24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
Newcastle Museum Of Antiquities Remembered In Verse
By Caroline Lewis
13/03/2008
Image: Photograph of a museum gallery with carved stone artefacts
The Museum of Antiquities, soon to be re-housed. © Newcastle University
It has been the main museum for Hadrian’s Wall Newcastle’s Society of Antiquaries for 40 years, but now the time has come for the Museum of Antiquities at Newcastle University to close its doors.
However, it will not be forgotten, as a book of verse inspired by its collections will be launched at the same time as the artefacts are transferred out of the former coke testing station on the campus, to the new Great North Museum.
Commissioned from poet Maureen Almond and richly illustrated, the book contains 28 poems about Roman items - from the famous Aemelia finger ring found at Corbridge, to a bronze figurine of Hercules, with one arm raised as if about to strike.
“Like most men of Shields he loves clubbing / chasing daughters of the night beyond dusk,” reads the poem about the latter.
“I’d like people to see them not just as objects that have been dug out of the ground, but as poignant reminders of the men and women who might have worked with them, worn them, worshipped them or gone into battle with them as part of everyday life in Roman Britain,” said Maureen, who is studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at the university.
The collections will be open to a wider audience at the Great North Museum, currently under development on the site of the Hancock Museum. The £26m museum is scheduled to open in 2009.
The poetry collection, Recollections, is available from the Museum of Antiquities. It is published by Flambard Press and is priced £10.
Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle (closed)
Museum of Antiquities, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NE1 7RU, Tyne & Wear, England
Closed: The Museum has closed permanently.
Great North Museum
Barras Bridge, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE2 4PT, Tyne & Wear, England
Closed: The Hancock Museum closed its doors to the public on Sunday 23 April 2006 to begin its transformation as part of the Great North Museum - an exciting and innovative world-class visitor attraction designed for the 21st century. The new Museum opens in 2009.
Related Articles
Fund Raising Scheme Is Backing Great North Museum: Hancock
Snakes Slither From Hancock Museum To Winter Gardens
The Great North Museum Project - Work On The Hancock Begins
News In Brief - Week Ending January 21 2007
Hancock Museum Mummy Begins To Reveal Its X-Ray Secrets
British Tattoo History From Roman Legionaries To Captain Cook
Last Chance To Visit Hancock Museum Before Major Refurbishment
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
National Portrait Gallery Acquires Tudor Double Portrait
Sheffield Metal Master Wins Museum's Inaugural Design Award
DCMS Launches Consultation Into The Future Of World Heritage Sites
A Selection Of Festive Fairs - Fun Days and Exhibitions
Royal Society Announces Plans For 350th Anniversary
Art Website ArtisanCam Wins Coveted Children's BAFTA
Former Floorboards Of Founding Father Franklin Facilitate Funny Four
Mark Leckey Wins The 2008 Turner Prize And Scoops £25,000
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long-Standing Campaign For Cardiff City Museum
Culture Secretary Slaps Export Ban On George I Chandelier
Shakespeare's Globe Costumes Go On Show In Nottingham
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.