5th September 2014:

Back in 2010 Oxford Archaeology North was commissioned by David Hunt of the Leyland Museum and Exhibition Centre to produce some information panels about an important local Roman site at Walton-le-Dale, for part of an exhibition in the museum. Physically the panels had to be light, so that they are easy to hang and fit the museum’s  pre-existing storage, but they also had to be cost effective and designed in such a way that panels on other local sites could be added in future, to form part of a modular suite.

With this in mind, the design was kept simple, using a single colour scheme to link all the boards for this site together. To maximize the display space, we produced two ‘text’ panels with a narrative text accompanied by maps, images, and illustrations, and two ‘picture’ panels that contained large images with simple expanded captions.

The panels met with great success and thus, the following year, a further five panels were commissioned on the Worden Roman and Cuerdale Viking Hoards, and again in 2012 a further ten panels, on Penwortham Church, Castle and Priory, Preston Friary, and excavations of medieval pottery at Samlesbury. Each of the site panels had its own colour scheme, but all were designed to the same broad theme.

As a result of the decision to make the panels modular, they are suitable to stand alone, or be fitted together as part of larger exhibitions on a variety of topics, such as the medieval or Roman period, or excavations, hoards, or simply all together as an exhibition of archaeological sites in the borough. These proved very popular, and in 2014 a further five panels were commissioned, focusing on the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological information that can be joined from the local bogs and mosses. It has been a very successful partnership so far, and one we hope to continue long into the future!