Museum Displays

In the early days we spent most of the time digging the site and discovering finds, many of which are on display in the museum in our visitor centre.

This article shows the finds in the various sections. We’ve had finds on show since the visitor centre was built in 2018, then our Green Community Grant in 2022 provided metal display racks and solar powered shelf lighting to show exhibits at their best, plus two multimedia screens for videos and slideshows.

Nar Valley Map Panel

The River Nar map shows the entire length of the river from Mileham to Kings Lynn with information about key places along the route including the bone mill. 

Multimedia Display Screens

The main multimedia screen on the wall shows a video of our water wheel turning and a slideshow of our model mill. The small screen in the old store room has slideshows of making the wildflower meadow and the meadow in flower, all exhibits on display in this room were discovered when making the meadow.

Elevator Buckets

The bottom boot of the elevator discovered in situ near the water wheel used metal buckets on a chain to transfer ground fertilizer to the top floor for bagging, several buckets were found on site which are displayed on wooden shelves.

Human Skull Bone

The frontal bone from a human skull discovered in one of the tunnels is on display in a wooden case in the illuminated cabinet.

Sulphuric Acid Jars

Fragments and large pieces of curved coated glass jars were found, these were used for storing sulphuric acid which was used in the fertilizer making process, they are displayed on illuminated shelves.

Metal Parts

All kinds of metal parts were found from nails to large pieces of machinery. We don’t know what they all are, but many are on show, small parts are on shelves in the visitor centre and large parts are on our outdoor display. Many metal parts were probably made by the on site Blacksmith.

Coins

Most of the coins were found by Barry who was a detectorist, they are on a display board with numbered labels and an explanation sheet with details of the coins. For more coins and other items found by Barry, see the Finds 2017 & 2018 article.

Clay Pipes

A number of bowls and stems from clay pipes were found, these are on one of the white display boards. See here for more info about clay pipes.

Bones

Many different size animal bones were found which are displayed on our shelves, including skulls which are probably rabbits or sheep.

Coprolites

These are fossilised animal dung, they were ground up for fertilizer as well as bones, one of the mill workers was a coprolite grinder. Some coprolites are on our shelves.

Pictures

We have three historic pictures displayed, two showing the mill in its working days and one showing it being demolished. We also have pictures of the water wheel being restored and volunteers working in the early days.

Sack Barrows and Chain

There are two sack barrows on display, these would have been used for carrying sacks of fertilizer. The chain is an old unit of measurement, it is displayed on the barrows.

The Maltings

Bottles on our top shelf were found at the maltings which is a mile upstream from the mill, we also have part of a Saladin Box which turned the malt on display outside. There are pictures from the inside of the maltings, aerial views, a malt shovel and bag counter.

Mammoth Bones

Bones, teeth and tusks from woolly mammoths and woolly rhinoceros found across the fields in Pentney gravel pits (now Pentney Lakes) are on display in our illuminated cabinet. These were given to us by the heritage centre which closed in 2016.

For more information about finds discovered on site, see the Major Finds section, also the interactive plan.