Karina took part in a two-week curatorial research internship in September-October 2023, hosted by the University of Oxford National Trust Partnership team and co-supervised by National Trust.
Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant is a 16th-century farmhouse located in a quiet, remote part of Wales. As the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan, the first person to translate the whole Bible into Welsh, the site holds a particularly special significance for the Welsh community. Though it is somewhat difficult to access the site, especially in turbulent weather, Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant attracts not only members of the local community, but international visitors who often repeatedly travel long distances to visit the site. Yet while its picturesque and tranquil surroundings is sufficient reason to spend an afternoon at Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant, the site holds a unique religious and spiritual allure for its visitors who frequently donate Bibles in their own language to add to the site’s own collection.
It is this Bible collection that was the focus of my curatorial internship work. I was tasked with cataloguing the almost 300 books that comprise the collection to identify the languages and different translations that were represented in the collection. More importantly, I wanted to discover what motivated visitors to donate their Bibles, and the numerous handwritten notes, letters and even photographs revealed that visitors felt a personal connection with the site and with Bishop William Morgan’s role in keeping the Welsh language alive. The donations begun several decades ago, in the 1970s or 1980s, and have only picked up pace since they commenced. Visitors from all over the world were moved by a need to keep their own languages alive by sharing them with others. As such, the collection includes both major languages but also underrepresented languages and dialects, all coming together in a powerful display of multilingualism. The notes people left revealed that they often donated Bibles which held special significance to them, such as the Bible an elderly gentleman had received when he was christened in his youth, or the Bibles that pastors used for preaching. The collection also includes children’s Bibles, hymn books and psalters, and theological commentaries. The variety of books in the collection demonstrate the myriad of ways in which language and faith intersects for the visitors who donated them.
As part of my internship, I visited Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant to see some of the books that are currently on display. I also visited Chirk Castle where a small number of the oldest Bibles are being held for conservation and where the 1588 Bible is on display. Working with books ranging from a few centuries to a few decades old gave me a valuable insight into the value of books – both materially and spiritually – and being able to work with them not just as objects but as conduits of personal connection and religious or spiritual connection emphasised the importance of heritage collections and their place at the site. These books challenge our usual approach to objects in most heritage collections where direct contact with objects is rendered impossible by glass screens and ‘Do Not Touch’ signs by encouraging us to open them and read the languages, even if we cannot understand them. The purpose of the collection as a handling collection, one which is meant to be opened, studied and discussed, provides a new way of thinking about and approaching visitor interactions and engagement with objects. The Bible collection at Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant is fascinating in many respects, and what holds it together is the visitors who want their own languages to be present alongside the story of the Welsh Bible translation.
Karina Atudosie is a DPhil student in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, researching the representations of biblical and Mesopotamian royal women. Outside of her immediate area of research, Karina is particularly interested in object-based teaching and the place of ancient culture and objects in heritage collections.
Image credit: Karina Atudosie
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