Wiltshire Police – the first county-wide force – mark 180 years of service this year, and Chippenham Museum are holding an exhibition to celebrate.
Exploring the theme of ‘Crime and Punishment’ from the Saxon period, right up to the present day, we are offered a fascinating insight into the world of crime and society’s response to it. Historical and archeological insight will accompany current day displays, and the evolution of human response to crime will be explored.
Of course, at first, laws did not exist as we knew them – there was ‘the done thing’ and ‘not the done thing’, just as exists in many Wiltshire villages today (albeit the stakes used to be rather higher). The exhibition therefore will offer some insight into the codification of a legal system, and the organisation of the state’s arm of control from a rag-tag collection of Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and private citizens’ Prosecution Societies.
The exhibition will include loans from Wiltshire Police’s historic collection, including early uniforms, handcuffs and shackles, and will be free to enter. It will run from Saturday the third of August to Saturday the 28th of September.
Chippenham Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm. The museum, a Chippenham Town Council facility has two floors of galleries you are free to explore.