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Home » Contributors » Abergavenny Museum

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  • This mural painting was discovered in 1908 in an attic in the Gunter Mansion (34 - 40 Cross Street), Abergavenny. During the latter half of the 17th century, Thomas Gunter, an attorney and staunch Roman Catholic, used the attic as a chapel with Fr David Lewis and Fr Phillip Evans. At this time, Catholics were persecuted in Britain and were forced to meet in secret meeting places such as this one. In the wave of anti-Roman Catholicism following the wake of the Titus Oates Plot in 1678, both priests were hanged, disembowelled and burnt at Usk.
Gunter House mural, Abergavenny, 17th century
  • Carved oak mantelpiece from Tudor Street, Abergavenny. Within it is hung a 17th century tripod cooking pot, and in front of it is an 18th century pot hanger.
17th century fireplace, Abergavenny
  • This photograph shows a chamber in a fairly wealthy Abergavenny household of about 1650. It is based on documents of the time which list the contents of people's homes. All the objects are genuine and date to this period.
Furniture from a Tudor period house, Abergavenny
Furniture from a Tudor period house, Abergavenny
  • Turnspit dogs were in use until the middle of the 19th century as a tool to save cooks in large households the effort of turning meat on a spit by hand. The dog would be placed in a small wheel connected to the spit and as he ran the spit would be turned. In order not to overexert a dog with this hot and unpleasant work they were often kept in pairs, so that they could be worked in shifts. It is believed that this is the origin of the proverb 'every dog has his day.' 'Whiskey' is the last surviving specimen of a turnspit dog, albeit stuffed. The breed appears to have died out with the advent of mechanisation in the kitchen. Source: Cunliffe, J (1991) 'The Turnspit'. Kennel Gazette, pp. 20-22.
"Whiskey" the turnspit dog, 19th century
  • This late 18th century turnspit would originally have been powered by a small dog running within it. The energy the dog generated was then used to power a mechanism that turned the meat cooking on a spit. Abergavenny Museum houses the last known example of a turnspit dog, a breed bred for this purpose.
Dog wheel turnspit, 18th century, Coed Cernyw, Monmouthshire