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Behind The Scenes Blog

Almost everyday is different at Colchester + Ipswich Museums.  To help showcase the variety of skills we need, our staff are revealing what they get up to…

Latest Blogs

A close up colour photograph showing a picture of a gentleman wearing a long coat and top hat and lady in a long yellow dress. They are walking a white dog with brown spots. The picture has been created in intricate stitching.

Hollytrees Cushion update

By Megan Fowler, Visitor Information Assistant In September 2021, we appealed for willing volunteers to help us revamp the window seat cushions for Hollytrees Museum. Meg from Visit Colchester / S&B Colchester, along with local stitchers Tamsin, Sophie, Liz, Jen...
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Mammoths

By Sophie Stevens, Collections and Learning Curator * Click on the photos below to visit our Collections Online database and discover more about that object. *   Some of my favourite specimens in the Colchester Natural Science collections are the mammoth fossils....
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A colour photograph showing part of a woolly rhino skull resting on two rectangular blocks. The skull is a creamy colour with reddish areas and would be rough to touch. The bottom edge of the skull has teeth protruding from it. There is a recess on the right hand side for the nostril.

Animal diversity of the Ice Age

Ipswich Museum’s new published type and figured catalogue By Dr. Simon Jackson, Collections and Learning Curator, Ipswich Museums This February we have published online most of our collection of type and figured fossil specimens, which are amongst our most important....
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The oil painting Walton Bridges by Turner. It depicts a river with white and brown cattle on the left hand riverbed and standing in the water. On the right hand side of the river are people in sail boats. In the distance are bridges stretching over the water and beyond those a line of trees. The sky is full of light grey and white clouds.

Landscape Rebels Art Projects Panel

By Eleanor Root and Emma Roodhouse, Collections and Learning Curators Ipswich Museums Service would like your ideas to shape our next round of artist projects! ‘Landscape Rebels’ is our next exhibition at Christchurch Mansion, opening in October 2022. The exhibition...
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A colour photograph showing a table covered with aerial photographs of countryside, large sheets of white paper, colouring pens and pencils. Around the outside of the table are children drawing pictures

One Earth, One Future

Using Satellite Images to Inspire Biodiversity Artwork   By Simon Jackson, Collections and Learning Curator    21st century space technology allows us to study the Earth's surface in incredible detail and to see how its complex environments are changing. It...
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A small, oval shaped box shown from the side. The box is white and decorated with blue yellow and pink flowers. It has a hinged lid that is closed

Patch Boxes

By Dr Liz Tregenza * Click on the photos below to visit our Collections Online database and discover more. *   In Colchester’s collection there are a fairly large number of small and tactile delicately painted boxes. Mostly made during the 18th century, these...
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A colour photograph of a mammoth tooth. The tooth is lying on it's side and the surface appears rough with lots of vertical grooves. A reference number has been written on one side.

Ice Age Fossils

Ancient Weather "Forecasters" of the Past By Dr. Simon Jackson, Collections and Learning Curator, Ipswich Museums New research is investigating and reconstructing the unknown climates and environments of the past. Today, we feature University of Helsinki mammal...
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An artwork from the Colchester Oyster Feast on 25th October 1900. Along the bottom, text reads: An Oyster Feast Beneath the Waters of the Colne. The illustrated scene shows figures with human bodies and oysters for heads. Some are feasting, dancing and playing instruments, another is dressed as a waiter

The Colchester Oyster Feast

By Liz Tregenza, Collections and Learning Curator * Click on the photos below to visit our Collections Online database and discover more about that object. *   Colchester is renowned for its ‘Colchester Native’ oysters. The oyster fishery is officially opened for...
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A colour photograph showing a pair of white hands holding a silicone putty gun and squeezing a blue paste onto a section of fossil

Unlocking Hidden Secrets of Fossil Teeth

21st Century Investigation Meets “Ice Age” Fossils By Dr. Simon Jackson, Collections and Learning Curator, Ipswich Museums Modern scientific techniques are helping us to unlock the secrets of fossil teeth, and to provide new insights into these creatures’ lost worlds....
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A composite image made up of two colour photographs. On the left are lots of different colour threads. On the right is a strip of car with a series of colour threads knotted through holes, with reference numbers against each colour

Hollytrees Cushion Project Update

By Megan Fowler, Visitor Information Assistant Earlier this year, we announced that Colchester Museums and the Visitor Information Centre were joining forces to create some very special new window seat cushions for Hollytrees Museum. The existing cushions within the...
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