What’s your jewellery story?

Artist Liz Waddell and myself have been collecting people’s memories and personal stories about jewellery in the last few weeks, as part of a project to introduce people to the story of a 4000-year-old bead necklace discovered in Leicestershire during gravel quarrying in 1999 and now on display in Charnwood Museum, Loughborough.

The discovery of the beads – in the grave of a Bronze Age woman and lying in the exact position they would have sat on the thread around her neck – is a rare one for England and has told archaeologists much about the activity of people of that time, both as they lived in Leicestershire and beyond. The beads themselves were made of materials from across Europe and their story of coming together and being part of someone’s everyday life here in Leicestershire is a mystery to us.

Hence the ‘My Jewellery, My Story‘ project, staged by Culture Leicestershire to encourage people to think about the meaning jewellery holds for modern-day residents of the county which might shed light on the meaning the necklace could have had for its owner.

But don’t despair if you can’t get to one of the creative workshops being held across the region as there’s a competition inviting you to send in a short story or piece of artwork relating to your own experience of jewellery.

Entrants have the chance of winning a £25 voucher for Charnwood Museum’s gift shop which they’ll receive just in time for present-buying at Christmas and entries will feature in the ‘My Jewellery, My Story exhibition’ that opens at the museum in January 2025.

Entries – on an A5 piece of card in landscape, if possible – can be dropped off or posted to Charnwood Museum. Digital entries are welcomed by email and will be printed off for display in the exhibition.

See images for further details and find the entry form below.