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Prince Charles visited a Cirencester museum today (Friday, December 18) where he spoke of his fascination with archaeology.
The Prince of Wales visited the recently opened Stone Age to Corinium Gallery at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, Gloucestershire which features a displays which depicts the story of life in the Cotswolds, from 40,000 years ago right up to the early Roman Britain era, including Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts.
During the visit, Prince Charles said: “I am fascinated by all these things. First time I have visited. I never had a chance to see it before. I am fascinated by it.”
The royal has a soft spot for archaeology after he spent his first year at Trinity College, Cambridge studying it before switching to History in his second year.
This visit comes just days after Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, visited Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester.
The newly opened displays hold more than 600 objects and artefacts charting the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age through to early Roman times and the development of the town of Corinium and museum director Amanda Hart showed Charles some of the objects, including the Hazleton Long Barrow, the Beaker Burial and two early Roman-era military tombstones.
During a tour of the medieval collection, the prince told staff about a pair of shoes he owned made from reindeer leather discovered in the wreck of the Danish vessel Catherina von Flensburg, which went down in a storm in 1786 off the coast of Plymouth.
Speaking about the shoes, Prince Charles said: “I got a pair of shoes out of it. It was amazingly reindeer leather, remarkable quality.”
Before leaving, he signed the guest book and was presented with a bottle of IV Bodicacia golden ale, brewed by Corinium Ales for the museum.
While in Cirencester, Prince Charles also paid a visit to Royal Mail’s Delivery Office to recognise the vital public services that the country’s postal workers provide.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Hart said: “It was a really, really special moment for me and to have that opportunity to show His Royal Highness our collections and talk about our work here.
“I have worked at the museum for over 20 years and to get that moment was really special for me.
“He made me feel really at ease and he was laughing and joking and had a genuine interest about the collections, the archaeology and the history of the area.”
Ms Hart described the last year as “really difficult” for the museum, which required emergency funding because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said: “We are not over it either, and I can see this continuing well into next year.
“It’s really imperative we get the message out that we are a Covid-19-safe environment and people need to visit, and if people don’t come through the doors we will remain at risk.”
