Play@YSDC

Dunwich Museum - Dunwich, England
11:30 AM - Thursday, September 5, 1985

Chad, Raymond, and Salem left the inn and walked back down St. James's Street. After passing the old Town Hall, they soon arrived at the entrance to the Dunwich Museum. The sign on the front door said that the museum's hours were 11:30-16:30. A quick look at a watch revealed that it was opening time.

After checking the time, Chad goes up to the door to see if they are unlocked yet.

Following Chad's lead, "you guys think they may have a giftshop inside? I wonder if they have any disposable cameras for our trip."

"Good idea, Salem. It might be good to have some photographs to check out later - though I doubt anyone in town will be developing them for us." Raymond moved to walk inside the museum as well.

The door opened to reveal a surprised woman with gray hair on the other side, about average height and around fifty years old, only a few wrinkles decorating her face. At the same time, a bell overhead tinkled. "Pardon me," she said. "I've only just now unlocked the door. You're precisely on time. Welcome to the Dunwich Museum! I'm Amelia Cressy, the curator." She stepped back to allow the three men entry. "Come in, come in!"

The visitors entered a vestibule that opened up into a larger interior area. Within, they could see a counter along the exterior wall with a cash register. Shelves behind it stocked postcards, books, and various other items that might be found in a museum gift shop, including disposable cameras. In the room were a number of displays, the ones nearest the entrance depicting Dunwich's origins as a Roman fort.

"Admission is free," said Amelia, "though we do suggest a donation of one pound each."

OOC... or IS it?,Chad nods his thanks to the woman and checks to see if he has a pound or two on him while his eyes gaze around what he can see of the museum, wondering if he'll see a large stone cube and a Roman centurion.

Chad nods his thanks to the woman and checks to see if he has a pound or two on him. He glances at the gift shop shelves to see what sort of things they are about to be looking meandering through.

OOC,Come on, don't tell me I was the only one thinking that.

With a warm smile, Salem dug around in his pockets and pulled out a £5 bill. "Will this do?" as Salem nonchalantly holds the bill out towards Cressey.

Rolls,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3956450/]Attempting to read Amelia Cressy[/url]

Raymond never much cared for art, a lot of it didn't make sense to him. Portraiture he liked because at least he understood that and could judge it more objectively, but the rest simply confused him. History however, old tools and relics fascinated him. He let Salem's donation cover his own admission.

"Just in time, guess we're in luck. Do you have a little map or guide we could take a look at?" Raymond inquires of Cressey.

"Thank you for your generosity, sir," said Amelia, returning Salem's smile as she took the note and put it in the register's drawer. She took a small book with a red cover from the shelf and handed it to Raymond. "Your donation was enough that it will also cover this guidebook for Dunwich. There's a rough map of the town on the inside of the back cover, including where the streets and prominent buildings of old Dunwich were that are now submerged. You came so early that nobody else is here, so I can show the three of you around the exhibits if you like." Salem noticed nothing unusual about Amelia, and she seemed sincere to him.

Chad looked through the shelves, which had various souvenirs and books in addition to the postcards. There were small wooden anchors and model ships as well.

Looking over his shoulder to see if his associates were following along with the conversation, Salem nods and turns back towards Cressey, "I think we'd love to have you as our guide Ms. Cressey."

"Then let's get started," said Amelia, her eyes bright. "This way, please." She led the group to a model of an old Roman fort in a glass case near the entrance. "When the Romans arrived two thousand years ago, the shoreline was a mile further out, but it was already suffering from constant erosion. Dunwich had a bay in those days, and the Romans built a port there for the purpose of trading with the Continent. Many of their roads led to Dunwich then as well. It was an important center for commerce. They built a fort here that would have looked much like the one in the model." She gestured to the window. "Right outside is St. James's Street. Back then, Romans would have walked up and down it. Over in the next display we have a number of artifacts that were left over from Roman times."

"Thank you," Raymond graciously took the guide and flipped through it for any pieces of interest. He doubted that they would come across anything here, but it couldn't hurt to try.

The map inside the back cover showed the locations of the museum and inn towards the east end of St. James's Street. At the west end of the street was the St. James Church, the only one on dry land. The ruins of Greyfriars Abbey stood on a cliff overlooking the sea a short distance to the south. The map showed submerged roads beneath the sea as well, and the locations of several drowned churches there. There were brief descriptions of each of the buildings in the guidebook, as well as some discussion of Dunwich's history.

Gesturing his hand up in an attempt to grab Cressey's attention, Salem raises his voice, "how did sections of Dunwich become submerged?"

"Good question," said Amelia, as if she were a schoolteacher explaining something to a student. "It happened gradually, over a period of centuries. The bay offshore is constantly being worn away by the sea, and the tide is also pushing down from the north. In ancient times, its deposits had built up some land east of where the shoreline is now. The Romans saw how deep the bay was, and that the natural harbor made an excellent anchorage for ships, which is probably why they chose this site. However, that spit of land would not last forever. Over time, the forces of nature broke it down again. Old Dunwich was built primarily in that area, and that is why it now lies underwater."

"I heard that Dunwich was pretty important during World War Two as well, is that true?" Raymond asked with passing interest.

"Oh, yes," said Amelia, nodding. "Dunwich was part of the Chain Home Low system, used to detect low-flying enemy aircraft using what at the time was known as RDF, or Radio Direction Finding - though it's commonly called radar now. The site is still there, a ways south of town, if you want to look at it. You can get to it via the Minsmere Road. I was just a child during the war, and we didn't know anything about it at the time. The area was off limits then for security reasons."

"Shall we continue on our tour?" as Salem makes an effort to get the tour moving along.

"Of course," said Amelia, leading the way to the display case with Roman artifacts. She pointed out a couple of them. "Here we have a silver denarius, with the image of Emperor Hadrian. And over here is a Roman helmet that once belonged to a legionary. The crest is long gone, however, so we don't know if he was a regular soldier with a mohawk-like crest, or a centurion, who would have had a crosswise one."

"That's fascinating," Raymond says after Amelia comments about the radar work, "I wonder how they original came up with the concept of radar. The radar center here and all along the island must have saved a lot of British lives. I'd definitely want to check out the old site sometime later."

"Romans, Radar, and churches, it seems like Dunwich has a long and storied history."

"Radar saved many lives, yes," said Amelia, nodding solemnly. "It did more than that. Without it, we'd have lost the Battle of Britain, and thus the war. The Blitz was a terrifying time. It wasn't as bad here as it was in London or other big cities, but it was still a frightening experience for a little girl. In a way, it's a good thing Dunwich is nowhere near its former size, or it would have been a much bigger target." She returned her attention to the Roman artifacts. "Some of these, the Romans dropped on the ground and left behind. Others were found after they washed up on shore. The coin was one of those, found by a local fisherman combing the beach with a metal detector. His name's Zeke Baker, and you can still see him around sometimes."

OOC,Everyone is moving to the following thread.

Searching the Past