Rebuilding Folkestone's Roman Villa - The Folkestone Miniaturist, A Talk
'Rebuilding' Folkestone's Roman Villa in miniature
Folkestone's East Wear Bay Roman Villa was originally excavated in 1924 by Christ's Hospital (Horsham) teacher & noted amateur archaeologist Samuel E. Winbolt, working alongside employees of Folkestone Borough Council. Subsequent digs have taken place, including a rescue dig in 1989, necessitated by coastal erosion and the more recent excavations led by Canterbury Archaeological Trust [CAT] as part of the 'A Town Unearthed' project (2010-2011) and their 2022 autumn dig to assess the villa's condition, the first time its interior had been seen since its post war reburial.
As part of Folkestone Museum's redisplay of its Roman themed display case it commissioned 'The Folkestone Miniaturist' Mike Perry to produce a scale model of the villa in its Roman heyday. Using artefacts from Winbolt's 1924 excavation held in the Museum's collection, conversation with local archaeologists Dr Andrew Richardson and Keith Parfitt MCIfA, FSA and a lot of research in Roman architecture Mike has now produced a scale model, including some of its interior rooms. This talk is about how it all happened and is a chance to see the model up close before it goes in the display case.
About Mike Perry
Also known as ‘The Folkestone Miniaturist,’ Mike's career started with a course in theatre design at the Birmingham College of Art and went on to have a prolific career working on set design for major films, TV shows and theatrical plays. Some of the more well known productions Mike has worked on include The Italian Job’ (1969) and ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ (1983-2004) as well as working for local television company TVS before going freelance and subsequently moving to Folkestone and carving out, quite literally, another career as The Folkestone Miniaturist. To learn more about Mike and his work CLICK HERE to read a Folk Life article about him.
Booking
The talk is £5.00 per person, as with all our talks, they tend to fill up quickly. For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall to buy your ticket and reserve a seat. If you are a subscriber to the Museum e-newsletter don't forget to quote the discount code at the till!
Refreshments will be available after the talk, donations appreciated
Whitsun Half-Term: Ecology & Climate Week - Recycle & Reuse
Looking after our planet with a fashion twist!
Fast fashion, the disposable society, things that endanger the very life we've been looking at this week. We're very pleased to have A:dress Fashion with us for the day, taking the flotsam & jetsam of life and recycling it into something a little more sustainable and usable! To learn a bit more about A:dress and what they do look for them on Instagram and Facebook.
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Donations towards materials for this activity are gratefully received, we would suggest £2.00 per participant
Whitsun Half-Term: Ecology & Climate Week - Honey Bees
We're heading into nature for Whitsun!
We're joined by local artist and tutor Catharine Farr, who'll be exploring the lifecycle of honey bees through arts & crafts. To learn a bit more about Catharine go to her website by clicking here
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Donations towards materials for this activity are gratefully received, we would suggest £2.00 per participant
Whitsun Half-Term: Ecology & Climate Week - Native Bees
We're heading into nature for Whitsun! Please note this workshop starts later than normal (1.30pm)
We're joined by local artist and tutor Catharine Farr, who'll be exploring native (British) wild bees through painting. To learn a bit more about Catharine go to her website by clicking here
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (12pm-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Donations towards materials for this activity are gratefully received, we would suggest £2.00 per participant
Whitsun Half-Term: Ecology & Climate Week - Bee Puppets
We're heading into nature for Whitsun!
Taking our lead from our insect collections and everything zumming about around us we're making bee hand puppets today.
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Donations towards materials for this activity are gratefully received, we would suggest £2.00 per participant
Easter Holidays - Nature Art: The Wild Escape
A week inspired by the natural world!
- Wednesday 12th April - Colouring: The Wild Escape
- Thursday 13th April - Make a creature out of natural materials with Catherine Farr
- Friday 14th April - Nature-inspired dreamcatcher with Catherine Farr
Catherine Farr is a local artist and teacher, to learn more about her visit https://www.catherinefarr.com/
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm), are FREE and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
Activities are FREE with but a donation (suggested £1.00 per child) towards workshop materials is appreciated.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Easter Holidays - Easter Eggs, Bunnies and Chicks
Three days of Easter fun!
- Wednesday 5th April - Easter egg & chick garland
- Thursday 6th April - cardboard egg decorating & Easter Bunny Wreath
- Saturday 8th April - woven paper Easter baskets
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm), are FREE and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
Activities are FREE with but a donation (suggested £1.00 per child) towards workshop materials is appreciated.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Please note that the Museum is closed on Good Friday (7th April)
Easter Holidays - William Harvey
We're celebrating William Harvey's 445th birthday!
William Harvey developed the idea of blood circulation and is one of Folkestone's most famous folk; we'll be making Tudor mouthwash in his honour!
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm), are FREE and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
Activities are FREE with but a donation (suggested £1.00 per child) towards workshop materials is appreciated.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
An eighteenth-century entrepreneur: Sarah Baker’s theatre on the Bayle and her other Kentish Theatres, 1737-1816
A talk by Dr Jean Baker, hosted by Folkestone Museum
Dr Jean Baker (not a descendant of Sarah Baker) worked as a journalist for some years. In 2000 she completed a PhD at the University of Kent that explored the significance of provincial theatre in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
"As I sifted through some old papers in the Folkestone Library archives a few years ago, a tattered cutting from an eighteenth-century newspaper fell from the bundle I was about to investigate. In smudgy, hard-to-read print the scrap of paper advertised a week of entertainments that had taken place at ‘the New-Theatre-Folkestone’ in the early spring of 1775.
Among the ‘usual diversions’ on offer were tightrope-walking, comic dancing, musical dramas, operas and pantomimes. Tickets it stated could be bought of a Mrs Sarah Baker at ‘Mr Tart’s upon the Bayle’ and potential patrons were advised to be quick about it as ‘the Company’s stay will be very short’."
This talk will focus on the extraordinary, too-long-forgotten woman behind this announcement, on her Bayle theatre, and on the four ‘great grand’ theatres, as she described them, that she built elsewhere in Kent at the end of the eighteenth century.
The talk is free but, as with all our talks, they tend to fill up quickly. For further details or to reserve a seat CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall. Refreshments will be available after the talk, donations appreciated.
Medieval Week - February Half-Term
Castle Life
Its February Half-Term and we're heading back to the days of yore and exploring medieval life. Today its all about building and living in a castle; everyone gets to build their own (miniature) castle too!
Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm), are FREE and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.
No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.
Activities are FREE with but a donation (suggested £1.00 per child) towards materials is appreciated.
For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.