Little Eirinn helps Rye Museum

Jo Kirkham says: “We at the Museum love to encourage young people to become interested in the history of their town.

“One of these children is Eirinn Streeton and she has brought quite a number of her discoveries to the Museum for help in identification.

“We are thrilled to have made her an Honorary Member of Rye Castle Museum.

“The first item she brought was a button, which we found came from an early 19th century Exciseman’s jacket.

“One of her discoveries was a small china doll’s head. We were able to find several similar complete dolls, dating from c. 1865, in the Rye Museum’s Collections, and here Eirinn looks at them on a recent visit to the Museum.”
Eirinn is aged 8 and goes to Rye Primary School and has always been interested in fossils and searching for things.

Last year the family got an allotment on South Undercliff and they all spend a lot of time on there, Eirinn, assisted by Daisy her little sister (3), dug and sifted through the soil and found lots of clay pipes, clay marbles, lead figures, bits of pottery and glass, and a royal artillery button. It has become quite a hobby for her and she has a hunger for knowledge about her discoveries.

Her family often has discussions on how these items got there in the first place. Other people on the allotment are now more aware of the bits and pieces around them and some drop their findings off, for Eirinn’s collection.