Exhibition Opening

11 May 2016

The private view of the ‘Science and Spirituality’ Exhibition took place this week, and the evening was a great success. 

Many guests were able to view the exhibits, several on loan from the archives, library and sacristy of Downside and relating in the most part to Bishop Charles Walmesley. Bishop Walmesley was a great friend of William Herschel, and was a keen astronomer and mathematician and lived in Bath for many years, as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District. 

The exhibits include a portrait of Bishop Walmesley, his episcopal ring, books and essays written by him, a plan of the Downside observatory which was destroyed by fire in 1867 and the now famous Georgian Cookbook from the Downside archives.

There are also some items on loan from the Science Museum: sand clocks which used to belong to Dom Ethelbert Horne, monk of Downside, who had a keen interest in sand clocks and scratch dials. 

The exhibition was opened by Thomas Sheppard, Chairman of Bath Preservation Trust, and Debbie James, Curator of the Herschel Museum. The exhibition is open until 12th December and is included in the price of entry to the museum.