Dorset’s keeper of the past

Rob Gray: history-loving boy, former precious painting courier and now Wimborne’s museum curator cataloguing 40,000 pieces of Dorset’s past

Rob Gray is squirrelled away in what he affectionately calls his ‘shed’. This is the engine room of one of Dorset’s smallest and most idyllic museums – Wimborne’s Museum of East Dorset (MED).
Shelving runs down the length of the room, neatly stacked with boxes containing a fascinating journey through time. A stunning Victorian dolls’ house sits alongside a magnificent magic lantern, the 19th century’s image projector. Rows of Roman pottery stand to attention. A firefighter’s battered leather helmet, dating back to Wimborne Fire Station circa 1880, is carefully wrapped. You can’t help but wonder about the head that wore it …

Rob’s been the collections and experience manager at this award-winning museum for just over a year. One of his many jobs is painstakingly cataloguing every single archived item – that’s around 40,000 pieces. He describes it as a labour of love – and possible only with the help of an army of dedicated volunteers.
Rob is also responsible for the 11 museum galleries housed in the beautiful 16th century building. When we speak, he just launching a new exhibition. The current, hugely popular, Rebellion and Revolt, which has been vividly detailing the impact of the English Civil War on East Dorset civilians, will be replaced by ‘I Grew Up 90s’. This marked contrast is an homage to the era of the Spice Girls, Lara Croft, Nokia phones and Tamagotchis. Yes … the 1990s is now consigned to museum-worthy history!

‘I curate two special exhibitions a year and am always working a year ahead, pitching ideas to the museum director and trustees,’ says Rob. ‘We’re a charity and a community museum, and budgets are tight, so I call in favours from other museums. I can be a charmer when I’m asking to borrow!
‘My exhibitions are known for being historically accurate, fun … and maybe a bit quirky.’
All research, writing, interpretation panels, even painting the walls and changing the lightbulbs, is down to Rob. His passion for history is infectious, and you definitely want him on your pub quiz team.
‘As a kid I adored reading. I devoured books from my local library, which had a brilliant historical section. I remember winning a writing project at primary school. I chose the English Civil War. I’d never won anything before – I was really chuffed.’
During school holidays, Rob and his dad – hugely influential in his life – would explore castles and historic houses together in the north of England and Scotland. ‘Other kids wanted to go to games arcades. I wanted museums and castles.’
This history obsession led to studying medieval and modern history at Southampton University. ‘The syllabus covered the Crusades to Hitler. I had a truly inspirational lecturer, Professor Edgar Feuchtwanger OBE. As a German Jew who grew up on the same street as Hitler in Munich, Edgar really could bring history alive – he’d actually lived it.’

Come 1997, the boy who wandered around stately homes got the chance to live in one! Rob was appointed house steward at Dorset’s famous Kingston Lacy. Responsible for organising the cleaning, maintenance, mothballing and repairs of this acclaimed historic home, he was also a live-in security guard: ‘I lived above the shop – but what a shop! When the public left, you had the house and grounds to yourself. That was special.’
Promoted to house and collections manager, Rob had the dream opportunity of combining his love of history with his passion for travel.
‘Artwork is loaned to galleries and museums around the world. Kingston Lacy’s incredible collection of works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Tintoretto – to name but a few – were in high demand. Acting as a courier, I would accompany these hugely valuable pieces. As you can imagine, all the conditions must be right for travel. It was my responsibility to get the artwork there in one piece and then oversee its installation.
‘That’s a tad stressful. Picture the scene: Italian crane driver, smoking a fag while dangling a multi-million-pound painting from a winch high above a gallery in Rome’s Palazzo di Venezia. I had to cover my eyes!
‘Most people never use their history degree, but I’ve been lucky enough to make a living with mine. Here I am, doing what I love, in this gorgeous museum and aiming to get others hooked too. History never stands still.’

• museumofeastdorset.co.uk
• I Grew Up 90s opens on 16th November and runs until 29th March 2025

Rob’s special quick fire questions:
Among the thousands of Museum of East Dorset exhibits, what’s your …
• Oldest?
Some of the prehistoric tools on display in the Landscape Gallery are thousands of years old.
• Weirdest?
The mummified cat found in the building that is now the Santander Bank in Wimborne High Street. It was used to ward off evil spirits.
• Coolest?
German Luftwaffe chocolate. It was ‘rescued’ (pinched!) from a German bomber that crashed at Sturminster Marshall during the second world war.
• Rarest?
The Iron Age skeleton of a man (400 – 200 BC) in the Life and Death Gallery. His spine reveals that he died of TB, one of the earliest prehistoric cases of TB recorded in Britain.
• Most under-appreciated?
The current exhibition in the Voices Gallery, showcasing the talent of local artist Nic Rawling and The Paper Cinema (on loan).
• Favourite?
Vinegar Valentine cards in the Stationers Gallery. A selection of satirical Victorian Valentine cards – some are downright rude! – they were used to firmly rebuff unwanted amorous attention.