Son et Lumière – The Story of Butley Priory
On Thursday, 22 August, Orford Museum is presenting a Son et Lumière (Sound & Light Show) illustrating the history of Butley Priory from its very earliest days up to the present. This will be done using light effects and images projected onto the magnificent façade of the Priory accompanied by music and a narration by professional actors. You are invited to bring friends and family of all ages to picnic on the lawn in front of the Priory and watch this fascinating story unfold. Doors will open at 7.00pm and the performance will start at 8.00pm lasting an hour. Tickets cost £20 for Friends of Orford Museum, £25 for non-Friends, children under 14 free. Book on our website – details below.
Our very popular guest speaker, Tobias Capwell, formerly Curator of Arms and Armour at The Wallace Collection in London from 2006 to 2022, is returning to Butley Priory on Wednesday, 25 September 2024 to talk about his involvement with the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a car park in Leicester. He has written and spoken extensively on both the historical and practical aspects of his subject. Tobias is also a skilled jouster and claims to be the world’s only jousting curator! His lecture is entitled:
The Scoliotic Knight Encounters with Richard III
The discovery of the remains of Richard III raised fascinating new questions. The scoliosis exhibited by the last Plantagenet King’s skeleton revealed that the twisted physique of Shakespeare’s ‘Black Legend’ did have at least some basis in fact. But how could such a diminutive person, suffering from a significant spinal condition, have mastered the knightly fighting arts? How could he have worn full armour and fought in battle?
Join Tobias as he discusses his encounters with this most captivating and controversial of English Kings; from his work with Phillipa Langley in the years before the discovery of the grave in Leicester, to his research into the implications of a severe spinal condition for a medieval king and warrior, his participation in the Channel 4 documentary Richard III: The New Evidence (2013), his role as one of the two armoured horsemen escorting the king himself to his final resting place in Leicester Cathedral to, finally, his service as Historical Advisor on the recent film The Lost King (2022).
On 24 October 2024, local historian Edward Martin, who led a visit by the Friends of Orford Museum to the Chillesford Lodge model farm and has contributed to The Orford & District Local History Bulletin, will talk about:
The Lost Gardens of Suffolk
Lost gardens have a strong romantic appeal – things of beauty that have been allowed to slip away from us. In this talk, an archaeologist and landscape historian will show how seemingly unimportant mounds of earth and neglected ponds can, with the help of old maps , old photographs and other documents, be brought back to life and revealed as fascinating examples of garden history, giving tantalising glimpses of long-lost design styles and aspirations from the past. This exploration of Suffolk’s rich gardening heritage will include medieval castles, Tudor mansions, Georgian parks and twentieth century dreams.
Horatio Nelson – The Making of a Hero
On 25 November 2024, Peter Gutteridge will tell the story of Nelson’s early life from his birth in 1758 in the small Norfolk village of Burnham Thorpe through to battle of Cape St. Vincent on 14 February 1797 which established him as one of the nation’s great heroes. The talk will identify the myths from reality and seek to explain his “Dreams of Glory”.
Peter is a retired senior partner of a large law firm and now a regular speaker on Naval and Maritime History subjects and, in particular, Horatio Nelson. He is a long-standing member of the Nelson Society and has Masters’ degrees in Maritime History from Greenwich University and History from Cambridge University. His interest in Nelson was originally fostered by his grandfather, Professor H.C. Gutteridge, who was a distinguished academic and author of ‘Nelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins’.
On 27 January 2025, Jamie Lowther Pinkerton, Suffolk born and bred with a deep interest in its past, will come to Butley Priory to talk about some of the great families of Suffolk and their place in our country’s history. Full details of Jamie’s talk will be posted on our website later.
All talks start at 6.00pm and last about an hour and a half. Tickets cost £15.00 for Friends of Orford Museum, £18 for guests and include a complimentary glass of wine.
To book tickets for these talks, please go to our website at www.orfordmuseum.org.uk/events or email the Treasurer at info@orfordmuseum.org.uk.