​Guest blog by Dr David Waterhouse, Senior Curator of Natural History at Norfolk Museums Service Many of us have heard of forensic entomology – where the succession of various insects and other invertebrates found on corpses are used to figure out time and date of...

John Constable (1776-1837) - Willy Lott’s House, Flatford, 1816, oil on canvas   Family, Friends and Artists in East AngliaEmma Roodhouse, Collections and Learning Curator 2021 is a significant year for the artist, John Constable 1776-1837, being the 200th anniversary...

Patricia Palmer, Visitor Experience Volunteer Each object and artefact in Ipswich Museum and Christchurch Mansion holds its own history and value, and it is hard to select a favourite. I have a soft spot for the bear; his eyes catch the light making them twinkle and...

Hello, my name is Laura Jones and I have been volunteering with Ipswich Museums for over two years now. During my time here I have taken part in a number of different projects, volunteering alongside professional staff who have taught me so much in return. I have...

Gillian Barnett, Christchurch Mansion Volunteer Guide It was 1990 when I first discovered Christchurch Mansion. Having moved to Suffolk from a Garden City in Hertfordshire I found the medieval buildings in Ipswich and their associated history fascinating. The Mansion...

Karen Banton, Assistant Collections and Learning Curator Ipswich Museum is home to some fossils that are unique to Suffolk and North-East Essex: the Suffolk Boxstones. Thanks to the John Ellerman Foundation, I got to spend five months learning about these unusual...

Liz Tregenza, Collections and Learning Curator The 8th May 2020 marks 75 years since ‘Victory in Europe’ or VE Day. This important anniversary commemorates the end of World War Two in Europe and the Allied nations formal acceptance of Nazi Germany’s surrender. This...

Karen Banton, Assistant Collections and Learning Curator The first project I worked on, as part of a John Ellerman Foundation grant, involved researching and collating the documentation of the Ogilvie bird collection and updating its digital records. By going through...

Elaine West, Museum Assistant for Ipswich Museums On 5th November 1816 a whale was found by Jobson and Baker near Harwich and then towed up the Orwell to Downham Reach. The pencil sketch The Whale at Downham Reach, River Orwell by George Frost (1745-1821) depicts the...

Audrey Woodhouse, Social History Volunteer at Ipswich Museums It’s the seventeenth century and superstition is rife. The Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins is causing an enormous stir in East Anglia, creating an intense paranoia amongst the people. Aside from...