UNITE Rural life


The way of the Roma


Worcestershire County Museum, Hartlebury Castle, Kidderminster


The Worcestershire County Museum (WCM) at Hartlebury Castle is looking to radically transform its visitor experiences of the beautiful Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GRT) Vardo (the Romany word for a horse drawn gypsy caravan) collection.


The move follows the appointment as


Vardo Project Officer of Georgie Stevens (pictured), part Romany herself, who by approaching the GRT community to record their distinctive lives intends to help WCM visitors and the general public understand how these ethnic groups have contributed to British society – and rural communities particularly – for centuries.


Most of the nine Vardos at Hartlebury were acquired in the 1960s for the transport section of the museum. Opened in 1950 the museum also hosts costumes, and toys and dolls displays.


According to Stevens, “In older days all the wood on a vardo was carved and the carvings express strong relationships with animals, especially horses, wildlife and birds. Sadly, as the skills died out it became too expensive to maintain the practice. Colours from


natural backgrounds were important as the community wanted to blend in and be part of the local landscape and so used green, browns and rich reds.”


There are six different vardo forms. The Burton would be used for specific purposes such as carrying goods to sell at showgrounds or fairs. The Bow Top would house whole families and faced with such a small living space inside the waggon, then naturally as much time as possible was spent outside around the campfire. Cooking was done on an open fire.


Cleanliness was maintained according to strict rules and traditionally gypsies would only wash themselves in running water as a bath involves sitting in dirty water. No animals were allowed inside a waggon.


Sleeping was done inside and outside the waggon. Adults slept on the top bunk and small children in the lower bunk. Other family members would sleep under a cover on the cart, beneath the wagon on warm nights, or in a bender tent constructed from willow or hazel with a tarpaulin over the top.


“According to my auntie, who is a 34 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2022


district nurse, it was the coldness of sleeping outside across Herefordshire that contributed to her adopting a more traditional life when she grew up. My dad, who became an agricultural contractor, made the same decision,” explains Georgie.


Her paternal grandparents bred horses. Gypsies, whose roots trace back to Northern India over 1,000 years ago and who arrived in Britain around 500 years ago, were important in breeding horses that were used to transport goods and materials during the early years of the industrial revolution.


The GRT community sought employment while on the move and earnt their living by various means – of which agricultural work was central. With its extensive orchards, hop fields and fruit farms, Herefordshire and Worcestershire were popular destinations to travel to.


“The rural landscapes of both counties would look very differently today if the GRT communities had not harvested the fruit and cut down and processed the hops,” says Georgie.


Other occupations undertaken by GRT


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