Fishbourne Roman Palace Scoops

Currently, we have three Garden volunteers dedicated solely to caring for the Physic Garden. Many thanks to Jan, Alana and Sue. The garden has never been so pampered, as it is today. These three ladies also volunteer as part of the education team, and they bring the Physic garden to a whole new level for events or school visits, when they conduct their demonstrations of herb uses.

It just goes to show that care for historic things can never be totally static and as we care and conserve, we interpret, and our interpretations too become part of history. As for the future we are hoping to be able to restore the section labels originally designed and made by Patricia Musick, as after 40 years of being outside in all weathers, they are getting a bit worn out!

James Neal, Head Gardener

Fishbourne Roman Palace Scoops National Award

If there was a rule book on how museums engage with the public, it goes without saying that Covid and the resulting lockdowns have completely rewritten it. Throughout 2020 and into 2021 Sussex Archaeological Society has been among the countless organizations who have been forced to rely on remote methods of reaching their audiences, and “digital” has been key.

That’s why the team at Fishbourne Roman Palace have been focussing on building their social media profiles, including their Twitter following. Love them or loathe them, Twitter and other platforms provide an excellent way to build and reach new audiences and get our message into people’s front rooms at little cost and (importantly these days) safely.

At the end of March, the Palace was invited to participate in perhaps the most bizarre “event” that can be found anywhere in the Twittersphere: “The National Oddity Championships”. This informal competition, organized by Egham Museum (a small organization quickly gaining national attention itself, thanks to its imaginative social media output), pits museums against one another trying to convince the public that their collections contain the most peculiar item. The winners of each round are decided by public vote in real time, while the museums clamour for attention, support and votes. It’s chaos.

So over two consecutive days, Fishbourne battled through 5 rounds against 31 other museums. The opposition included a dried heart from Bradford Museums, a twig on a string from Chastleton House and a marzipan model of Roy Jenkins from Essex University Library.

It was an emotional time with levels of bravado, despair, skulduggery and tension oscillating wildly for all participants. The competition culminated in the two heroic finalists, the Palace and York Castle Museum weaponizing their curators’ dogs in a last-ditch attempt to win the support of animal lovers, but we are delighted to be able to report that the Palace eventually prevailed, squeaking to victory by a mere 4% of the public vote.

You would be forgiven for thinking that this kind of thing has little to do with the archaeology of Sussex. You might even be right. But not all engagement with the past is by visiting a site or reading a book: this event was watched by over 250,000 people and Fishbourne Roman Palace’s twitter account drew the attention of Tom Holland, Mary Beard, Tony Robinson and other notaries. Our social media output is the perfect way to experiment with new and unusual ways to widen participation among those who wouldn’t normally, or can’t visit our sites. It’s a place to raise our profile, make friends, and build networks of support – and who doesn’t need that these days? The National Oddity Championship is just the start.

Dr Robert Symmons (AMA), Curator