be drained at a further cost to the town. Whilst the idea of a recreation ground was popular the town still wanted a monument of some description, and so it was decided that the gates to the park would bear the words “Addlestone War Memorial and Victory Park” and the pillars would list the names of the Fallen. The gates would cost a further £400 and landscaping the grounds an additional £680. It was proving to be an expensive suggestion, and that was without the estimated £200 needed each year to maintain it.

In 1920 work began on installing the park gates, but there was still not enough money to complete the project. Cllr. Doresa agreed to loan the remaining amount needed so that the memorial gates could be unveiled as soon as possible. The event took place on 14th July 1920, but with no paths or landscaping, and no way of funding the work, the park remained unusable. In March 1923, Doresa, finally admitting that there was no hope of raising enough money to pay him back the £297 outstanding from his loan of £1,700, wrote off the debt. On 23rd July 1923 the park was officially opened and a marble fountain unveiled, also paid for by Cllr. Doresa, in memory of his wife who had died in April 1922.

08/12/2024

Excellent first week for the Windsor Street Advent Windows

07/12/2024

We're battling the weather to bring some Christmas cheer to Chertsey so come and support all these lovely stallholders and everyone who has done so much to organise the Goose Fair, even if it's not gone according to plan. And then pop down to the museum where Heidi is running Museum Makes

07/12/2024

Today we mark the 45th anniversary of the death of Olive Matthews. She died aged 92 in 1979. Miss Matthews was a talented and inspirational collector who established the nationally significant Olive Matthews Collection of Dress and Textiles. The Olive Matthews Trust, which was set up to safeguard the collection in 1969, works in partnership with Runnymede Borough Council to bring you Chertsey Museum. Miss Matthews was able to witness the re-opening of the Museum, incorporating and exhibiting her collection, in 1972. In the 45 years since Olive Matthews’ death, the fashion collection has evolved and expanded. Successive Fashion Curators have cared for and interpreted it for modern audiences, adding selected pieces to bring it up to date. Education is at the heart of all we do with the Olive Matthews Collection. This is achieved through exhibitions, talks, events, publications, online content and education sessions aimed at a wide and varied range of users. For more information on Olive Matthews see https://buff.ly/4fVP01z and for our latest Fashion Exhibition on Regency dress see https://buff.ly/3JJEw6I

06/12/2024

Friday Frocks – With December upon us, we’ll now focus on frocks with a festive feel to get you in the mood for the Season. This couture garment, c.1937, by Schiaparelli London is made from printed silk with gathers at the neckline. The pattern is quirky and unusual, and we think it resembles Christmas fairy lights! Note how the tie at the neck has been cut to perfectly match the pattern when tied. A true sign of high-quality construction. Visible plastic zip fastenings are seen at the cuffs; something generally hidden from view. Zips were first used in clothing during the mid-1920s. Schiaparelli embraced this new technology. She even endorsed the ‘Lightening’ Plastic Fastener brand. A Paris-based couturier who found huge success in the 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli was known for her imaginative, humorous and stylish designs, often influenced by her links with Surrealist artists. Schiaparelli London opened c.1934. It was located at 6, Upper Grosvenor Street, WI. It continued trading until 1939.

05/12/2024

Throwback Thursday – Goosepool, Chertsey in the 1920s.
The fire station, whose lamp and edge can be seen on the left, still stands at the corner of Fox Lane North and the junction of Eastworth Road and Pyrcroft Road, but the rest of the scene is totally unrecognisable. Vickery's bakery and Garrett's General Store have long since been replaced.

02/12/2024

It's getting Christmassy at the Museum!

01/12/2024

We'll be there, will you?!

WE'RE BACK!
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The Chertsey Christmas Goose Fair is back and we're kicking off the festive period with the 12 days of the Chertsey Christmas Goose Fair. 12 days of festive fun including featured posts from our sponsors who have made the fair possible, highlights of the amazing festivities you can expect on the day and so much more!
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We can't wait to see everyone on Saturday 7th December!

30/11/2024

Our final Craft & Wine night of the year took place last night and some lucky people are going to be receiving these amazing Christmas cards very soon!

29/11/2024

Here we go - Chertsey's largest Advent calendar is about to start! Here's where to find the first of this year's windows

29/11/2024

Friday Frocks – This week our wool theme brings us a wonderful wool and silk mix coat by Issey Miyake. It dates to c.1985 – 1990. The fabric makes it soft to the touch and comfortable to wear. It features knife pleats which radiate from the broad, padded shoulders. These are caught at the front and back by a buttoned belt before falling to create a graduated hem. The result is a wearable yet quirky piece of outerwear. Issey Miyake (1938 – 2022) was famous for his accordion-pleated garments, but more broadly he was known for exploring the interplay between the three-dimensional body and flat fabrics. His most fascinating creations marry the qualities of a cloth’s texture with imaginative and complex cutting techniques to create unusual silhouettes. Miyake was known for his ability to reference the dress of his own Japanese culture whilst harnessing new technology to create pieces which are truly modern and innovative.

28/11/2024

Throwback Thursday - goods barge going through New Haw lock on the Wey Navigation, c.1900.

A “navigation” is a term used for a stretch of river which has been canalised i.e. cut so that it is straight and deep like a canal. The River Wey starts as two separate branches which merge at Tilford and then flows east, through Guildford, onwards through the Borough of Runnymede, to join the Thames between Hamm Court and Shepperton Lock. It has always been of huge economic worth, with over 22 mills along its course in its heyday, as it provided a key transportation route from the Surrey agricultural growers up to the Thames and the London markets. However, the river became silted and difficult for large barges to use. A wealthy Guildford landowner, Sir Richard Weston (1591 – 1652), had the idea to cut a man-made channel along part of the River Wey to provide all-year-round navigation.

In June 1651 an Act was passed enabling the building of the Wey Navigation. Weston put up over half the money required himself, with the rest raised through share options. Now a team of 200 navigators or navvies could begin digging the 15 ½ miles of navigable waterway and constructing 12 locks, including the one at New Haw, all by hand. When the Wey Navigation opened in 1652 it was the largest and first commercially viable waterway in the country, and was the inspiration behind the extensive canal network that was constructed across Britain a century later. However, with the coming of the railway in the mid-19th century traffic on the Wey gradually declined.

27/11/2024

On this day, 1965, Chertsey Museum opened in the Old Town Hall. Since then we've moved home and gone from strength to strength. Thank you to Runnymede Borough Council the Olive Matthews Collection, The S.A. Oliver Charitable Settlement, all those grant givers who have funded activities over the past 59 years and YOU for visiting us and supporting us!

22/11/2024

Not long to go!