Hexham Old Gaol re-opened in October 2005 following restoration by the Hexham Historic Trust and Tynedale Council, with funding from many sources, including a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Gaol was built around 1330 on the orders of the Archbishop of York and is one of Hexham’s most important historic buildings.
Apart from the bare stone walls, the first impression of the interior Hexham Old Gaol today is most ungaol-like in its spick & span cleanliness, complete with an expensive-looking see-through lift and exquisitely fitted wooden floors with wheelchair ramps. The ground floor gallery is a natural starting place. It is a bright, airy space, but the compulsory, slightly over-loud conversation between two mediaeval chaps quickly becomes annoying as it is triggered not only by each new entrant but by also by visitors’ movements within the room. It should be operated by buttons, or a much more selective entrant-only detector, perhaps with a time delay. The same happens on the first floor, the effect in both galleries being exacerbated by the necessity to process, simultaneously, immense screeds of writing. The experience of reading while being assailed, for the third time, by the groans of prisoners could be sold to the US military as psychological training for recruits.
The wall-mounted blurb, though excessive, is of good quality, well written, with well-researched original information. It appears to be the work of competent local history enthusiasts, and no howlers, or even typos, could be detected. Nevertheless, it must be asked whether this is the real purpose of a museum gallery. If the visitor wants to read in depth about local history the Butler Collection is on hand within the building and the library is just up the road. (On the other hand, such a direct contravention of basic museum design principles must indicate substantial input from non-professionals – a good thing !) What, incidentally, is a handfast ? And why, in the Reivers’ glossary, is Surname spelt with a capital letter ? This looks suspiciously like a clever conclusion from someone’s master’s thesis, all dressed up with nowhere to go. Interestingly, the only example of this word spelt in lower case on the Tynedale Learning Links website is also the only one linked (from "Border Tales") to a glossary which includes its definition – perhaps the novelty has worn off ? (and why so many glossaries ?)
Museums should stimulate the imagination, but a visit to the dungeon merely strains this faculty to its limits. On descending to the basement the visitor is confined to the lift for a full minute, while the inevitable voice-over is delivered. The room is totally bare and there is no escape - Jonny Armstrong would have sworn to become a model citizen if he had been subjected to such torment. This must surely be the most exciting space within the building, and it is absolutely isolated from the visitor. Of course I don’t want to see the kind of tasteless, gory scenarios so often found in heritage dungeons, but the experience of pacing what should be a dark, damp, smelly hole would surely speak volumes – much more than the jolly jailer’s musings in this pristine room, anyway. Renovation isn’t the same as conservation, and the fact that there weren’t any stairs isn’t a reason to exclude us (there wasn't a lift, either).
There are, admittedly, other things to see in the museum apart from text. There are some nicely dressed and quite authentic-looking figures, some interpretive displays, and a few fascinating artefacts – but what the hell are they ? Three magnificent helmets, a mystical plaster cast and a sword in a glass case. They look the part, but there is only an obliquely worded display board hovering in the vicinity which doesn’t give their proper names or provenance or even say whether they are genuine. This is tragic, as these are among the very few real objects in the place, no doubt with fascinating stories to tell. Each one should have a full text-board to itself. I think the fate of these objects exemplifies the disdain with which inspirational, tangible, accessible facts and objects are now treated in museums. We are assumed to be impatient enough to require our heritage processed into a seamless, pre-packaged, pre-digested supermarket product and we should be grateful that the proprietors filled in the paperwork to get authentic-looking objects on display. Even the lights in the case were off. OK, I get the message.
Upstairs is the skull of Sir John Fenwick, complete with battle-wound, helmet and synthetic folklore. What a wonderful item ! At last we get some detail to illuminate it and even a smidgen of discussion about interpretation and authenticity. Unfortunately, the x-rays intended to give some kind of scientific validity are over-exposed and show virtually no detail; and the assertions about the probability that the damage to the skull is a battle wound are not justified with evidence. Mr Designer ! Your audience sits up night after night watching forensic science documentaries, they can cope with gory details and some may even be able to think for themselves ! I don’t think the holes in the helmet do match up with the wound, they are too far forward, especially if the attack was supposed to be from the rear. They look more like corroded car bodywork, anyway, with little sign of indentation - or has the helmet been restored ? Please tell. No chance of any hint of doubt or alternative explanations from the expert analyst, or any invitation to debate the evidence.
Finally, the exclusively-made film. It is fresh-faced and local with pleasantly amateurish actors, a great relief from the rent-a-serfs usually trotted out for such occasions. How sad, though, that so much money should be spent on rehearsing the same tired old Discovery Channel clichés of out-of-focus murder. The tragedy and waste of feuding can be much more satisfyingly expressed through, for instance, restrained, sympathetic character development and the use of authentic quotations from the ample literature. Have a look at the lo-tech slide show on the same subject at Tullie House. The actual violence only needs to be hinted at, and the incessant warfare fondly imagined by museum designers to be the way of life of people int’ olden days is a myth anyway. Glance at the papers and ask yourself how our times would be presented 500 years from now - have you been bombed or murdered recently ?
Both the TV-influenced film and the designer-designed galleries place this museum firmly within the early years of the 21st century. Unfortunately there is a lot wrong with the way money is spent in museums these days, and more of the same merely represents another opportunity lost. The museum’s saving grace is the way in which knowledgeable local historians seem to have wrested some control of content and design from the professionals, but the wonderful building has been marginalised and the same experience could be had in a concrete bunker.
Nevertheless, if you know nothing about Borders history Hexham Old Gaol is well worth a visit, and if you do know something about the subject, it is worth visiting for the quality of the text-based information - and Sir John’s skull - but at the Metro Centre you can go up & down in a glass lift for free.
Links
Tynedale Learning Links
"Royal launch for Hexham's restored Old Gaol (30 Sep 2005)" - Tynedale Council website.
Extolls the glass f***ing lift as the central attraction. Good Grief !
Wikipedia entry, includes this statement: "The gaol currently houses a museum, covering: archaeology, archives, costume and textiles, law and order, music, photography, social history, weapons and war. The collections include 15th and 16th century arms and armour, and objects of local historical interest." . . err . . yes, but at what depth ?
Will Higgs
May 2006