The Museum of English Rural Life

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www.reading.ac.uk/merl
6 Redlands Road, Reading, RG1 5EX, UK  ·  MERL houses the most comprehensive national collection of objects, books and archives relating to the history of food, farming and the countryside.
The Museum of English Rural Life
Around the Museum
18 Pins
Around the Museum / Here are some pictures of the museum, past and present!
Discovering the Landscape
102 Pins
Discovering the Landscape / We're delighted to share with you a few highlights from our Landscape Institute archive and library collections.
Dress & Costume
25 Pins
Dress & Costume
Collecting the Countryside: 20th Century Rural Cultures
57 Pins
Collecting the Countryside: 20th Century Rural Cultures / Since 2008 the Museum of English Rural Life has been adding even more objects to its collection, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures programme, in order to represent each decade of the last century. This exhibition gives a taste of what has been acquired and challenges visitors to suggest the modern-day objects that the Museum needs to collect for the future.
Rural Photos
19 Pins
Rural Photos / Photos from our archives showing the people, architecture and landscapes of the English countryside.
English Countryside
46 Pins
English Countryside / Our favourite photos of the English countryside, both from our own historic collections and those we come across from other photographers!
Throwback Thursday
27 Pins
Throwback Thursday / Every Thursday we post a photo from the past, taken from our collections.
Ceramics and Pottery
22 Pins
Ceramics and Pottery
The Shop
11 Pins
The Shop / Here are some highlights from the MERL shop! Come instore to buy, or order flat products by phone. More objects to be uploaded soon!
Rural Craft
9 Pins
Rural Craft / Photos from our fantastic archives showing the variety of craft and craftspeople of the English countryside.
Corn Dollies
40 Pins
Corn Dollies / The Museum holds a significant collection of corn dollies. ‘Corn dolly’ is a wide-ranging term which includes figures, love tokens, crosses, Scandinavian star designs, and Far Eastern shrine dolls made from ‘corn’ straw. Techniques used in the craft include tying, plaiting, weaving and marquetry. For more information on each corn dolly, search our catalogue: http://www.reading.ac.uk/adlib/
Instagram
14 Pins
Instagram / Pins from the University of Reading Museums and Collections Instagram account - http://instagram.com/unirdg_collections
Old Reading
10 Pins
Old Reading / Photographs of old Reading, Berkshire, England. These photographs were digitised by the Museum as part of the 'Sense of Place' project, and can also be found on HistoryPin: http://www.historypin.com/channels/view/15041#!map/index/#!/geo:51.438011,-0.975207/zoom:13/
Rural Reads Bookclub
48 Pins
Rural Reads Bookclub / Drop-in to this new book club at MERL focussing on books with a rural theme in the atmospheric setting of the Museum or garden. http://goo.gl/jhAf6o
Cats in the Stacks
15 Pins
Cats in the Stacks / To celebrate #MuseumCats Day (30 July 2014), we've put together a small selection of our most purrfect feline appearances!
Halloween
10 Pins
Halloween / We enjoyed taking part in #MusHalloween on Twitter, but we have a ton of odd stuff that didn't make it online! Here is everything collected.
Berkshire Show, Chocolate Box vs. Reality
20 Pins
Berkshire Show, Chocolate Box vs. Reality / How far is our idea of the countryside shaped by the images we see of it? How do these pictures change your perception of the countryside?
Visitors' pics
12 Pins
Visitors' pics
#12off
12 Pins
#12off / In the run up to Christmas 2014, MERL took on the Ure Museum and the University of Reading Special Collections in a 12 Days of Christmas challenge!
Events
19 Pins
Events
John Tarlton Exhibition
54 Pins
John Tarlton Exhibition / The countryside of the 1950s–70s through the lens of a commercial photographer 4 May – 8 September 2013. NB: ADLIB LINKS ARE CURRENTLY BROKEN, BUT WILL BE FIXED SOON.
Apple Day 2013
23 Pins
Apple Day 2013 / We have plenty of apple-related objects and archives here at MERL! Come celebrate Apple Day with us on 19th October! http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/whatson/merl-appleday.aspx
Tom's Board
17 Pins
Tom's Board / Tom Paganuzzi is with us for a week at MERL for work experience, and will be pinning his favourite objects!
The MERL Garden
45 Pins
The MERL Garden / The MERL garden is a surprising oasis of peace and quiet in a busy town. It's a lovely, safe place for families to play and picnic and provides a wonderful setting for all kinds of events. During our redevelopment, it has been taken over by builders but will reemerge with even more interesting features in future.