Imperial War Museum – World War One Galleries

Authors Own Photo

I’m probably about to commit heresy by saying this out loud, but I’ve never really been a fan of the Imperial War Museum. In the past I’ve only ever really been to visit ‘The Holocaust’ exhibition, first with school and then again some years later, while the only other occasion I remember visiting was when we were younger and my Dad took my brother and I; my brother being a huge military fanatic at that age, forever covering the living room in battle scenes with his toy soldiers.  As such I see it a bit as a ‘blokey’ museum and personally, it wouldn’t really ever be first on my list of museums to revisit. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great institution and a hugely valuable one at that; the loss of its library, artefact collections and testimonies never being one I could comprehend. But personally, I just don’t connect with it; I think the only thing I wish I’d seen but didn’t was the Animals at War exhibition a few years ago, which I had the chance to familiarise myself when creating my radio programme this time last year.

However, that said I did recently revisit the museum to view the refurbished First World War Galleries and found myself pleasantly surprised. Now rather foolishly we did go on the last Saturday of half term and it felt like half the population of London did too – it was extremely busy! And that does impact your experience; it’s not easy to see and read everything and at times you do get pushed along with the crowd whether you like it or not. But given the huge efforts that went in to refurbishing these galleries in time for 2014’s centenary commemorations and the media coverage it received,  I really wanted to go and see for myself how the museum had changed and what shape the new exhibition took.

The first thing I should say is “wow!” I mean every inch of that exhibition has been thought about and considered – accessibility, visitor interaction, engagement, digitisation, visitor comfort…. all the public history buzz words apply in this context. It was an assault on the senses and while it felt a little overwhelming at times, it really was impressive. I particularly like the use of sound and texture; that the surfaces on which glass cases rested were inscribed with quotes and phrases; while walls were pasted with WW1 posters and propaganda; and that full use was made of interactive screens, film footage and first-hand testimony. It meant that even if you couldn’t wade through the people and be right up close to the artefacts on display in the glass cabinets, you always had something to look at or read or engage with. You’d have to try really hard not to interact with something.

A few things really stood out for me however. One was the inclusion of an illustrated children’s books which focused on key areas of WW1. I mean what a topic for a children’s book – it’s not something I would have ever considered would have been produced, and that’s the sort of facts I find particularly interesting.  Another was the interactive game of battleships that people could play in order to see how many cargo ships they could safely get to the front line, replicating the mission many men faced in trying to overcome naval blockades and naval warfare.
I was also impressed by one particular area of the museum where again, one of the benches (if that’s the right word), which sort of shaped the museum, had been designed to look like stacks of newspapers and featured headlines from during the war. They speak for themselves but what an effect design feature, turning something that needs to be there into a display in its own right – highly effective!

The Wall of Bullets

Aspects of the exhibition are also designed to make you feel as though you are in the trenches and the one overriding image I am left with, is that of the machine gun which is placed at a distance, yet pointed towards visitors and coming from it are metals rods, following the trajectory of the bullets that would have been fired from such a gun. Two are layered upon each another and you can see really effectively how destructive these guns would have been and how strategically they were placed. Soldiers really did run into walls of bullets. I’ve never seen anything quite like that in a display and it made it that much more real.

Everything has been thrown at this exhibition to make it the best it can be and you can see that right away. You can see the time and care that has gone into this exhibition and it really is a great one. Military history is not really my thing, and I find WW2 more interesting than WW1, but for those few hours I was really interested in what I was seeing and engaging with. I would definitely probably go back at a quieter time, just to take more of it in. There’s a lot to do in one visit.

I think this is also worth a mention. While there my friend and I also looked at the Curiosities of War exhibition which did exactly what it said on the tin – my friend and I just looked at these artefacts quizzically and then at each other as if to say “What is that?!” It was only a small part of the museum, but if definitely made us stop, think and enquire - all important things for an exhibition to do.

     "A Barrel.... Right ok...."       "Oh I get it, I think, sort of..."

That said, my favourite exhibition visited that day was The Lord Ashcroft Gallery: Extraordinary Heroes, which has on display the personal stories and medals belonging to those, who throughout history, have been awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), for extreme bravery under enemy fire, and the George Cross (GC), which recognises extreme bravery carried out away from battle, both in war and peace. It was a new gallery to the museum in 2010, paid for by a £5 million donation by Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, and now contains the largest collection of VC’s ever assembled, merging Ashcroft’s private collection and those already held by IWM. 

The exhibition is built around the question “How brave are you?” and provokes visitors to consider how they would define the concepts of bravery and heroism; offering some suggestion by dividing the exhibition into seven themes; aggression, boldness, endurance, initiative, leadership, sacrifice and skill.

Lord Ashcroft Gallery

What I really liked about this exhibit was its inclusion of modern techniques to engage visitors of all ages. The medals are displayed alongside narrative but you can learn more by interacting with touch screens, listening to sound clips and watching video montages. There are also graphic magazines you can pick up and read and next to some of the stories there are lever arch stamps which children can use to mark off a card as they follow the trail round. Another simple technique used was placing some of the narrative in boxes, so visitors have to open them to read the text – very simple yet I found myself opening everyone, spurred on by curiosity. I also like the fact they haven’t stuck to using traditional fonts either. In some places it’s jazzed up a bit and that just makes it that bit more quirky and engaging.

The website for the exhibitions describes its objective as being ‘to intrigue, inspire and amaze by re-telling forgotten stories of bravery that show, when faced with extreme situations, some people can do extraordinary things’ (1). And it does just that. I hadn’t expected the exhibition to be as fresh and full of life as it was. Owing to previous visits I don’t associate that sort of experience with the IWM and yet this exhibition still gives that impression after five years. I would have said it was much more recent and it just goes to show that I should ditch any presumptions I have, because the IWM is clearly moving with the times.

There is much more pressure on museums now to cater for its modern visitors and we demand so much more. I’m as guilty of it as the next person, I want to be engaged and to an extent, entertained. That is how I learn best - through interaction and I was plenty surprised at just how well the IWM did those things on my most recent visit.

It is definitely worth another visit – especially if a slice of cake’s in the equation!

(1)    http://archive.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/184/about.html

Kinver Rock Houses: The Inspiration for Tolkien's Shire - Fact or Fiction?

A few weeks ago I went to stay with a friend up in the lovely village of Kinver and on the Sunday the four of us set off on an afternoon walk. I thought it would be a nice stroll up Kinver Edge – all very scenic and lovely, outdoors and close to nature, you know the sort of thing. So the last thing I expected was to come across a National Trust Property, yet here was Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses at the foot of the hill we were about to climb. It just goes to show, history really is everywhere and that you’ll find it when you least expect it!

I had no idea what rock houses were to that point, I hadn’t even considered they existed and then here I was confronted with them and all I could think was “what a great blog topic”. I feared it would almost be like a repeat of the Ostrich vs. Flamingo wars as it was the same group of friends, but thankfully there was no conflict to be had – just curiosity.

Unfortunately the houses were closed for the winter meaning we were unable to go in and the only information we had to go on was that which was provided by a small plaque. It didn’t say a lot however, so I came away and did a little more research, but I am also heading back up in a few weeks and am wondering if there might be time to pop in, so watch this space. That said, the research I’ve done so far has only intrigued me more.

The Holy Austin Rock houses are as they sound, cave dwellings, which were hand carved in the sandstone and inhabited until the 1950s. They appear to have a long history but a somewhat mysterious one. No one is entirely sure of the date of their original construction but it precedes the 16^th century, for until the Reformation, Holy Austin was a hermitage, a space dedicated to religious devotion. The site was then added too considerably, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth century and at its height, the houses were home to 11 families, inhabiting rooms across three levels. None had electricity, running water or toilets and as such had to share an outside privy.

Most houses consisted of only a single room, each having been carved into the rock using hand picks. The decision to refrain from burrowing too deep was practical one as well as structural, for deep rooms would have been poorly lit and ill-ventilated. That said, if the house was constructed further up the cliff, it could be cut deeper than one room and some have interconnected rooms on each face. Almost all the caves occupied in the nineteenth century also had their interiors plastered or whitewashed, as well as having tiled floors and chimney flues.

Census records from the nineteenth century show that many inhabitants were labourers working for local farms or within the local area. Others however, made their living off the woods and heaths that surrounded the Rock houses; for example the last occupant of the Edge, made a living as a maker of brooms crafted from local birch twigs (1).

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the wider area was popular with tourists – a particular draw being the “troglodyte” dwellers of Holy Austin Rock. As evidence of this, there exist a lot postcards that illustrate the fascination people had with the rock dwellings and their inhabitants and many of these can be seen in areas around the village of Kinver; as well as a painting of two occupants. There are also much earlier accounts and records of inhabitants dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, showing the long history this site has.

The National Trust restored Holy Austin Rock and rebuilt one of the dwellings from old photographs allowing for a permanent custodian to live on the site and prevent further deterioration and it being damaged by vandals. This restoration also initiated the only detailed archaeological assessment of any of the rocks houses. In further efforts, the National Trust have restored two more of the homes, one to show the Victorian experience and the other, life in the 1930s. Both are now open to the public during certain times of the year. The allotments have also been restored by volunteers to show what would have been grown by residents on the Rock Houses and so it looks and feels as if someone continues to live there.

The Holy Austin Rock Houses are just one example of rock houses that can be found across the local area –however while some continue to be used as wood stores, sheds and garages many more have become derelict. The Rock Houses at Holy Austin are therefore the only ones classified as a scheduled Ancient Monument and sit in a landscape full of archaeological landmarks, including an Iron Age Hill Fort some 150 meters away.

Granted it's not round - but remind you of anything?

Leaving the history behind, there is also an interesting cultural tie here for there are claims that the Rock houses were the original inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit holes. Having grown up in nearby Birmingham, Tolkien often craved the countryside and as previously explained, The Rock Houses were a popular tourist destination and as such it is perfectly feasible that Holy Austin could have inspired his creation of Hobbits and the Shire.

This has been a somewhat descriptive blog but I just wanted to share with you this unique site that I didn’t expected to encounter, but one that provoked my curiosity. It was a really interesting place and I hope I get chance to find out a little more about them sometime soon!

(1)    http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/ichs/vol-3-2927-2944-simons.pdf