The Museum of the Lost and Found

Step inside, take a look around, get involved, there’s lots to discover, lots to see and lots of new ways of seeing.

Interact with 20 handpicked objects from our archives
Take a look at the creative responses to these particular objects and to a selection of creative tasks
Watch highlight videos to get a glimpse of the discussions and decisions the groups made and why the objects were chosen
Take a creative challenge and produce your own piece of work inspired by one of our objects, to go into The Museum of You.

A picture is worth a thousand words. An object can tell a thousand stories.

Since late June 2020 Wessex Archaeology has run a collection of eight digital engagement sessions with community groups, NHS staff, young people and individuals across England, giving them behind the scenes access to our archives in Sheffield and Salisbury.

From these sessions each group was given the task of choosing two objects from a selection of four to go into our interactive digital museum. The chosen objects were then 3D scanned and uploaded in a way which presents the viewer with an opportunity to control, rotate, enlarge and closely examine the object allowing for greater access to each one.

In addition to this, participants were set home tasks, to create a personal response which they could then share within their groups. These responses can be seen here along with some of the discussions and images in the session films.

We also invited the public to vote on their favourite objects, two videos were loaded onto our YouTube site and the public then chose via social media which four objects from a selection of eight they wanted to go into the museum.

The Museum of the Lost and Found is a wonderful collaboration between Wessex Archaeology specialists and community groups and individuals, none of this could have happened without them. Please click on the links below to find out a little bit more about each group:

We are grateful to Historic England for selecting Lost and Found as one of the recipients of their Covid19 Emergency Response Fund.

If you are interested on hearing more about what we learnt from the project, then please take a look at our animated toolkit and downloadable resource, ‘A Thousand Lost and Found Stories’, for more information on this and on how to create your own digital heritage wellbeing project.

Group participants

Via Social Media

Public Vote

Two videos in which Phil Harding invited the public to select objects for the museum!

A WWI chalk block, 18th century gravestone, late Neolithic Woodlands pottery and a Neolithic discoidal flint knife have been chosen.
Session 1

The Richmond Fellowship

The Neolithic Axe and Romano-British Brooch
Session 2

Artcare and Salisbury District Hospital

14th century seal and 20th century fire extinguisher
Session 3

Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living

First world war toffee tin and 18th century crotal bell
Session 4

Carers and ex-carers from Three Chequers Medical Practice

Anglo-Saxon silver slip-knot ring and First World War Lyle’s Golden Syrup tin
Session 5

Headway Salisbury and South Wiltshire

Iron Age shale armlet and a Romano-British New Forest beaker
Session 6

Sheffield MIND

A Romano-British amphora and a Romano-British stone altar
Session 7

Sheffield YAC

19th century miner's token and 19th - 20th century horse head fitting
Session 8

Braidwood School for the Deaf

19th - 20th century horse brass and Romano-British voussoir tile