Photos of the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards

We’ve uploaded the photos of the awards to our Facebook page – why not take a look?

Winners and dignitaries cut the cake

Award winners finally announced!

Six community-run museums have won this year’s Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland heritage awards, with Hallaton named as museum of the year.

The winners were announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park last night (Thursday, July 30).

Launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, the awards recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

The winners are:

Best project – Leicester City Football Club, for “Foxes’ Footsteps” (highly commended: Ashby Museum and Lutterworth Museum)

Award for work with children and young people – Ashby Museum, for Junior Friends of Ashby Museum (highly commended, Sir John Moore Foundation and Moira Furnace)

Best exhibition – Hallaton Museum, for “Rituals, Hoards and Helmets” (highly commended, Castle Donington Museum)

Best event – Sir John Moore Foundation, for the Rat Pack Evening (highly commended, Ullesthorpe Windmill) •

Museum of the year – Hallaton Museum (special mention, Castle Donington Museum)

Achievement award – Swannington Heritage Trust and Castle Donington Museum

Ernie White, Leicestershire County Council’s Cabinet member for Better Places, said: “I’m delighted with this year’s awards – not just for the winners, but for everyone who entered, as the standard was so high. “Hallaton is a worthy museum of the year, with its impressive new exhibition about the major Iron Age hoard found there.”

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year. The judging panel included heritage consultant Heather Lomas, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people from CYCLE, the county’s youth council. For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums

Rituals, Hoards and Helmets

Hallaton Museum

Hallaton Museum proudly launched their new exhibition, Rituals, Hoards and Helmets, with an event last Saturday.

The new exhibition tells the story of how local people found this highly significant Iron Age hoards!  Visitors can learn how the hoard was discovered by community archaeologists and how the finds were processed in partnership with the County Council’s Archaeology Team, the University of Leicester and the British Museum. Visitors can see examples of the pig bones found on site, and find out what the tiny silver coins look like. Digital photo frames showcase images of the objects discovered on site.

Visitors can also have their photo taken in a replica helmet, believed to be similar to the one found on site, and have this printed as a postcard to send to their friends! Children (or adults!) can also learn how archaeologists work and try their hand at reconstructing a pot from a number of sherds, and search for the pig bones in the museum’s floor!

Visitors can also pop to the Fox Inn in Hallaton to see the museum’s new showcase in the lounge of the pub which tells the story of the tradition of Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scrambling in the village.

The exhibition is part of a partnership project which will see a new major exhibition about the hoard open at Harborough Museum later this year.

Rituals, Hoards and Helmets was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Leicestershire County Council, Renaissance East Midlands, the Helen Jean Cope Trust as well as generous private individuals and the Museum itself.