The history of Radley in 100 objects – a virtual online museum

Neil MacGregor’s History of the world in 100 objects, based on artefacts in the British Museum and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a series of 15 minute talks, has captured the imagination of many people.

The history of Radley in 100 objects is based on a similar concept – to explore a facet of the school through a single item. The items chosen vary from ephemeral moments to those objects or buildings that are so iconic that they define Radley as a school and are immediately recognisable to all generations. Just as Radley is a multi-generational school, with family connections stretching from current boys to their younger brothers still at prep school, to fathers, uncles, grandfathers, great grandfathers, so this project is designed to engage present Radleians and ORs to share experiences and memories prompted by one object. Indeed, the very first object selected has just such a connection in a direct line from a schoolboy of the 1890s to his several-times great nephew in 2011.

The project is presented as a weekly blog. Individual objects (wherever possible) will be on display in the Library, but we aim to create a virtual museum which everyone associated with Radley can walk through at anytime and from anywhere in the world. The blog has Twitter and Facebook feeds. Posted comments and discussions will be archived, so that we can build up not a static museum, but an interactive shared experience of being a part of Radley. In this way we hope to create a new type of school history, written by the school itself. Eventually, we will gather all the material together to create a book about Radley’s own history and its place in the world.

Thirty of the objects have been selected from the archive collection. The remaining seventy objects have all been nominated by present members of the school and community. Suggestions have been received from Shells and 6.2s, from PHMs and staff. We would welcome additional suggestions from ORs. The list is presented in no particular order, nor are objects grouped thematically. Instead each entry will be accompanied by tags so that you can explore implicit connections as a tag-cloud builds up over the weeks.

100 objects
– Desk lid, 1890s
– Cover of The Radleian, 1980
– Fives bat, 1890s
– Terracotta finial, 1847
– Rowing tankard, 1914
– Athletics cup, 1858
– RH Elwes’ Richards Gold Medal, 1870
– Howlers and Overheards, 1880s & 2010s
– The bust of Alan Dowding in B Social
– The team photo of Mighty Midgets 7 playing on Bigside, 2011
– Warden Selwyn’s ruby ring, 1918
– The laundry maid’s gophering board, 1850s
– Shields in Hall, 1947
– Arts and Crafts cross, 1910s
– Observatory Clump/New Pavilion, 1880s-2000s
– Iron Age finds from Peachcroft Farm, 500BC & 1970s
– Eliza Kent’s drawing of Radley Hall, 1830s
– Century Clump, 1920s-
– William Ranken’s photograph album, 1860s
– RAM, 1980s
– Lear’s fool, 1962
– Musical score for a Dons’ play, 1948
– Register entry for Cyril Holland, 1890s-1947
– College oak
– Photo of Aulularia, 1904
– WW2 land use map, 1941
– Capability Brown’s landscape, 1780s
– WW2 POW letters, 1940s
– Records of the Natural History Society, 1880s-1960s
– Captain Scott’s letter to A Social, 1910
– Stereoscope photo of the First VIII at Henley, 1858
– Clocktower
– Copies & distinctions
– g2 (electronic Grey Book and reporting system) 2010s
– A chicken roll, 2000s
– The Senior Prefect’s privileges
– Science experiment, 1910
– A gown
– Rowing blade from the 1938 winning crew at Henley, 1938
– Elizabethan chalice, 1558 & 1948
– JMW Turner’s sketches of Radley Hall, 1770s
– The old, new and planned organ
– BSA miniature war pattern rifle, 1908-12
– The Newdigate Prize poems, 1848, 1940s, 1970s
– ‘Congratulations’ cards on A Level results day, 2000s
– Social Ties & Social Strings
– Human skeleton and skulls in the Biology Department
– The jackdaw run, 2000s
– Family nativity play, 1990s-2011
– youtube coverage of 1st XI football LB Cup victory, 2010
– The earliest known Radley film, 1925
– AE Reeke’s ‘rhythm stick’ performance DVD, 2009
– BBC documentary on Radley, 1979
– Beagling whip, 1940s-2000s
– Real tennis court, 2008
– Tiger skull
– The boa constrictor, 2011
– Slice through a fallen chestnut tree
– Orchard House
– The Shrew magazine, 1990s
– The last remaining garden gnome, 2008
– The Haddon Cup
– The entry for Y Markovitch on the WW2 memorial
– The table in Stone Hall
– The bumming machine
– Andrew Motion ‘s first published poem, 1970s
– The Smale casket
– JR Summerly’s PhD thesis, 1995
– The pot of snuff on the mantle in Common Room, 1994
– The Queen’s loo, 1997
– Guy the Gorilla in Queen’s Court, 2000s
– A choir robe
– A Social trolley
– ‘The Radley flyer’
– A four-way colour biro
– A personal statement
– A calendar
– Boy’s sculpture of the head of Tony Money in the Lakeside Room
– The original ‘Glimpses of Radley’ film, 1990s
– Jaspar Tristram the earliest novel of Radley life, 1899
– Lianne Oakley-Rowland’s costume designs for Sweeney Todd, 2011
– A hymn by Warden Ferguson, 1940s-1950s
– Watercolours of the Greenland and Iceland expeditions, 1970s
– Accounts for St Peter’s, Wapping, the Radley Mission, 1880s-1960s
– The address on letters
– The new firefly ‘Jim Rickards’
– The honours boards
– Solar panel on K Social, 2000s
– RAF aerial survey photos, 1952
– Flags on Bigside rugby posts
– The reredos, 1400s & 1847
– Silver bell in Common Room
– Radley beer, 2011
– RA King’s ‘Chemistry Teacher of the Year’ award, 2000s
– The electronic scoreboard, 2010s
– The ‘Fenny’ hanging in the Library
– Senior Prefect’s, Prefects’ and Upper Sixth mortarboards and tassles
– Rugby caps
– A thank you letter, 2000s
– The lighthouse, 1722
– The view from Mansion roof
– The fleeting moment – when the light spills through the leaves as the madrigals spill from the roof on May morning