Audio guide to the Cabinet of Curiosities by Tros Hynt 

The exact origin and date of the Cabinet is unknown.

Amateur explorer and ecological heritage enthusiast, Tros Hynt[1] claims to have discovered the cabinet while walking near the source of the River Trent at Biddulph Moor.

Mr Hynt is insistent that the Cabinet emerged from the riverbed itself! Holding the somewhat whimsical view that the cabinet and its’ contents have somehow formed from the stories and hopes the communities of the Trent Valley have imbued into the River Trent over the millenniums[2] it has run its current course!

Other scholars remain sceptical of Mr Hynt’s interpretation. However, all agree it is an intriguing object with different compartments housing different objects tethered to the cabinet by what appear to be some form of river reeds.

Although the River Trent is the third longest river in the UK – running approx.185 miles from its source on Biddulph Moor in Staffordshire through central England to the Humber Estuary and the North Sea – the content of the Cabinet seems to reflect the stretch of the river and its tributaries that run through Stoke-On-Trent and Stafford in particular. 

Mr Hynt attributes this geographical focus to the location the cabinet emerged – speculating that the other stretches of this great river – such as where it historically marked the boundary of Nottingham’s Sherwood Forest – may have their own magical cabinets (or perhaps Aschams) lurking beneath the water waiting to be found!

Since ‘discovering’ the object Mr Hynt has been researching the different features of the cabinet – combining heritage and ecological information with his own speculations.  He has kindly compiled these into a ‘Trent Valley Cabinet Interpretation Guide’ to accompany the exhibition.

[1] Tros Hynt is most likely a pen-name, inspired by one of the theories of the origin of the name Trent, that it is formed from two Celtic words tros ("over") and hynt ("way"), possibly referring to the fact that the Trent was prone to flooding – or that it is a river that could mainly be crossed by fords.

[2] In the last glacial period–around 70,000 BC the ice held back vast areas of water, like the Glacial Lake Humber. When this ice retreated the Trent adopted its current course, and the more habitable land led to continuous human settlement along its banks for the last 10,000-12,000 years.  Although it should be noted archaeologists have also recovered rare Lower and Middle Palaeolithic stone tools —such as handaxes—pointing to much older, intermittent visits by archaic humans thousands of years prior when the climate allowed.