Joseph Massey, Assistant Curator
It has been very exciting to learn more about the museum’s collection through our ‘Access All Areas’ project, which has involved checking every available source of information about the objects in our care.
Thanks to the project, we have some exciting updates about objects that belonged to Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate who lived in Keswick for 40 years.
We are thrilled to have found Southey’s flute, as its location in our stores had been unknown for several years. The flute is made of wood, ivory and silver and was produced by Dalmaine and Co. of Soho Square, London. By checking the museum’s old minute books, we know that it was donated to us by W.H. Cockbain in 1921.
We have also found a small, turned wooden container that was made by Southey himself on a lathe. Its location in our stores had been unknown for over 20 years. It was made to look like a basket and has a small mother-of-pearl disc at the centre, which covers a hole in the wood. Apparently Southey used it to store his collar studs. A newspaper report confirms that it was donated to the museum in 1898 (when we first opened) by Thomas Hodgson, a prominent local figure.
Finally, we have reidentified Robert Southey’s clogs, which he wore when walking the Lake District fells. These clogs are made of leather with wooden soles and iron “horseshoes” on the bottom. They were misidentified as belonging to John Ruskin in recent years, but multiple sources—including old museum catalogues and a newspaper report from when the museum first opened—confirm that they were Southey’s. Southey walked down to Derwentwater and Friar’s Crag every morning before breakfast, reading as he went. He would then go for longer walks on the fells twice a week—Causey Pike was one of his favourites. Clogs were the usual footwear for difficult terrain before modern walking boots.
It is likely that these items, like many of the ‘mystery objects’ unearthed during the project, were simply misplaced within our stores or mislabelled many years ago by a staff member, volunteer or researcher.
We are very grateful to our volunteers for going through our records and finding out how these special objects came to be in our collection. Thanks to the ‘Access All Areas’ project, we can share more objects like these and the stories behind them with our visitors.
About Access All Areas
Access All Areas is an 18-month project, funded by the Arts Council, to increase access to Keswick Museum’s collections. We are working with partners to reinterpret collections, recruit volunteers who face barriers, deepen community links and improve our resources for diverse access needs.
To learn more about our recently-completed review of Keswick Museum’s collection, click here.
Get involved
If you are interested in volunteering with Keswick Museum, you can explore our current opportunities and submit an application here.
