The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum is one of eight museums in Coventry and Warwickshire who have contributed 10 objects of local and cultural importance to the BBC's A History of the World.  

From the 27 March the Herbert will be hosting an exhibition of eight out of the ten-featured objects in the Covered Court area.  Unfortunately the Sheldon Tapestry Map of Warwickshire and the 1851 Rugby Ball are not available for the exhibition although the Rugby Ball will be part of the One Night at the Museum event on 31 March.  

One Night at the Museum  

It's the story of Coventry and Warwickshire - brought to life with some very important objects. There'll be special guest appearances, period demonstrations and the opportunity to experience the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum by night!  

Wednesday 31st March,
6.30pm - 9.30pm,
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QP

Entry is free and you can book your tickets now through www.bbc.co.uk/coventryandwarwickshire - or call 0370 901 1227 

Celebrate A History of the World with an evening of performances and activities, hosted by BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Annie Othen. 

The list of 10 objects can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/coventry and are as follows:

1. The Waverley Wood Handaxe
Warwickshire County Museum

This handaxe is one of five examples found at Waverley Wood. Along with other stone objects from the site, they are some of the oldest stone tools in the country. The handaxes were found with the fossilised remains of straight-tusked elephants, prehistoric horse and water voles - their age and significance for the history of early humans in the Midlands was soon recognised. The andesite rock they are made of is likely to have come from the Lake District and may have been deliberately chosen and brought into this area for its colour and appearance, which is very different to the local quartzite. The presence of these axes alongside the animal remains tell us that groups of an early form of human, Homo heidelbergensis, were moving around this area of the Midlands half a million years ago, in an Inter-glacial period. The variety of animal remains gives us some idea about the climate of the time, which was very different to that of today.

2. A gold Elizabethan Signet Ring
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Nearly two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, this 16th-century gold seal ring initialled 'WS' was discovered by labourers working in a field next to the burial ground of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Intriguingly, it would appear that Shakespeare had originally intended to endorse his will by attaching his seal to the document. However, he later crossed-out the word 'seal' at the bottom and just signed the document. Had Shakespeare lost his seal ring? The discovery of the ring caused much excitement and, in a letter to the poet John Keats, in 1818, the painter Benjamin Robert Haydon wrote, 'I shall certainly go mad!  In a field at Stratford-upon-Avon, in a field that belonged to Shakespeare, they have found a gold ring and seal, with the initial thus - W.S. and a true lover's knot between.  If this is not Shakespeare who is it?'

3. Sheldon Tapestry map of Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Museum

This tapestry was one of a set of four tapestry maps made in the 1580s. They were commissioned by Ralph Sheldon to hang in his new house at Weston in Warwickshire. The other maps showed Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire and would have hung together to create a panoramic view of England from London to the Bristol Channel. The maps were made at the Sheldon tapestry works at Barcheston, set up by Ralph's father, where local men trained alongside Dutch and Flemish weavers who came as exiles from the Low Countries under Catholic Spain. This is the only complete surviving map with the remaining parts of the other maps held in the Bodleian. It is an important piece because it's a rare example of an English tapestry of this period, reflecting the interest aroused by the publication of the first set of maps of the English counties in 1579. It is a pictorial record of Elizabethan Warwickshire, showing hills, rivers, open fields and forests, towns, villages and the great houses of the gentry. It shows the Warwickshire of William Shakespeare, born at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 – and the landscape which inspired the physical world of many of the Bard’s plays. Please note, Warwickshire County museum is currently closed for refurbishment but this object can be found online.

4. Rover Safety Bicycle
Coventry Transport Museum

The revolutionary Rover safety bicycle was developed during the 1880s in response to the need for a 'safer' bicycle than the large wheeled Penny Farthing bicycle in common use at the time. Cycle makers experimented with a number of designs but the Rover, created by JK Starley, became the most successful and most copied. With a diamond shaped frame, pedals below the saddle that power the back wheel through a chain and gears, handle bars to the front wheel, and forks supporting the front wheel, the Rover safety bicycle’s elements are all still part of the modern bicycle. It could be argued that the bicycle has brought more social mobility to more people than any other form of transport. The significance of the Rover Safety and its enduring and practical design that revolutionised personal travel cannot be over emphasised.

5. Whittle W2/700 Jet Engine
Midland Air Museum

On display at the Midland Air Museum is one of the early engines produced by Sir Frank Whittle's Power Jets factory at Whetstone, England. The engine is a centrifugal W2/700 which produced 2500lbs thrust and was also the type to be used in the proposed Miles 52 Supersonic Experimental Aircraft Project of 1944. Coventry born Whittle first patented his ideas in 1930 for the jet engine which culminated in the world's first ever successful liquid fuelled turbo- jet engine ground run in April 1937 at the British Thompson Houston works in Rugby. The first British jet aircraft, the Gloster E28/39 Experimental aircraft, first flew with a W1 Whittle engine on 15th May 1941 with a thrust of 1000lbs at RAF Cranwell England. This led to the Gloster Meteor, which became the first allied jet aircraft to fly operationally in World War 2.

6. 1851 Rugby Football
Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum

This leather rugby football was made by William Gilbert, the founder of Gilbert rugby and was made to be exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition. Although Gilbert was not the only rugby football producer by that time, he is thought to be the earliest and was the first to promote himself on this sort of commercial level. Of the 13,000 exhibitors at the exhibition, just 25 manufactured sporting equipment and only one related to rugby football. As it was still such a new sport, William Gilbert became the first major commercial producer with this template ball as his product. The ball was made of cowhide leather and, when it was produced would have had an inflated pig’s bladder in the interior, which was later replaced with a modern rubber bladder. The plum shape of the ball became the standard for 19th century rugby ball production until the International Rugby Board set the first international standard dimensions in 1892.

7. Cold Cathode Clock
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

From 1927 until 1st April 2007, UK clocks were set by a time signal transmitted from Rugby Radio Station using a variety of different equipment including this Cold Cathode Clock. This was one of the first pieces of electronic equipment, used from 1956 until 1959, to transmit the MSF signal from the station site at Hillmorton near Rugby. The clock was amazingly accurate, providing a time signal that would be out by no more than one second every 18 months. The clock's signal was used to keep the six pips to time, famously heard before radio news bulletins, as well as providing the signal for the speaking clock. It also had global coverage and could be picked up by laboratories and ships around the world. Ships could correct their chronometers and hence know their longitude accurately. This role was continued by the clocks successor the Atomic clock until the time signal was moved from Rugby to Cumbria in 2007. 

8. E-Type Jaguar
Coventry Transport Museum

The E-Type Jaguar first went on sale to the public in 1961. Its sleek design and great performance soon made it extremely popular both with the motoring press and those who could afford to purchase one. It became an icon of the 1960s, featuring in many movies, and many were owned by the rich and famous. The E-Type revolutionised sports cars' design with performance, handling and looks all ahead of its time. The museum's E-Type is one of the last 40 to be produced. This model was made especially for the 1975 Earls Court Motorshow, where it won an award for best interior coachwork.

9. Lyrics for a song by The Specials
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

The lyrics and their author represent a significant although short-lived cultural movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 2 Tone was the brainchild of Jerry Dammers and was a distinctive new sound that emerged from Coventry, combining elements of ska, reggae, punk and pop music. Dammers both devised the iconic black and white chequered label design and logo of the movement and fronted its most successful band, The Specials. 2 Tone bands challenged racist attitudes through their lyrics and celebrated cultural diversity in bringing together black and white musicians and the influences of black and white music. Too Much Too Young reached number one in the charts in 1980 and was followed by the equally successful Ghost Town. Although the heyday of 2 Tone was shortlived, The Specials recently reformed for the 30th anniversary of 2 Tone with a series of successful gigs around the UK including their home city of Coventry.

10. Coventry Strasse sign
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

This concrete sign is from a runway in France. The runway was used by the German aircraft which bombed Coventry in 1940 and was given the name Coventry Strasse after the raid. The sign was removed by British soldiers when the runway was captured and was presented to the city of Coventry in 1944. The sign now forms the centre piece in the award winning Peace and Reconciliation gallery at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. This gallery explores themes around peace and reconciliation through the history of Coventry, starting with the Blitz of 1940. 

For more information on the museums involved please visit the below websites

http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/museum 

http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/RoyalPumpRooms/Art+Gallery+and+Museum/

http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/leisure-culture/museums-galleries/museum-and-art-gallery

http://www.rugby.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200070

http://www.transport-museum.com/

http://www.theherbert.org

http://www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk/

http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/