The latest Collections exhibition has opened in the Do Room. Titled ‘A Rich and Rare Memorial: the story of the Oldest Museum in the English-Speaking World’ it brings highlights from the College’s extraordinary breadth of museum artefacts into the heart of the College. The exhibits tell the story of the Collections, from the foundation in 1609 with the acquisition of the stunning Henry VII Cloth of Gold Cope (kindly on loan from the British Jesuit Province), to the moving and powerful images taken by Tim Hetherington OS in Afghanistan in 2007. Highlights include the Victoria Cross awarded to Joe Jackman OS, on loan from his niece and nephews, Elizabeth of York’s Prayer Book, artefacts from the Science and World collections including the Black Rain which fell on Stonyhurst in 1884 and an 18th century sword made for the Dutch East India Company. A message of support from Sir David Attenborough is framed and hangs next to a selection of extraordinary items from the Charles Waterton collection, including the leg of an Eagle Owl, and a copy of Waterton’s Wanderings owned by William Wordsworth. Without a doubt, though, the showstopper is the magnificent seven foot Mexican Tarpon which dominates the Do Room!
The next exhibition in the College Museum and Historic Libraries will focus on the role of recusant women in the 17th and 18th centuries, and will be open in time for the Easter Retreat.
