100 Years of Collecting - Facebookers' favourite objects

We've loved seeing how much you have enjoyed our 100 Years of Collecting digital content over the past year!

As we bring our centenary celebrations to a close, we asked our Facebook followers to vote on their favourite of the 100 objects in the online exhibition.

Here's a spotlight on the objects you chose to round things up! The 100 Years of Collecting online exhibition will continue to stay live here on our blog.

Please note: one of the objects described in this article refers to the transatlantic slave trade, which uses an outdated historical term.

Madam Connie's wig

Madam Connie's wig as it was on display in the Moving Stories exhibition

Made in: the 2010s

Collected in: 2019

Associated place: Wakefield

Steven Ogilvie wore this wig as his fabulous drag queen persona, Madam Connie, at performances in Wakefield.

Steven donated the wig to the museum in 2019 along with other outfits after Madam Connie hung her up stilettos for the last time. Steven also recorded an oral history about his experiences performing as Connie. He says performing increased his confidence and helped him through difficult times.

We loved including the wig in our recent Moving Stories exhibition! It's now taking a well-earned rest back at our Museum Store.

It was Madam Connie's friends and followers that got her wig well and truly voted onto this favourites list!

You can read more about Madam Connie's story here.

Sandal Castle ring

The Sandal Castle ring, which is on display at Wakefield Museum

Made in: between 1485 and 1600

Collected in: 1983

Associated place: Sandal / Sandal Castle

This beautiful gold ring was found by archaeologists at Sandal Castle during excavations in the 1960s. It is about 500 years old.

It is called a 'love ring' because it has a lovers’ promise on it. 

The wording on this one says ‘tout le vos’tre’, which means ‘I am all yours’ in medieval French (the language of the upper classes in the Middle Ages). 

It's one of our star objects in the permanent Wakefield Stories display at Wakefield Museum. 

It's perhaps unsurprising that such a beautiful and heartfelt object scored so highly with our Facebook followers!

Britain's oldest post box

Britain's oldest postbox - on display at Wakefield Museum

Made in: 1809

Collected in: 1964

Associated place: Wakefield

Wakefield Museum has some quietly important objects such as this post box, the oldest in Britain! 

It was installed in Wakefield Post Office on Wood Street in 1809 and predates the Victorian Penny Post by 30 years.

Our objects and sites aren't just special because of their history. One Facebook user voted for the post box because "it reminds me of one of my delightful friends I made through the museum"! 

Another said "I'm voting for the post box because they used to be every day street furniture but now... they are little windows into our history."

Ballot Box 

One of the ballot boxes used in Britain's first ever secret ballot in 1872 - on display at Pontefract Museum

Made in: 1870s

Collected in: 1978

Associated place: Pontefract

From one groundbreaking box - to another!

On the 15 August 1872, the first ever secret ballot in Britain to elect an MP was held in Pontefract. 

This was the first time that people had voted in secret by placing an ‘X’ on a ballot paper next to the name of their choice. 

Before this, people voted openly and could be easily pressured and bullied. 

The ballot box was sealed with a liquorice stamp made from Frank Dunhill's factory to ensure it wasn't tampered with. There are still remnants of this seal on our box, which you can see on display at Pontefract Museum.

At this time, only men over the age of 21 who owned property could vote. Women couldn't vote until 1928, and the voting age was lowered to 18 only in 1969. 

It's a piece of national political history of which Pomfretians are rightly very proud!

Nymph Stone

The 'nymph stone' on display at Castleford Museum

Made in: Roman era

Collected in: 1990s

Associated place: Castleford

This carving of two female heads is dedicated ‘to the Nymphs’, nature spirits usually linked to springs and running water. 

Dedications to nymphs are often found near military sites like the Roman fort at Castleford. 

The fort at Castleford was known as 'Lagentium' to the Romans.

One Facebooker said they chose it because "this kind of artefact always benefits from re- examination and interpretation as time passes and knowledge expands".

What a brilliant sentiment about this special object! It's on display at Castleford Museum with lots of other ancient objects worthy of a closer look.

Anti-slavery lecture poster

A poster promoting W. Howard Day's anti-slavery lecture in 1860, on display at Wakefield Museum

Made in: 1860

Collected in: 1923

Associated place: Wakefield

This poster advertises a lecture given by William Howard Day from 'Canada West' in the Music Saloon on Wood Street in Wakefield in December 1860. 

The lecture took place at an important moment in the story of slavery, just a few months before the start of the American Civil War, a conflict based on the continued ownership and abuse of enslaved people by the plantation owners of the Southern States of America.

Several celebrated abolitionists such as Day visited this country and resonated with the working people in the North of England. 

Many towns like Wakefield had an active abolitionist campaign movement and invited speakers to venues such as the Music Saloon on Wood Street and the Corn Exchange on Westgate.

One Facebook user said they were voting for this because it is "an important part of the empathetic community spirit of the Wakefield district". Lovely words indeed.

It's also one of the earliest objects added to our collection, as it was collected in 1923!

Battle of Wakefield iron spearhead

An iron spearhead dating to The Battle of Wakefield in 1460 - on display at Wakefield Museum

Made in: 15th Century

Collected in: 1959

Associated place: Sandal / Sandal Castle

This iron spearhead dates to the time of the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. The Battle was a major clash in the Wars of the Roses. 

Richard, Duke of York, leader of the Yorkist faction and his eldest son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were both killed along with hundreds or even thousands of their supporters. 

It is this event that likely lead to the rhyme 'Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain', to remember the order of colours in a rainbow.

This spear head was found in the Portobello estate, the site of the battle, and was probably used by an infantryman at the battle.

You can find out more about the Battle of Wakefield in our comic!

Pontefract Castle Keirincx painting

Pontefract Castle painted by Alexander Keirincx in the 1640s - on display at Pontefract Museum

Made in: 1640s

Collected in: 1965

Associated place: Pontefract

This is a large oil painting of Pontefract Castle as it was in about 1640. 

It was painted by the Flemish landscape painter Alexander Keirincx, at the request of Charles I. It shows what a grand site it was, and much larger than the standing remains today might suggest.  

You can explore an interactive version of the Pontefract Castle painting here!

Shared with thanks to The Hepworth Wakefield.

Thanks to everyone who voted! You can continue to explore the 100 objects in our online exhibition. 

Post a comment with what you think we should include in the next 100 objects we collect!

How Wakefield’s Black Horse learned to gallop

Members of the Wakefield Word with Black Horse Poets writers' groups have kindly written this guest blog about their history. 

Read on to discover 'how Wakefield's Black Horse learned to gallop'!

Members of the Black Horse Poets and Wakefield Word Group with their new patron, Councillor Jack Hemingway, in January 2024.
Left to right: Susan McCartney, William Thirsk-Gaskill, Jasmine King, Cllr Jack Hemingway, Angie de Courcy Bower, Lindsey Marie, Stefan Grieve

Michael Yates had been a newspaper journalist for a number of years, starting with the Wakefield Express series. After which he worked for the Sheffield-based evening paper The Star, commuting by bus every day from his Sandal home.

In 1996, he started teaching a Creative Writing class at Wakefield College and also became a part-time subeditor on the Huddersfield Examiner. One lunchtime he walked into Huddersfield’s Albert pub to see they had a poetry anthology on sale. He discovered it was produced by The Albert Poets, who met there regularly.

Roger Manns, a retired teacher of Modern Languages who taught at Wakefield’s St Thomas à Becket and Outwood Grange, had joined the Creative Writing class; and he shared Michael's interest in establishing a Wakefield poetry group. Roger’s cousin was then manager of Wakefield’s Black Horse pub in Westgate, so Roger and Michael went along to see him and secured a free meeting space in exchange for the promise of extravagant sums of money being spent at the bar. And in 1998 they wrote to all their Wakefield poetry pals begging them to join the newly created Black Horse Poets.

Over the years, there have been changes of venue and changes of officers, but the Black Horse Poets have always managed to hold regular monthly meetings of readings laced with thoughtful and friendly critique. They have also published three full-blown anthologies: 'Full Gallop' (2000), 'Front Runner' (2008) and 'Full Rein' (2013); issued pamphlets of poems every year between 2011 and 2019; produced a magazine called 'The Horse’s Mouth', and even made CDs and videos.

Members have held meetings or given public readings at such Wakefield locations as Drury Lane Library, Henry Boons pub, the Mocca Moocho coffee bar, the Orangery, the Black Rock pub, Wakefield Cathedral’s Treacy Hall, the Destiny Church, the Monkey Bar, Newmillerdam Country Park and Westgate Studios; also at Unity Hall as part of Wakefield ArtWalk.

In 2008, Wakefield MP Mary Creagh became the Poets’ patron and remained so until her election defeat in 2019. And she regularly judged their annual poetry competition.

In 2009, the 20-strong group was honoured with a civic reception. By 2016, the Poets had merged with prose group Wakefield Word, who hold separate meetings for writers of stories and plays.

Over the years, individual members have succeeded in publishing volumes of poetry, short story collections and even novels; and have had plays performed on stage and radio.

The Covid lockdown meant members had to meet by Zoom for two years and numbers fell. But now, in the year of their Silver Anniversary, Black Horse Poets and Wakefield Word meet at the Red Shed in Wakefield’s Vicarage Street with William Thirsk-Gaskill as president and Stefan Grieve as Chairperson, and their numbers have grown again.

Stefan Grieve has been chairperson of Wakefield Word since 2018, where he has led and organised meetings for the groups and been an active member in showcasing popular events and award ceremonies over the years.

Lindsey Marie is the newest member of the committee who covers all things publicity, so if you would like the group to be involved in any future events, performances or workshops, she would be delighted to hear from you, simply direct message the group’s Facebook page.

Even so, the group are always looking for new people. For further details contact group secretary Colin Hollis, cvhollis98@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

Members of the Black Horse Poets and Wakefield Word Group have written a series of responses to objects in our 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition:

'Miss Gostick's Tea Set' by Susan McCartney, in response to the Alice Gostick pottery set 

'East End Town, West Side Face' and 'A Miner's Life for Me' by Jasmine King in response to our mining objects

A poem by Angie de Courcy Bower in response to the tulip vase

'The Snap Tins' by Angie de Courcy Bower in response to our mining objects

'Tale of the Celtic Stone Man' by Stefan Grieve (Chairperson), in response to the Celtic stone head

'The Asylum Whistle', also by Susan McCartney, in response to the West Riding Asylum nurse's whistle

'Liquorice Fields' by L. Marie, in response to the liquorice stamp.

Ken Hanson: A Mining Deputy's Story, also by L.Marie

100 Years of Collecting - new display with Wakefield Historical Society and Wakefield Civic Society (part 2)

2023 marks both 100 years since Wakefield Museum first opened, and the start of a century of collecting objects! 

To celebrate, our team have picked 100 objects that tell the rich heritage of our district. 

Most of them are already on display, so we asked our friends at Wakefield Civic Society and Wakefield Historical Society to pick a selection from our storeroom.

Their members have picked an interesting mix of objects. These cover work and industry, sports and leisure, entertainment and creativity, politics and protest, and law and order.

The objects are now on display in the 100 Years of Collecting case at Wakefield One. 

This blog features the objects chosen by Wakefield Civic Society. It includes captions written by Kevin Trickett, society President. 

The Wakefield Historical Society captions are in this previous blog.

All of the full captions are available in the 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition (choose 'Objects on Display' and then 'Wakefield One'). 

Plaque from Sun Lane Baths, 1938

Written by Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society.

This plaque was rescued from the former Sun Lane Baths. Another decorative feature was the sculptured frieze on the exterior of the building which is now incorporated into the counter of the café in the new Baths built on the site.

Both the frieze, and the plaque exhibited here, are very typical of the Art Deco period when health and fitness were strongly promoted as key to a good life with an emphasis on exercise and access to sunshine. Buildings often had large windows to let light in and flat roofs or sun terraces where people could sunbathe.

They show stylised, geometric representations of people and animals such as the fish and lion’s head on the plaque. The lion’s head as well as giving forth water, can also be interpreted as representing the sun.

One of the painted lead panels in situ at Sun Lane Baths before demolition in 2006.
Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Express.

Wakefield city centre isn’t exactly known for its Art Deco buildings – and two buildings from the period (1920s - 30s) that stood in Sun Lane have been demolished. 

One was the ABC cinema buidling on the corner of Sun Lane and Kirkgate demolished in 2023 – the other was the former Sun Lane Baths demolished in 2006.

The Sun Lane swimming pool was designed in 1936-7 by Percy Morris, the then City architect. The Art Deco / Modern building provided slipper baths, a café and a terrace for sun-bathing as well as the competition-size swimming pool. 

A sculptured frieze on the exterior of the building was designed by Arnold Sharp, principal of Wakefield College of Art from 1927-1956. 

The facility was owned by and under the management of Wakefield Council.

Sun Lane Baths in 1963. Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Express.

In 2006, the Council made the decision to close the baths over fears about the structural integrity of the roof. The Society called for a new pool to be built on the same site and that the Arnold Sharp frieze be incorporated into the new building. Today, the frieze is situated along the counter front in the café area in the new Sun Lane Baths.

Flyer for a production of 'Bouncers' by John Godber, at Wakefield Theatre, 1994

Written by Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society.

Today’s Theatre Royal was designed by Frank Matcham (1854-1920) and opened in 1894. It stands on the site of an earlier theatre dating from 1776.

The original Theatre was declared unsafe by the West Riding County Council in 1892 and had to be demolished down to the foundations.

The original Wakefield Theatre Royal on Westgate before demolition, around 1890

Other theatres are known to have existed in Wakefield, some pre-dating the 1776 one. For example, the Mayor of Beverley is known to have visited a theatre in the yard behind the Black Bull Hotel further up Westgate in 1774 and, behind today’s NatWest Bank at 56 Westgate is known to have stood the Corn Market Theatre, possibly dating back to to around 1755 but with a stage only 12 feet across (3.65 metres).

Unlike today’s theatre, which opens almost all year round, the original Wakefield Theatre opened just for for a few weeks in late summer – when people would come to Wakefield for the horse racing season (there was a course at Outwood close to today’s Grandstand Road).

The Frank Matcham-designed Wakefield Theatre Royal in 1990

Whistle from West Riding Asylum, mid-1900s

Written by Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society.

As a result of campaigning by the likes of Samuel Tuke (1784 - 1857), legislation was introduced which made councils responsible for providing humane care of the mentally ill.

Stanley Royd Hospital, originally known as the West Riding Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1818. It was one of a number of regional asylums being built around the country in the early part of the 19th century and which were intended to provide both care and, importantly, treatment for the mentally ill patients.

View of the West Riding Asylum in the late 1800s

The asylum was built to a design by architects Charles Watson (1771 - 1836) and his associate James Piggott Pritchett (1789 - 1868). Watson also designed the Court House in Wood Street, St John’s Square and, with Pritchett again, the Public Rooms (later the Mechanics’ Institute) in Wood Street.

Stanley Royd closed in 1995 and the site was redeveloped as housing. Watson and Pritchett’s building was preserved but converted into apartments.

Whistles such as the one exhibited would have been carried by hospital staff to summon help when needed.

Photo of boy jumping, taken by Jack Hulme in Fryston, 1940s

Written by Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society.

Are our streets for parking – or for play?

Not too long ago, it was uncommon for most working class people to own a motor car. Industrial towns and cities in particular how rows and rows of terraced housing, sometimes with small back yards but seldom with what we would today recognise as a garden.

As well as providing access to people’s homes, streets were, therefore, spaces where children played and people met to chat, sometimes bringing chairs out onto the street and, at times of local and national celebration, holding street parties.

With the growth of car ownership, particularly since the 1950s onwards, many families now own cars and our streets are often busy with traffic – or jammed with parked cars.

But which would you prefer? Do modern housing developments being built today get the balance between motorists and pedestrians right? Are children provided with safe places in which to play?

Pens made from the mulberry bush at Wakefield Prison, 2010s

Written by Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society.

The children’s rhyme 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' is often said to have originated at Wakefield Prison where prisoners excercised by walking around a mulberry bush in the prison yard.

The prison, originally known as the Wakefield House of Correction, dates back to 1595 when a prison was built just off Westgate. This building was replaced by a newer building, a little further to the north and set further back from Westgate in 1770. This version was then replaced by another building in 1884.

Inside Wakefield Prison in the late 1800s

At the beginning of the 17th century, King James I of England (formerly King James VI of Scotland) aspired to creating a British silk industry to rival those of France and Italy and started planting mulberry trees in large numbers, encouraging landowners across the country to do so. The mulberry tree is the sole food of the silkworm.

Unfortunately, it seems that the wrong sort of mulberry trees were planted – black mulberries instead of white mulberries and the silkworms failed to thrive in sufficient numbers.

A sprig of a mulberry tree from Normanton is said to have been planted in the prison yard where it grew into a full-sized tree.

The mulberry bush at Wakefield Prison, 2011

Sadly, the tree died in 2017 although the intention was to replant a mulberry tree from one of the cuttings taken from the tree.

The display is at Wakefield One until end of May 2024. 

Click here for the Wakefield Historical Society objects and captions.

Click here for visitor information for Wakefield Museum (which is inside the Wakefield One building)

100 Years of Collecting - new display with Wakefield Historical Society and Wakefield Civic Society (part 1)

2023 marked both 100 years since Wakefield Museum first opened, and the start of a century of collecting objects! 

To celebrate, our team picked 100 objects that tell the rich heritage of our district. 

Most of them are already on display, so we asked our friends at Wakefield Civic Society and Wakefield Historical Society to pick a selection from our storeroom.

Their members have picked an interesting mix of objects. These cover work and industry, sports and leisure, entertainment and creativity, politics and protest, and law and order.

The objects are now on display in the 100 Years of Collecting case at Wakefield One. 

Members of Wakefield Historical Society and Wakefield Civic Society at the display's unveiling, with curator John Whitaker

This blog features the objects chosen by the Wakefield Historical Society, along with the captions they wrote. The Wakefield Civic Society captions are in this blog.

All of the full captions are available in the 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition (choose 'Objects on Display' and then 'Wakefield One'). 

Dress from the Wakefield Pageant, 1933

Written by Deborah Scriven, member of the Wakefield Historical Society

Historical pageants were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Not to be outdone, Wakefield staged its own in 1933. 

Mrs Mabel Crook wore this costume as one of Queen Elizabeth I’s ladies-in-waiting during the scene in which the Queen granted a charter to Wakefield for a free grammar school.

After more than four centuries, the school continues to flourish. The dress is a fascinating link between two very different periods in the city’s history.

Photograph courtesy of the Wakefield Express.

Mabel Crook (seated at the bottom left) as one of Queen Elizabeth I’s ladies-in-waiting wearing the dress. This photograph is from a series taken by the Wakefield Express showing the 1933 Wakefield Pageant.

'Snooker for Women' campaign t-shirt, 1970s-80s

Written by Olivia Rowley, council member of the Wakefield Historical Society

I have to choose the snooker campaign t-shirt, being involved in the campaign. It was an exciting time.

Sheila Capstick innocently joined her Dad to play snooker one afternoon at the City Working Men’s Club in Kirkgate.

The local committee, the Club and Institute Union determined that women couldn’t play snooker.

The t-shirt symbolizes the power that certain males own.

Although so many women now participate in all sorts of sports, the sexism hasn’t ended!

The struggles of so many women throughout history must not be forgotten.

'Me with our pram containing our now 44-year-old daughter on her first demonstration, but not her last'

Photo courtesy of Olivia Rowley

Lead weight, 1300s - 1400s

Written by Richard Knowles, Vice-President of the Wakefield Historical Society

A lead merchant weight, known as a Lys and Crown type, weighing 1lb and believed to date from the 14th / 15th century.

Their specific use remains uncertain, but they may be wool weights.

This example is illustrated in J.W. Walker’s ‘Wakefield Its History and People’ 2nd edition (1939). Walker states it was ‘dug up in a garden on the Eastmoor housing estate’.

Walker was also the founding President of the Wakefield Historical Society, established in 1924.

The suggested location of the find site and presence of a fleur-de-lys, may lead one to speculate on a Wakefield connection. This is perhaps understandable as there was, at this time (1930s) a lack of other archaeological examples. However, a number of very similar examples have now been found in North and East Yorkshire.

Illustration of the weight in J.W. Walker's 'Wakefield: Its History and People' (1939 edition)

Weight and height scale from Wakefield's Hornsea Seaside School, 1930s

Written by Pete Taylor, member of the Wakefield Historical Society

These were used to monitor children’s health and physical development, a growing concern in the early 20th century.

From 1906 local authorities took steps to record the height, weight and chest measurements of children attending elementary school.

From 1921 they were empowered to provide children with vacation schools. 

Wakefield’s Hornsea Seaside School opened in 1938, operating as a residential elementary school for 24 weeks a year and a holiday camp during the summer break.

Weighing in: Mrs Paterson, the matron at the Wakefield Seaside School in Hornsea, weighing a new arrival.
Photo copyright of Hulton Archive / Getty Images.

Dunlop 200G Max Pro tennis racket, 1980s

Written by Jean Broadbent, member of the Wakefield Historical Society

William Sykes, a leather worker, started a business making footballs but quickly moved into tennis rackets and other equipment.

After mergers with Slazengers (1942) and Dunlop (1959) they became well known particularly for tennis.

I loved playing and watching tennis but was never fortunate enough to own a Dunlop 200G Max Pro like this one.

It is evidence that this Wakefield company was at the forefront of scientific advances.

Horbury has an interesting history in sport, unusually in equipment rather than participants.

1980s Women’s tennis legend Steffi Graf presenting the millionth injection moulded 200G Max Pro racket to 1977 Wimbledon champion, Virginia Wade.
Photo taken at the factory in Horbury.

The display is at Wakefield One until end of May 2024.

Click here for the Wakefield Civic Society objects and captions

 

Click here for visitor information for Wakefield Museum (which is inside the Wakefield One building)

100 Years of Collecting: Amazing Archaeology (Anglo-Saxons to Civil Wars)

We’re picking back up our time-travelling archaeological adventure with the Anglo-Saxons!

It follows on from our previous blog exploring prehistory to the Romans.

Anglo-Saxons and Vikings

In the 5th century AD central Roman rule collapsed and Britain dropped out of the Roman empire. Small kingdoms began to emerge in Britain.

In the Wakefield area the British kingdom of Elmet formed. In turn this was taken over by the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. 

Very few objects survive locally from the Anglo-Saxon and then Viking periods. This makes what we do have even more special! 

We have these two spearheads in Pontefract Museum:

We also have part of an elaborately carved stone cross shaft on display at Wakefield Museum. 

It dates to the 9th century AD, and was found being used as a doorstep in a shop on Westgate 1000 years later!

The Anglo-Saxon cross shaft at Wakefield Museum, completed with reconstructions of the base and cross. These would have been painted in bold colours.

The most spectacular Viking find from our area is the Stanley Ferry Viking log boat. This is on display in Wakefield Library, kindly lent by York Museums Trust.

The Stanley Ferry Log Boat at Wakefield Library 

The Norman Conquest

The Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods in Yorkshire ended with the Norman invasion of 1066 by William the Conqueror.

Although we don’t have many objects from the Norman period, we do have two awesome places where their legacy can be seen: Pontefract Castle and Sandal Castle.

Pontefract Castle, built in 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy

The standing stone remains at both these sites today are the reinforced replacements for the original Norman wooden buildings. 

These castles were key to turning William’s battlefield victory at Hastings into long-lasting conquest. They maintained dominance over the strategic landscape and the everyday life of local residents.

Sandal Castle, probably built in the 12th century by the de Warenne family.

The Normans didn’t just build castles, however. They also built religious houses such as St John’s Priory in Pontefract. 

When this site was excavated in the 1950s and 1960s, some of the most interesting finds came from graves in and around the church.

This small cross was found around the neck of its owner. It is made of jet (the fossilised wood of the monkey puzzle tree), which was likely washed up on the beaches near Whitby.

The jet cross found at St John's Priory, Pontefract

You can see it for yourself at Pontefract Museum! It also features in the 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition.

Lost and Found

Most archaeological finds weren't originally as carefully placed in the ground. 

Many were lost, like this spear head, which was found in the Portobello estate near Sandal Castle. It was probably left behind during the bloody Battle of Wakefield in 1460.

An iron spearhead, probably from the Battle of Wakefield in 1460

Other items were broken and thrown away, like these pottery fragments.

Pottery fragments found at Sandal Castle

Although these fragments may not look impressive at first, when reassembled they from a portable urinal decorated with a boar’s head! 

Given that they were found at the Yorkist stronghold of Sandal Castle, and the boar was a symbol of Yorkist king Richard III - could it be that this was actually used for the ‘royal wee’?

We carefully put the boar’s head decoration back together from its pieces. It is displayed alongside a replica of the urinal at Wakefield Museum.

We don’t know where the urinal was made but only a few miles away a major pottery industry was just beginning. 

Pottery making in Wrenthorpe became so important that the village became known as ‘Potovens’ after the kilns the pots were fired in.

Wrenthorpe pottery was distinctive, with dark colours and shiny glazes. This jug is a prime example! It was also found during excavations at Sandal Castle.

A Wrenthorpe jug, on display at Wakefield Museum and in the 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition

The English Civil Wars

A second Wrenthorpe pot also makes our 100 Years of Collecting list - but this time because of its contents!

The Ackworth Hoard consists of nearly 600 gold and silver coins, all buried in a Wrenthorpe pot, along with a gold ring.

The Ackworth Hoard

It was buried in the chaos of the Civil Wars during the siege of Pontefract Castle in the 17th century. It had probably belonged to a Royalist supporter, who wanted to prevent it from being taken by the Parliamentary troops billeted in Ackworth. For whatever reason, the person who buried it was unable to come back and retrieve it. 

The coins in the Ackworth Hoard were worth £85 and 12 shillings. This was a lot of money - around 7 years’ pay for a foot soldier during the Civil Wars.

The hoard remained untouched in the pot for over 350 years – until it was discovered in someone’s garden in the 20th century! 

You can see it for yourself on display at Pontefract Museum.

Even in the middle of a siege, the soldiers in Pontefract Castle needed paying. Being cut off from the outside world made this difficult. Their answer was to create their own home-made coins from reused silver.

The silver would come from luxury tableware and candle-holders owned by the richest members of the garrison. The silver objects were cut up or melted down and reshaped. The 'siege coins' were then cut from the resulting silver sheet. 

You’ll notice that siege coins aren't circular in shape like ordinary coins. This is because it was much easier to cut a straight edge than a curved one!

One of the siege coins produced at Pontefract Castle

This example of a Pontefract Castle siege coin is in the Online Exhibition and on display in the Visitor Centre at Pontefract Castle. 

It has a standard design for these siege coins featuring an image representing the castle itself. It includes the year it was created and the Castle was under siege - 1648.

It also has a morale boosting inscription, which translates as "while I breathe I hope".

Reverse side of the siege coin, featuring Charles I's royal cipher.

That brings us to the end of our amazing archaeology 100 Years of Collecting highlights!

There’s lots more objects exploring the many and varied stories of the Wakefield district in our Online Exhibition.

More 100 Years of Collecting blogs:

Amazing Archaeology (Prehistoric to Romans)

100 Years and Counting

Wakefield’s Sporting Heritage

A trip to the Seaside