Open Doors: Textile Stores at St Fagans National History Museum

Thursday 6th September, 2pm - 3pm - luckily, after enrolling at school for Year 13 in the morning, I still  an opportunity to visit the Museum's textile storeroom with curator Elen Phillips as part of the Open Doors: European Heritage Day.

Elen took a small group of visitors behind the scenes to look at a selection of the textile artifacts which are held in the museum.  After walking through room after room of racking and containers, we had a chance to discuss a few items in detail. 

Did you know that it's been a welsh tradition to hide shoes and other personal items in chimneys, perhaps thought to bring good luck to the household?  Or that women used to wear large material pockets hidden in their clothing? (Hence the crime of Pocket picking, lots of interesting glimpses into past lives at the Old Bailey Court records see http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ )

The clothing was amazing, you should see the whale bone and steel corsets and under garments. 

The museum never throws away  any textile - items are passed between different museums, lesser important items may be offered to theatrical costumiers or colleges for study.

The highlight of the tour for me was the opening of a random drawer, to reveal this beautiful eighteenth century dress. with incredible hand embellishment and embroidery.

 

I spent a week in the Glamorgan Archives/Public Records Office in 2010 learning a little about the importance of document and paper conservation and now I've gained a further valuable insight into past times and the work which is in progress to maintain our textile heritage.