Front of house volunteer Alexander Ogilvie-Graham’s pair of blog entries both explore hidden objects that carry interesting pieces of the past within them. February’s object of the month is also about discovery and teamwork!
Every month, we post two pieces by volunteers - one focuses on an object in the Palace and the other on a specimen in the garden. It is a great way to research something that has always interested you and dig into the history of the site, and share your interests with your fellow volunteers. There is no set format so the piece can take the form of creative writing, a reflection, a poem - or anything else!
Hidden Objects: Books, books books!
This blog post is about a special behind the scenes tour that I had with my favourite manager Rachel Bagnall-Bray. It was in Lockdown 3.0 on January 27, 2021. We had a wicked socially distanced tour of the library!
The Porteus library is my favourite room at Fulham Palace. The majority of the collection dates from The 18th century and the 19th century.
I love the trap door in the library; I often wonder if that’s where we put all of our visitors who do not donate!
Here I am with Rachel feeling very lucky indeed. I have found that recently the value of reading has skyrocketed! The importance of reading during lockdown is now acclaimed as a very valuable activity. I think Bishop Porteus would have approved heartily!
Bishop Porteus was born in May 1731 and lived until 13 May 1809. He is one of my favourite Bishops as he is the founding Patron of our library, where I count myself lucky as I may be soon joining the library care team after Lockdown. Writing, in both books and letters too, is so important to Fulham Palace. There is a letter in the archive dating from Bishop Waldhere, the first Bishop of London to live at Fulham Palace. This letter was in fact the first letter ever written in English - I suppose that is letter my favourite object as it’s over a thousand years old. My favourite book in the library must be the old ones that are leather bound and sit behind the desk that you can see pictured.
I like the library as it is multi-purpose, it now functions as a gift shop as well. I particularly like the honey they sell! The COVID-19 pandemic has meant the shop has been closed for many months. However, the shop has triumphed online continuing to sell special gifts.
All-in-all I had a fantastic day with Rachel. I leave you with a final piece of knowledge about the library - Did you know that the library used to be a chapel?