A social group promoting the history and amenities of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
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Stow & District Civic Society
Next talk ....
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Friday, 1st Feb 2019
'Winchcombshire'
The forgotten county
By Tim Porter
Stones in his pockets
Wednesday 24th April 2019
Malvern Theatre
Next theatre trip ......
For those researching English Civil War history -
The Christie Crawfurd Collection
Stow has a marvellous collection of Civil War artefacts based around the Christie Crawfurd collection. Captain Christie Crawfurd (1859–1948) was in the 12th Lancers and saw active service in India. He admired Cromwell and started collecting all things connected to the English Civil War.
It is said that he and his wife were visiting Stow-on-the-Wold when his wife fell ill. They were looked after so well by the people of Stow that the Captain decided that, because of this kindness and the historical significance of the town in the Civil War, he would give his collection of Civil War armour, paintings and books to Stow.
Stow & District Civic Society has a large collection of information available in it's archives. These are currently held in the Library in St. Edward's Hall, Stow and are available for viewing.
A project is underway to catalogue these and details will be published here as work progresses.
The Death of a Cavalier's Wife, by Eugene Sibendt, 1919. Part of the Crawfurd collection and on display in Stow's St Edward's Hall.
USEFUL LINKS
Paintings
St Edward's Hall holds a collection of oil paintings mostly of the civil war protagonists but also some prints of people and places connected to the war. Most of the paintings are on display in the main hall upstairs when it is open. Special tours can be undertaken by arrangement.
Books
We now have a catalogue of the remarkable Christie Crawfurd collection of over 400 books - many of them rare. Click here to visit the catalogue.
If you would like to access any of the books, they are available at the Gloucestershire Archives.The archivist in Gloucester requires 48 hrs notice. The books are for reference only and cannot be taken out.
Armour & weapons
The collection of arms and armour is held in Stow but not all of it is on display. There are some items on display in the main hall and a selction is rotated in the Civic Society display cases at the entrance to the Library.
3 photos of the display cabinets in St Edward's Hall opened by Sir Robert Hardy in May 2014.