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Saving the two headed Lamb

Many in Billericay have grown up having seen Billericay's famous 'two-headed lamb' whilst at school and it's one of our most popular exhibits. In 2019 it was sent away to undergo conservation work in Norwich.

 

Taxidermy experts at the Norwich Castle Museum have returned it to its former glory and the lamb is now prominently displayed in a high quality case that was purchased through a grant from Essex County Council. We are grateful to County Councillor Dr. Richard Moore for his support in working towards the grant.

 

The Museum closed at the start of the Covid lockdown and rather than re-open once the situation permitted we focused on internal works in the Museum - redecorating, upgrading and reorganising - so it is only now, in late 2023 that you will get your first opportunity to see our priced lamb, nice and clean and in its very smart case.

 

The Lamb's history

The lamb was born on a farm in the Billericay area, dying at the age of six weeks. While the lamb was alive it was cared for by veterinary surgeon Timothy Shipp who operated his practice from 79 High Street, the former White Lyon Inn and part of the current Shelley's shop.

 

When the lamb died Timothy had it preserved and it eventually passed on to his daughter Edith Shipp. Following Edith's death the lamb was bequeathed to the museum. The lamb is on display on the top floor along with some of Timothy's veterinary tools.

 

The conservation process

In October 2019 the lamb was carefully packed and transported to Norwich Castle Museum by Tanya Burrage, the Cater Museum's Project Manager for the lamb's restoration. In Norwich it was handed over to two experts, Senior National History Curator David Waterhouse and retired Senior Natural History Curator Tony Irwin. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A preliminary investigation (from outside of the lamb’s case) found some evidence of Anthrenus, or carpet beetle. This is a common problem in museums and attacks amongst other things wool! However, the good news was that overall the condition looked good and there was little obvious damage.

 

Based on visual checks they recommended that the lamb was removed from the case; the case cleaned inside and out and tests done on the lamb’s fleece to work out the extent to which it could safely be cleaned. The ground display on which the lamb stands would then cleaned and finally the case repainted. 

 

The first stage was to put the lamb in a conservation freezer. Many museum objects are prone to insect attack and one of the safest ways to halt damage is to freeze at -30 degrees for about 72 hours to kill all stages of the lifecycle of any pests – from egg through to larvae and adult insect. At least it’s got a woollen coat on!

 

However, rather than a short 72-hour stint in the freezer David and Tony decided that it should stay there for 2 weeks to be sure that all bugs or larvae have been dealt with in this first stage. Brrrrrr!!

 

Following this a full “condition report” was conducted by a specialist in the Norfolk Museums Service to know exactly what restoration work needed to be done. We then got the work costed by the expert Natural History Conservators and the restoration underway.