Prince Charles visits Singleton museum

Prince Charles spent a good two hours at the Singleton museum which encompasses many of his own personal interests including rural crafts and conservation and met several members of staff.

The prince was greeted by pupils from Singleton Primary School who were dressed in Victorian costume and waving Union Jacks.

After being presented with a beautiful posy of flowers by Ellie Conway, three, the prince met museum director Richard Harris and several dignitaries including the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Susan Pyper (COR), and Chichester District Council chairman Councillor John Ridd.

The tour included seeing a school, an apothecary workshop with school pupils, sampling sweet treats in the working Tudor kitchen and meeting the stable staff.

The second part of the visit took the prince to the iconic Gridshell building, where he met and chatted at length to members of the National Society of Master Thatchers. Thatching is a craft he is particularly interested in and he invited the society to the visit after learning of its long association with the museum.

Master thatcher and North Bersted resident Chris Tomkins was involved with the re-thatch of the treadmill building and got to meet the prince.

He said: “I showed him different varieties of straw and showing him examples of roofs. He is genuinely interested in the subject and he is also quite knowledgable about the different types of straw and how you grow it. We are very privileged that he’s made the time to come.”