Ancient House Museum to Launch Centenary Exhibition Featuring 100 Objects

The Ancient House Museum is set to inaugurate an exhibition this Saturday, showcasing its history through 100 objects in anticipation of its upcoming centenary. Titled “A History of Ancient House in 100 Objects,” this display will formally initiate a year-long series of commemorative events leading up to the anniversary on 11 December. Groups from local schools and the community participated in selecting 10 items representing each decade of the museum’s operation in Thetford, Norfolk. Museum curator Oliver Bone commented, “Their thoughtful responses remind us that objects from the past don’t necessarily have to be valuable to be of value.” An example includes a flint from the prehistoric site of Grimes Graves, selected by a child from the museum’s history club, who characterized it as “sharp like a porcupine, as dark as a storm cloud.” Other selections were made based on their ability to evoke personal recollections. Among the items chosen from the museum’s extensive 7,000-piece collection for the exhibition are the death mask of Thomas Paine, a political revolutionary born in Thetford, and a collection of Roman silver coins unearthed during the construction of the town bypass in 1989. Norfolk county councillor Margaret Dewsbury stated that the exhibition, which benefited from National Lottery funding, showcased the “richness and diversity” of the surrounding region. Dewsbury remarked, “Like the museum itself, Thetford may be relatively small, but it nevertheless encompasses a huge sweep of human history.” The museum’s establishment is attributed to Prince Frederick, son of Duleep Singh, the final Sikh emperor of the Punjab. Prince Frederick presented the house to the residents of Thetford in 1921, and it subsequently commenced operations as a museum three years thereafter. Duleep Singh assumed leadership of the kingdom at five years old, yet was deposed following Britain’s annexation of the Punjab in 1849. At the age of 15, he arrived in England, eventually settling at Elveden Hall in Suffolk.