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The Gordon Boswell Romany Museum is the lifetime's work of Gordon Boswell (died 27 August 2016, aged 76), who amassed a collection of artefacts, photographs, and several examples of the characteristic Gypsy wagon or Vardo. The museum also operates a number of non- Romany vehicles, including a horse-drawn hearse. The collection is housed at Clay Lake, Spalding in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
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Background

Building bridges to the non-Romany community was a tradition in Boswell's family. His great-grandfather had been an important source of information on Romany traditions and language for Victorian academics including
George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...
. Gordon Boswell's father Sylvester published in 1970 a best-selling autobiography, "The Book of Boswell", which portrayed the Romany life. Gordon Boswell gradually collected waggons, carts, and other artefacts of Romany life over many years. The museum that resulted was opened on 25 February 1995.


Access

The museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and
Bank Holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
s between roughly Easter and the end of October each year. There is access to all exhibits for the disabled. An admission fee is charged. The museum uses one of the wagons for organised trips in the nearby Fenland.


See also

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Vardo (Romani wagon) A vardo (also wag(g)on, living wagon, van, and caravan) is a traditional horse-drawn wagon used by British Romanichal Travellers as their home. A vardo must have four wheels, with two being used for steering. The vehicle is typically highly de ...
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Romanichal Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom; ...


References


External links


Gordon Boswell Romany Museum
– official site Museums in Lincolnshire Agriculture museums in the United Kingdom Transport museums in England Carriage museums in England Ethnic museums in the United Kingdom Spalding, Lincolnshire Romani in the United Kingdom Romani museums {{UK-museum-stub