In 2024 Malmesbury hosted a bumper programme of events to mark the 1100th anniversary of the accession of King Athelstan. The Athelstan Museum was proud to be part of the Malmesbury Athelstan 1100 celebrations and held an Athelstan 1100 Exhibition from 2nd July to 30th September 2024.
Below are some of the highlights of the exhibition and the preparations to make it such a success.
Ahead of the full public opening, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon -Thames cut the ribbon to declare the Athelstan Exhibition open. King Athelstan was crowned in Kingston in 925, we look forward to joining their 1100 celebrations next year.
We were then delighted to welcome well known historian, Tom Holland as one of our first visitors. Tom had earlier opened the Athelstan Pilgrim Way in Malmesbury Abbey.
Here is a taster of what we had on display.
Athelstan 1100 was very much a community celebration with many different Malmesbury organisations playing their part.
We were delighted to be able to display some of the children’s art that was used on the banners flying around town.
Now some of our key exhibits
Abingdon sword
Loaned from The Ashmolean Museum, this extremely rare iron sword fragment and hilt were found near Abingdon. The hilt decoration indicates a high-status weapon dating from around 875 CE, during the reign of Alfred the Great, Athelstan’s grandfather and is one of the most important examples of the late Anglo-Saxon silversmith’s art.
Designs on the hilt include birds, animals, human figures and foliate patterns. The figures on the upper guard are the 4 symbols of the evangelists.
This style of sword would have still been in use during Athelstan’s reign.
Pilton Seal and wax impressions
Dating from c.1450 and loaned from the V&A these are bronze circular seal matrices with 3 loops to hold them in place in a seal press. Pilton Priory in Devon, may have been founded in 10th century by King Athelstan, it was a very small foundation which relied on monks from Malmesbury for spiritual and admin duties.
Athelstan is on the reverse holding a sceptre and orb, standing on a carved base beneath a gothic niche. Seals were attached to a document with threads and guaranteed the conditions laid out in the document and its authenticity.
This pair of matrices is for a single, double-sided seal. A cake of wax would be placed on each matrix and they would be pressed together in a seal press. Each side would receive the impression from the die and the pressure would form the two cakes into a single seal.
Athelstan’s Charter
The British Library Manuscript Cotton Augustus ii. 23 dates from 939 CE and ratifies a grant by Athelstan of land in Meopham in Kent to one of his noblemen, whose name was Eadwulf. Many Anglo-Saxon charters only exist as later medieval copies, but this charter survives in the form of the original document produced in the presence of Athelstan and approved by him personally.
The first part of the charter is written in Latin but is followed by a description of the bounds of the estate in Old English. The list of witnesses is in Latin.
Athelstan’s view of his power and status is reflected in his description as “king of the English and guardian of all Britain”. In the witness list Athelstan states:
“I, Athelstan, King of all Britain, have confirmed the aforesaid donation with the seal of the holy cross”.
The story of how we put the exhibition together shown as a diary.
June 2024
As the start of our Athelstan 1100 Exhibition rapidly approaches it was time to brief our volunteers on what to expect. We had a great turnout of volunteers in the Rausing Building on 5th June.
They heard about the background to the exhibition and how it fits in with the overall Athelstan 1100 celebrations. There was discussion about Museum changes to expect as a result of the exhibition and suggestions on how to ensure our visitors best enjoy the special exhibits.
It was also the moment to confirm the key three exhibits that have been loaned from national institutions. These items have not been seen outside these institutions before and everyone was excited to hear about their history. In no particular order here they are:
We are all set now for the exhibits to start to arrive!
28th May 2024
At the May Tea Time talk the audience enjoyed discovering the many buildings and organisations named after Athelstan in Malmesbury. There are also a number of his images in town which were interesting to compare.
The talk was a taster for what is to come in Athelstan 1100 and it did provide a sneak preview of the Museum’s own Athelstan 1100 Exhibition.
Of particular interest was a small bone mount which is currently held in Devizes Museum. Having seen the grainy image of the now demolished Athelstan Cinema (left), behind the Whole Hog, the audience were told that in 2002 Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological excavation ahead of new buildings. This was particularly important as the site lay within the precinct of the medieval abbey of Malmesbury.
Remains of some walls were found but nothing conclusive as the area had been robbed out in the past. What was found was the item opposite. A mount made from a small rectangular piece of cattle or horse rib, carved in relief on one side. Perforated in several places, it was likely nailed on to a wooden or leather backing. It is a high-quality carving, and was probably a mount on a casket, book-cover, altar-cross, reliquary or something of similar importance.
The archaeological report states it is “possibly the first object to attest King Athelstan’s munificence to its abbey”. Taken from report archive “wiltshirearchaeo1042wilt”.
This tiny object was found in Malmesbury, is from the time of Athelstan and its high quality may provide a direct link to the man himself. Even better news was that the mount will be on display as part of the Museum’s Athelstan 1100 Exhibition.
Anne Goodyer, Volunteer
10th May 2024
Among the many wonderful exhibits in this summer’s Athelstan 1100 exhibition are an important group of coins with links to Athelstan, his forebears, and his descendants.
Two gold coins in the exhibition (A&B) comprise one of the earliest Saxon shillings from the mid-7th century and its Roman antecedent. It is fascinating to see how the early Saxon rulers derived their ideas for coinage from the Roman world.
There are four coins of different styles from Athelstan’s reign. One example (G) comes from a large hoard buried in the early years of Athelstan’s reign and found during construction work in the Vatican in 1928. It was probably carried by one of the pilgrims who undertook the long and perilous journey to Rome during the 9th and 10th centuries, taking with them large cash donations, or ‘Peter’s Pence’.
A final exhibit, worth mentioning here, is a fine silver penny (K) from the reign of King Edmund I (r. 939-46). Edmund was Athelstan’s half-brother and was crowned after Athelstan died childless in 939. As a youth, he had fought alongside Athelstan at the pivotal Battle of Brunanburh in 937.
The museum is excited to be displaying these coins for a three-month period this summer and are grateful to the various private collectors who have kindly agreed to loan them. We are also grateful to Noonan’s Auction House in London for helping to arrange many of the loans.
Jonathan Tucker
1st May 2024
We have been very fortunate to be given access to high quality images of some wonderful manuscripts. These will be shown downstairs in the Museum on a new display screen.
This will allow the visitor to examine six manuscripts, seeing their translations into modern English, together with some background information. The screen will make it possible to zoom in and see the magnificent details.
A lot of thought has had to go into the design of the display. The approach chosen aims to maximise the attractiveness of the screen and hold the attention of visitors for longer. It will:
· include English translations of each document;
· include an introduction screen for each document, with concise but interesting information;
· include a screen per page of each document, presenting each page at maximum size and resolution allowed by the screen. The display will be in portrait mode to optimise this.
· It will also include close-up views of selected “best bits” of some of the pages, and annotations with some narrative.
· It will use bold colours and various different interaction techniques.
· All interactive elements (“buttons”) will be at the bottom of the screen, to maximise accessibility.
The following manuscripts will be available:
Prudentius’ Psychomachia
Eighty two pages of this document will be included, displaying the amazing illustrations throughout. An English interpretation of the stories being told will bring it to life.
The Gallican Psalter (‘Athelstan’ or ‘Galba Psalter’)
Eight pages of this will be presented – including all the surviving full page pictures.
The charter of Athelstan to the burgesses of Malmesbury.
This the earliest known version of a charter by which Athelstan supposedly granted common land of about 600 acres in extent to the burgesses of Malmesbury.
Bede the Venerable, Two Lives of St Cuthbert
The first two pages will be presented – including the famous picture of Athelstan presenting the book to St. Cuthbert as shown on the Home Page.
The Law Codes of Athelstan.
These documents give insights into the legislative activity, and social concerns of Athelstan. The display will be based around a copy of the main Code dated from 1381 – no original manuscripts exist.
Charter of King Athelstan to Eadwulf
This is one of the artifacts that will be presented as part of the exhibition. Inclusion in the display will enable closer examination.
Peter Holland, Museum Volunteer
25th April 2024
The display boards on the Museum Mezzanine will of course be used in the Athelstan 1100 exhibition. The aim was to complement the exhibits by giving more background to the life of Athelstan and the places which are part of his story.
We decided to use all 8 display stands and the first task was to come up with 8 themes. These themes such as “Athelstan the Warrior” fit with the planned exhibits.
The look and feel of the boards needed to be in line with Athelstan 1100 branding but still distinctive to the Museum which we have hopefully achieved.
Being display boards they needed lots of images and it was great fun delving into the Museum image collection to see what could be used. The images from the Millenary celebration in 1924 are very high quality and really capture the excitement of the day. One is shown here but you will have to wait to see the entire board. Making sure that we have permission to use the chosen images was not easy and in some instances selected images had to be substituted for ones that we could definitely be used.
The boards went to the printers mid-April, it will be great to see what they look like full size and how they fit with the rest of the exhibition.
Anne Goodyer, Museum Volunteer
17th April 2024
The museum has a team who are busy preparing an exhibition about Athelstan and the early medieval period. The research has uncovered charters and documents previously unseen in Malmesbury, a new interactive tablet will be in place and loans of coins have been secured to add to the Athelstan silver coin already on display.
The exhibits will be on display throughout the museum and the shop is being stocked with exciting items for purchase.
The team are working hard to ensure that the opening on June 29th 2024 will be a success and the exhibition of interest to all ages.
Susan Mockler
Vice-chair Athelstan Museum Management Team
Here are members of Museum Exhibition team taking part in the first Athelstan 1100 photo shoot.