Notes from the Chairman

Well, as described elsewhere in the Newsletter, the great day for the Friends of Nonsuch came on September 6th when Professor Martin Biddle unveiled the much vaunted model of Nonsuch Palace. The model clearly shows, as no other medium can, that the ‘royal’ part of the palace was in reality as much a gigantic work of art as it was a building. The result is a triumph for the model builder, Ben Taggart, and a fascinating interpretation of Professor Biddle’s fifty-two years of research. Most of all, I hope youwill all take pride in this significant achievement of the Friends of Nonsuch  —without whom this goal would never have been reached. Congratulationsto you all! Meanwhile the routine work, which we have established in our twenty-year existence, has carried on through another successful season. Appreciation of that which we do is steadily growing and the good reputation of our
Museum’s presentation continues to spread, but we could do with more publicity. Sadly we still haven’t found anyone to takeon this vital job. In this day and age, publicity is an essential element in any public enterprise and needs a dedicated person, preferably with experience and contacts to handle enquiries and offer advice to the rest of us. If you can, please help. So the organisation steps up a gear now that we possess a unique artefact which is of national, if not international, importance and propels us into another exciting phase of our development. 2012 looks like being a year of wall-to-wall celebrations and we, at any rate, are prepared for it!

Gerald Smith

Nonsuch like it!

The unveiling of the Nonsuch Palace Model on September 6th can certainly be seen as an unqualified success. Guests of honour at the occasion included local dignitaries (the Mayor of Epsom & Ewell, Cllr Sheila Carlson, and the Mayor of Sutton, Cllr Gerry Jerome). Also invited were many prestigious guests from the world of  archaeology. We were delighted to welcome Lalage Lister and her sister Celia Mandelson, daughters of John Dent who researched and wrote the book ‘Quest for Nonsuch’ and was much involved in the excavation of 1959. Lalage’s book ‘Pearl of the Realm’ is also available in our museum shop and both are very popular. We were particularly pleased to learn that, by pure coincidence, the date we had chosen for the opening ceremony, Sept. 6th, would have been John Dent’s 100th birthday. Other extremely welcome guests were the former Chief Executive of Epsom & Ewell, David Smith, and his wife. David was involved with the model project as chairman of the planning committee in its initial stages. Chief guest was Professor Martin Biddle OBE, FBA, President of the Friends of Nonsuch and director of the 1959-61excavations, who spoke about the model project and performed the official unveiling. Our chairman said a few words expressing thanks to Prof. Biddle and introducing Ben Ruthven Taggart who had spent 1250 hours making the Model. Ben, accompanied by members of his family, then gave a short explanation of how he set about this mammoth and most intricate task. We very much hope that he will come to Nonsuch during 2012 to give members a fuller talk on the subject. Guests were given time to view the Model and, if they wished, to tour the Service Wing Museum, after which they were invited to a delightful buffet lunch in the Mansion House, a fitting venue for such a wonderful occasion.   Julie and Andy Gray and their staff are to be thanked for this very enjoyable end to the afternoon.

Joyce Shaw