Explore collections

Abertillery and District Museum was opened in a room in Abertillery library building in 1972 following the establishment of Abertillery & District Museum Society in 1964 and the associated development of the museum collection which commenced with the discovery by a founder member of a Bronze Age palstave. In 1996 the museum was obliged to move out of the Library building and established a temporary base in part of the ground floor of the Metropole building in the town centre. In 1999 Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council made the whole of the ground floor of the Metropole building available to the Museum Society under the terms of a 25 year lease (which has been renewed) at a peppercorn rent. National Lottery grants subsequently covered the larger part of the cost of a design for the display and storage of the collections and the implementation of that design. The Society has always focussed on the acquisition of items of relevance to the history of the local area or items associated with local persons.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The existing collection consists of a wide range of social and industrial history artefacts and a small geological collection. The museum also holds written records pertaining to the District and County and a photographic archive. The main elements of the collection fall under the following headings:

• Bronze Age palstave
• Roman pottery shards
• Farming e.g. tools and household objects
• Industrial e.g. items from the local tin works, iron works and coal and ironstone mining industries
• Transport items relating to railways, tramroads, canals, horse-drawn and motorised vehicles
• Military e.g. uniforms, weapons, medals, civil defence items, written records
• Education e.g. classroom items and teaching aids
• Religion e.g. bibles, awards, stained glass, literature
• Commercial e.g. shop items, signs, literature
• Domestic e.g. kitchen utensils, domestic products and equipment
• Toys e.g. prams, dolls, games, models
• Art e.g. paintings, drawings
• Geology – small collection of rocks and fossils
• Leisure e.g. sport, trophies, cameras, photographs
• Research material – small body of research by members and students
• Maps e.g. Ordnance Survey and mining maps (mostly photocopies)
• Clothing
• Miscellany e.g. cards
• Photographs
• Written records and memorabilia and newspapers

The collection has been mainly acquired by gift and on occasion it may hold items on short term loan for the purposes of a temporary exhibition.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum holds about 55 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; faience dish; glass vessels; jewellery; metal figures (fragments); relief sculpture; shabtis; cosmetic palette; stone vessels; tools. Objects are known to have come from the following locations in Egypt (with the name of the excavator/sponsor and year of excavation given where possible): Gizeh; Kafr Ammar (Mackay and Petrie – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1911-1912); Riqqeh (Engelbach et al. – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1912-1913); Saqqarah; Tarkhan (Petrie et al. – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1911-1913).

Subjects

Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Archaeological sites; Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Archaeological excavations

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

In February 1919 the Borough Finance Committee received letters from three Abingdon men, Mr John West, Dr Paulin Martin and Mr Thomas Townsend, offering their collections to the town as a nucleus of a museum. In February 1920 a Museum Committee was appointed. The collections were catalogued by Mr Bayzand and his assistant from the Geology Department at Oxford University. The extent of the collections was recorded as follows:

• Geology: 20 cases
• Minerals: 5 cases
• Recent shells: 5 cases
• Recent corals: 1 case
• Antiquities: 14 cases
• Zoological: 5 human skeletons found in excavating the basement of a local inn (no longer in the collection)
• Miscellaneous rocks and building stone

In 1927 the museum was established in the newly refurbished County Hall.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection

Archaeological finds from the Abingdon area are of national interest with outstanding prehistoric and Saxon material. The Bronze Age Barrows at Barrow Hills on the outskirts of Abingdon and Radley was extensively excavated in the 1920s by E.T. Leeds, and these finds are part of the Ashmolean Collections. Abingdon ware is a recognised form of early pottery. Later excavations in the Vineyard area of the Town Centre found evidence of continuous settlement from 700BC to the present day.

All existing archaeology collections relate specifically to the town of Abingdon within the historic Borough boundaries, and most were collected prior to the 1980 Service Level Agreement with The Oxfordshire Museums Service. The Archaeology collections cover a broad time span from the Palaeolithic to circa 1540 when Abingdon Abbey was demolished.

The County Museums Service is now the official repository for archaeological material and archives relating to the post 1974 county boundaries for Oxfordshire. Most of these collections are acquired by Oxfordshire following assessment and excavation in advance of development. Individual finds are either donated by landowners or acquired through the Treasure process.

History Collections

The first Social History items were donated to Abingdon Borough Council in 1919. When Abingdon Museum was proposed, some years later these collections were formally donated to the Museum. The Working Life and Personal / Domestic Life collections have been built up sporadically over almost 100 years.

Apart from the Founding Collections, donations from members of the public or local companies make up the majority of the present collection. Abingdon Museum’s Collections provide an important focal point for the town’s cultural history, which illustrate the lives of ordinary people in Abingdon over the last 450 years.

Specific collections of note

Working Life

The 20th century Working Life collections relating to the MG car factory, Pavlova leather works and Morland Brewery are particularly strong.

Personal Life

These collections include numerous toys and games, and a fully equipped Victorian doll’s house.

Textiles and Costume

A limited amount of textiles and mainly Victorian costume, including baby gowns, have been collected. The costumes of most note are:

• WWI leather flying helmet and boots
• Agricultural smocks
• Hidden items found in local buildings including 18th century baby’s cap and pocket and in a separate find of a pair of shoes
• 18th century shoes and pattens

Decorative Arts and Crafts

As part of the Founding Collections, there are a number of beadwork items including Native American Indian moccasins.

Fine Art

The collection includes paintings, prints and drawings that are either by Abingdon artists or are of scenes in Abingdon. The most notable paintings are:

• Indian scenes and local Abingdon views by Oswald Couldrey (1882 – 1958) who attended Abingdon School, served in the Indian Education Service and then retired to Abingdon
• Sketches and portraits by William Waite
• Oil paintings of two local landscapes by W.T. Blandford-Fletcher
• The collection also includes a number of naive works, notably portraits of a shepherd and his wife

Image Collection

The collections include a large number of images in the form of framed and loose photographic prints, mounted photos, prints, etchings, and drawings that have been arranged by subject matter.

Whilst copies of many of the photographs are also held in the Oxfordshire County History Centre, it is our aim to make these images easily accessible.

Natural Sciences

The Founding Collections given to the Borough of Abingdon included natural science, especially a significant collection of fossils collected locally, and a limited number of non-local modern natural history specimens, minerals and shells. Most of these collections have never been accessioned as Museum Collections, and remain in the care of Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council. However, a review of the fossil collections took place from 2014 onwards, with specialist assistance from university researchers. The resulting information was used to catalogue the fossils on the museum’s ehive database.

Many of the non-local natural history specimens do not fall within the current collecting policy and the shell samples which were stuck to cardboard display boards are now very damaged. It is proposed that these specimens will not be formally accessioned but will be reviewed, with assistance from appropriate specialists, in line with the current Acquisitions and Disposal Policy.

Handling Collections

The Museum also holds some items that are acquired and maintained solely for handling and other educational purposes. These objects are not specifically collected for their Abingdon provenance and are not subject to this policy. Their management follows best practise for the documentation and care of collections as is appropriate in respect of a collection of this nature.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection evolved from objects maintained by The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces from their formation in June 1940. Many objects were utilised to inform the rest of the Army about the role and function of this new force.

Within 12 months of the end of the Second World War, on 29th October 1946, a meeting of the Committee of the Parachute Regiment Association chaired by Brigadier Hill DSO MC, established the Museum of the Airborne Forces. Brigadier CHV Pritchard DSO supervised the collection of exhibits and produced a display.

It was initially placed in a disused officer’s mess at Corruna Barracks Aldershot, where it remained until 1949 when the mess was again required for accommodation. War Office permission was obtained the following year to convert a barrack block in Maida Barracks into the new Airborne Forces Museum. This was not properly housed until 1952, although King George VI visited it on 19th July 1950 during the Presentation of the Colours ceremonies.

The Museum remained at Maida Barracks until the Depot and Regimental Headquarters of the Parachute Regiment moved to the Browning Barracks site in 1968. This custom designed home was regarded as permanent and sponsored by a number of civilian firms and other regiments associated with Airborne Forces.

The original briefing models for the airborne operations of the Second World War – Bruneval, Normandy, Arnhem and the Rhine Crossing – could be displayed for the first time. Dioramas were set up to show the capture of the Pegasus Bridge and fighting around the Arnhem Bridge. Vehicles and weapons and equipment of the airborne soldier from 1940 to the present were displayed, including British, American and German.

Aircraft displays of the nose sections of the Hotspur training and Horsa assault gliders were erected, with an original Dakota aircraft, eventually painted in the D-Day colours, set up outside the Museum entrance. It became an iconic and much photographed back-drop to Regimental group photographs and a well-known Aldershot landmark. Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein – then the Colonel Commandant of the Regiment – officially opened the Museum on 23rd March 1969.

The medal room, designed to exhibit the valour, honour and pageantry of the Regiment and Airborne Forces, housed one of the finest medal collections in the country. Captured Argentinean guns and equipment’s were brought back after the Falkland Islands conflict and displayed outside.

Exhibits were rotated and special displays built to commemorate events including the 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the formation of Airborne Forces and key battle anniversaries.

When it was decided the Parachute Regiment, then part of 16 Air Assault Brigade was to move to Colchester, planning and preparation began to find a new home for the Museum. In December 2008 the Museum was re-located and re-opened as the Airborne Assault Museum at the Imperial War Museum site at Duxford in Cambridgeshire.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection contains associated equipment, weapons, uniforms, memorabilia, photographs, books, documents, film and recordings, relating to the evolution, development, history and traditions of the British Airborne Forces and The Parachute Regiment since their formation in 1940. In addition, items relating to international airborne forces that have impacted British Airborne Forces are included in the collection. How the collection is utilised and stored can be broken into 4 main areas:

The AAM Collection housed in the Airspace Hangar at IWMD Main Site displays artefacts relating to the formation, development and subsequent operations of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces. At the centre of this collection is a unique selection of Airborne specific uniform and equipment, trophy items and a multimillion-pound selection of honours and awards, from the inception of Airborne Forces through to those awarded in the present in Afghanistan

The Archive, located on the IWMD North Site Contains archival material from the formation of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces in 1940 to the present day

The Reserve Collection, housed at Bassingbourn Barracks, contains objects in 4 bespoke humidity-controlled containers

ParaData, AAM’s online digital archive contains digitised records from the archive and entries for all those who have been killed in service and for veterans to add their own profiles and accounts. Access to ParaData is provided online through www.paradata.org.uk and also through touch screen kiosks in the AAM Collection at the Airspace Hangar at IWMD.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum was established in 1973 as an independent charitable trust (The Aldeburgh Museum Collection Trust) with its purpose as stated above. It has been a nationally registered museum (No. 813) since 1988. The museum was awarded Full Accreditation status in 2007.

The charity was changed to a CIO in 2016.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collections consist of some 6,500 items relating mainly to local history, including a large collection of photographs, paintings, books, and maps. It includes many items of natural history and archaeology. Artefacts range from local prehistoric finds (mammoth remains; Neolithic flints), while most of the collection covers the period since the early settlements of the area, starting with Roman and then Anglo-Saxon settlements around the Alde and Ore estuary. The greater part of the collection relates to the development of the town of Aldeburgh, and its commercial, corporate, and social history.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collections of the present Museum, which was established in 1970 has resulted from the amalgamation of several collections, including:

• The geology includes the plutonic rocks and sandstones and also imported limestone for the Victoria harbour and fort building.
• Archaeological displays show Mesolithic and Neolithic tools, an early copper- bronze axe and other Bronze Age and Iron Age tools, examples of Iron Age pottery and rotary querns, and there is a large collection of pots shards, flints and other stone finds from Bronze Age to recent.
• Displays and stored items include tools from past trades and occupations, domestic equipment and early tourist items from the twentieth century and some of the 18th century Governor’s porcelain.
• Garrison and Militia items from the late 18th century to WW1 include several sets of campaign and other medals.
• Displays and stored items from the period of Nazi occupation of Alderney and the return of Alderney Islanders post WW2.
• Coins from the Roman, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries and commemorative coins.
• Artefacts from an Elizabethan period wreck.
• Drawings, paintings, prints, maps and plans showing the activities of garrisons, the harbour and fortifications.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

All collections are closely related to the island of Alderney, its geology, archaeology, pre-history, history (social and political) and Natural History and the sea and the seabed around it, and all periods.

The collections may include a small proportion of items that have little connection with the island other than having been collected by islanders. It is recognised, however, that these objects have important historical value in their own right and it is the Museum’s policy to retain them.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection

There are local prehistoric finds, including some bronze age bronze implements.

Subjects

Archaeology

Costume and Textile Collection

The lace industry is described under the science and industry heading.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Social History Collection

The museum holds the borough seal; artefacts relating to local dairy; children’s toys, dolls and a dolls house; local schools, especially Allhallows; a grandfather clock with only one hand; and the Awliscombe stocks. The museum has a penny farthing bicycle. There is World War memorabilia and three models of wartime aircraft including a Spitfire. Joseph Kennedy, elder brother of John F Kennedy, trained at a local military airfield and was killed over England in 1944 while on a mission to Germany. There is also the case of a German 220kg bomb dropped on the area during the War.

Subjects

Social History

Geology Collection

The fossil collection discovered in the rocks near Honiton, includes fossil sea urchins, ammonites, and the teeth of fish and sharks. There are also 100,000-year-old hippopotamus bones found beneath the line of the Honiton bypass in the 1960s.

Subjects

Geology

Science and Industry Collection

Honiton lace is well known nationally and internationally and this industry is a major feature of the museum. With origins stretching back more than four centuries, the lace industry flourished using out-workers and at one time in the late 17th century employed half the population. Honiton produced very fine lace and its popularity ensured the success of the industry, which also spread to surrounding towns and villages. Honiton lace has provided Queen Victoria’s wedding veil and the Christening robe for Elizabeth II’s children. There is an extensive collection of Honiton lace in the museum including examples dating from 163o onwards. There are also lace making tools. Pottery has been made in Honiton at least since the 17th century. The town also prepared whetstones using stone mined in the Blackdown Hills. Clockmaking is represented by the Murch family business, the museum has some of their tools and an example of a long-case clock. The Honiton Ironworks is represented by some of its products, such as a mangle and a farm feeding trough.

Subjects

Science and Industry

Photographic Collection

This is a small collection of photographs of local interest.

Subjects

Photography

Other

Agriculture; Archives; Fine Art; Medals; Medicine; Numismatics

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Science and Industry

Over 4000 industry-based items, such as the Print Workshop and Wheelwrights. The collection includes lime kilns and lime works buildings (many of which are Scheduled Ancient Monuments) and artefacts and documentary material relating to the industry. The major collections are chalk quarrying, limeburning, cement and concrete, industrial buildings, printing and graphic arts, radio, television and communications and the Milne electrical collection.

Transport

There is a good-sized transport-based collection. The major collections are narrow gauge railways, roadmaking and road vehicles and the Southdown Omnibus collection.

Archives

The Museum has a number of major collections for which the Museum also holds archival material, photographs, films and records of the industries. The Museum has a library with collections of books and documentary material relating to its collections. These include archive material on the chalk quarrying operations, the archive of the Southdown Bus Company, extensive documentary material relating to the radio and communications and journals. There is a separate library containing books and documentary material relating to the electrical collection.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The American Museum & Gardens was founded by partners in both work and life, John Judkyn and Dallas Pratt. They were inspired to create a museum in the UK that replicated the experience provided by open-air and decorative arts museum in America, such as Colonial Williamsburg, the Shelburne Museum, Historic Deerfield, and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. In creating their own museum in the UK they wanted to showcase American decorative arts, challenge stereotypes and improve Anglo-American relationships.

Dallas and John had a substantial network of friends who worked as curators and directors of significant collections in the US, were antique dealers, and collectors of art and antiquities. Using these contacts, they sought advice on how to obtain the best collection of American decorative arts possible with their available funds. In 1958 they began collecting in earnest and using their own money they travelled America seeking out the best examples to furnish their museum. By 1961 they had acquired 2,410 items for the collection, most of which was purchased by them, but a small proportion was donated by friends and supporters. The majority of these items collected were used in the initial displays when the Museum opened in July 1961.

In 1966, prompted by the tragic untimely death of John Judkyn 3 years earlier, the John Judkyn Memorial was established in his memory as an affiliated organisation to the Museum. Its purpose was to develop the educational side of the Museum that John had valued and provided education and outreach programmes, as well as travelling exhibitions. It’s statement of purpose was: “to encourage an interest in America through the medium of original artefacts brought from the United States and circulated throughout Great Britain as exhibitions shown in museums and art galleries and as visual aids to education in schools”. Items from the American Museum’s collection were transferred to the JJM and new items were also acquired for the JJM collection. These items were much broader in scope than the original American Museum collection and included many 20h century items. In 2001, the collections at the American Museum and the John Judkyn Memorial were combined under the governance of the American Museum. The 2,777 items held by the John Judkyn Memorial are now considered part of the American Museum’s collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

There are approximately 12,275 items in the American Museum’s collection. Less than 1% of these are on long-term loan, and of those loan items, most are from American museums.

The American Museum is the only museum in Great Britain to display American domestic interiors from the 17th to 19th centuries. Period room settings incorporate architectural salvage (rescued from historic American houses that were being demolished), furniture and furnishings. The decorative art collections are mostly American in origin, but pieces from other countries are occasionally used when appropriate. The period room settings are supplemented by additional galleries depicting the diverse cultures, histories and decorative arts of America. The collections and displays demonstrate the developments in American decorative arts over the centuries.

The addition of the John Judkyn Memorial collection to the American Museum broadened the scope of the collection and included more items from the 19h and 20h centuries and items that provided a more extensive insight into American social and material culture.

Significant holdings include:

Quilt and textile collection

Ranging from the 18th to mid-20th centuries, the American Museum’s collection of over 250 quilts is acclaimed as the finest of its type in Europe and the equal of many premier collections in the United States. In addition to the quilts are woven coverlets, Navajo and southwest weavings, hooked rugs and samplers. The Hannah Taylor sampler (1959.180) has been described as the most striking and well-preserved Newport sampler of the 18 century and is one of two items that the founders stipulated never leave the Museum.

Folk art collection

The Museum holds an extensive collection of American folk art, which includes naive’ paintings and sculptures, weathervanes and whirligigs, shop signs, decoys etc. as well as textiles, such as quilts and rugs.

Shaker collection

The Shaker collection – of outstanding quality – was sourced for the Museum by Edward Deming Andrews and his wife Faith Andrews. They were instrumental in acquiring the finest examples of Shaker furniture for collectors during the mid-20th century. The Shaker candle stand (1959.75) is considered the finest of its kind by collectors of Shaker furniture and is one of two items that our founders stipulated should never leave the Museum on loan.

Dallas Pratt Collections

Renaissance Maps: Dallas Pratt began collecting historical maps as a teenager. In 1988, Dr. Pratt gifted his 200 maps to the Museum – one of the finest Renaissance map collections in Europe. These maps show the changes in cartography during the ‘Age of Discovery’ and document early European exploration and understanding of America. Although most of the maps are printed examples from the 16th century, the collection also includes significant manuscript drawings from as early as the 12d century.

Compassionate Eye: Another passion of Pratt’s was animal welfare and in 1994 his collection of over 100 animal prints – collectively known as the Compassionate Eye Collection – was donated to the Museum. This collection includes significant late 19th and early 20h century artists and depicts American landscapes and animals.

Indigenous North American material culture

A popular collection at the Museum and one that is central to one of the most asked for school programmes. Most pieces from the collection are 19th and 20th century. There are a few items that are older. The Museum is actively seeking to acquire contemporary pieces to add to this collection.

New Mexico Religious Art

The Museum holds a small but significant collection of santos, 2D and 3D Christian iconography produced by itinerant artists in the American southwest. Key artists working in the 18h and 19h centuries are represented by work in the collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

Amersham Museum opened to the public in 1991 in part of a restored, Grade Il listed, timberframed hallhouse, built c.1480. The building had been saved by The Amersham Society and a group of volunteers who had fundraised to purchase the building in 1985 and undertake the major repairs required. The focus of the building work was to make the building safe, retain as much as possible of the original structure and remove inappropriate modern fittings so that the building could be appreciated by visitors in close to its original form.

Collecting for a museum was started by The Amersham Society before 1983, when no building had been identified as a location for the museum. The collection has primarily been focused on items relating to the history of Amersham, particularly the old town. It was amassed by local volunteers and was located in the British Legion Hall. A catalogue of the collection appears to have been commenced in 1983 as some items simply have ‘before I 983’ as the date they were acquired. At first index cards were used to record objects, photographs and documents in the collections. The catalogue on index cards was partially transferred to the Catalist computer catalogue in 1995. In 2006, the Catalist records were upgraded to MODES, and the opportunity was taken to simplify the structure of the catalogue. In 2014 MODES for Windows was upgraded to MODES Complete, allowing higher resolution images of photos and objects in the collection to be added as well as audio files and PDFs.

The museum’s collection now includes around 3,000 objects (including artworks), around 2,700 documents, around 6,000 photos, over 120 oral history interviews, around 660 publications, and a reference collection.

In 2017 a capital project was completed, which included the development of two dedicated stores for the collection. The ground floor store contains the social history collection (objects) and the upstairs store contains photographs, documents, maps and book as well as a workstation for cataloguing.

The ‘A New View’ project (2023/24) increased the collections storage for large objects through the upgrading of an outdoor storage area, and increased the museum’s capacity to display objects from its collections in a new temporary exhibition gallery and timeline display.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum’s collection focuses on the history of Amersham and the surrounding area. The locality of Amersham is usually considered to be within circa five miles of Amersham Museum and includes:- Amersham (Old Town), Amersham-on-the-Hill, Chesham Bois, Coleshill, Gore Hill, Holmer Green, Hyde Heath, Little Chalfont, Little Missenden, Mantles Green, Mop End, Penn Street, Shardeloes, Winchmore Hill, and Woodrow High House. We do not collect material that falls within Chesham Museum’s collecting remit.

The museum collection ranges from Mesolithic and Neolithic flint and stone tools to modern material commemorating Amersham history. The main grouping of objects include:

• Personal and domestic objects
• Late 19th to mid 20th century industrial and agricultural tools and products
• Photographs, primarily dating from the late 19th to mid 20th century
• 19th & 20th century documents and maps
• 20th century artworks

The collection also features items relating to national events as they were commemorated in Amersham and the surrounding area. The collection is catalogued under four headings:

Amersham Objects Collection

The Objects Collection comprises around 3,000 objects and artworks with a strong link to the history of Amersham and the immediate locality, that were made or used in the Amersham area; associated with local people, shops or industries or are illustrative of national events (e.g. wartime or Royal events).

This collection includes a small number of archaeological items found in the local area by field walking, small-scale excavations, or during building work. Any items found during planned archaeological excavations are deposited with the Buckinghamshire County Museum.

The majority of this collection includes a wide range of personal, domestic and decorative items from the 19th and 20th centuries; tools and products of local craft industries such as straw plait, lace making, chair making, blacksmithing and agriculture; memorabilia from Weller’s brewery and manufacturing industries including World War II barrage balloon manufacture, Brazil’s meat processing and Goya toiletries; and items linked to local organisations, the civic and religious history of Amersham.

There are two taxidermy items in the social history collection, a cockatoo and a Glis glis (both specimens have links to local history). There is also a Glis glis skeleton found during building work and a small number of fossils found locally. It is not the intention of the museum to acquire further biological specimens for the collection.

Amersham Document Collection

This collection of printed and manuscript material on paper or parchment includes around 2,700 original documents, letters, newspapers, maps, architectural drawings, magazines, minute books and ledgers that directly relate to people and property in Amersham and the immediate locality.

When appropriate, items are offered/transferred to the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury.

Amersham Photograph Collection

This collection of photographs relates specifically to Amersham and the surrounding villages. Although predominantly printed photographs, a growing number of items in this collection are digital scans of original prints that are retained by their owners, and modern digital images taken by local residents. There nearly 6,000 images in the collection.

A special group within this collection are the original glass plate negatives taken by local photographer George Ward.

Oral History Collection

The oral history collection of numbers over 120 interviews with local people, with the oldest dating back to the 1970s. Most of the interviews have written summaries and some have full transcripts.

Book Collection

The collection of accessioned books are key local reference materials and/or were written for and by local residents.

Reference Collections

The following collections held by the museum are used for reference and are not listed in the Accessions register.

• Reference collection of photocopies or digital scans of documents, maps, newspaper cuttings and articles from magazines etc. relating to Amersham.
• Book collection of reference books and journals on open access in the museum office for use by researchers and volunteers.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Anaesthesia Museum owes its establishment to the donation by A. Charles King of his collection of historic anaesthetic apparatus to the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (now Association of Anaesthetists) in 1953.

Since then, significant donors and collections have included the personal collections of eminent anaesthetists, most notably;

• Dr David Zuck
  • Donation in 1987
  • 139 objects
  • Collection includes early dropper bottles and facepieces and equipment late 1930s-1960s.
• Dr Thomas Boulton
  • Donation in 1988
  • President of the Association of Anaesthetists from 1984 to 1986
  • Collection includes some important equipment (Oxford Vaporizer and EM) developed in response to the needs of doctors during the Second World War and just after.
• Brigadier Ivan Houghton (Royal Army Medical Corps)
  • Donation date unknown
  • Houghton developed the Triservice Anaesthetic Apparatus (1980s), which could be easily carried by Field Surgical Troops. It was taken up by the Army, Navy and RAF around the world, and was the only anaesthetic apparatus to be used on land in the Falklands Conflict.
  • Donation includes some research/trial components for the Triservice Apparatus and other equipment made or modified by British Army Unit 43 Command Workshops during the 1970s.

Other notable donors are hospital anaesthetic departments, the largest or most significant collections have been donated by;

• Addenbrookes Hospital
  • Donated in 2000
  • 405 items donated.
• Great Ormond Street Hospital
  • Donated in 2014
  • Includes larger observation and monitoring equipment.
• Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford
  • Donated in 2007
  • 204 objects including equipment developed and manufactured by the department itself, including 1940s anaesthetic apparatus and a complete 1980s anaesthetic machine.

Disposals

A collection of controlled drugs were disposed of (by transfer) to the Royal Pharmaceutical society in 2019 as the museum did not hold a Controlled Drugs License.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection, and continued development of the collection, supports the museum’s statement of purpose:

The Anaesthesia Museum…..enables people to explore its collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. It seeks to collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts which are held in trust for society relating to the development of the speciality of anaesthesia. It promotes awareness of the history of the speciality amongst anaesthetists and the general public.

The collection has grown since King’s donation in 1953 to include over 4,000 objects dating from the early nineteenth century, when the specialty developed, to the present day. It spans the entire history of the profession including anaesthesia, pain relief, resuscitation and intensive care.

The Anaesthesia Museum is recognised by specialist researchers as the best collection of its kind, nationally and internationally. Its strength lies in Charles King’s original collection which contains equipment developed by pioneer anaesthetists John Snow and Joseph Clover; Snow’s 1847 chloroform inhaler and Clover’s 1877 portable ether inhaler. There is also an excellent selection of anaesthetic accessories such as mouthgags and facepieces, including early pieces from the 1860s and 1890s. Other significant items include prototypes for the 1988 laryngeal mask (which is still in use today) and a Manley ventilator, one of the most popular early mechanical ventilators. The museum also holds the ECG machine used during King George VI pneumonectomy in 1951.

The collection is used in permanent displays in the museum and opportunities to bring objects out of store for display are provided through the annual temporary exhibition and travelling exhibitions displayed at Association conferences and sectors events (for example, London Museums Of Health and Medicine’s Up Close and Medical).

The museum also has a small handling collection of duplicates and replicas. These objects support our aim to reach wider audiences and are used at travelling exhibitions, events and as part of our group visit offer to educational and community groups.

The Anaesthesia Heritage Centre maintains a rare book collection and an archive, which includes an extensive oral history archive. However, these collections are not included in the Anaesthesia Museum’s holdings and are therefore outside the scope of Museum Accreditation.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The majority of the initial collection items of the museum were donated by Louise Whitfield Carnegie in 1928 and came directly from the Carnegie family homes in the US and Scotland. These included art, photographs and archival materials. Additional collection items, deemed too precious to donate when the museum was established, were bequeathed to the museum following the death of Louise Whitfield Carnegie. There are various kinds of exhibits being showcased relating to Natural History, the Arts and the Sciences. Some objects of note include portraits of the Carnegie family and Architectural Drawings of the Carnegie Institute in Pennsylvania.

The museum displays were extensively refurbished in 2008, and include details of Carnegie’s industrial achievements in the United States, as well as some puppets from Sesame Street, a television programme that was launched with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum”, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Source: Wikipedia

Date: 2025

Licence: CC-BY-SA

The Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture is the first museum in Europe dedicated to a living artist. Andrew is a sculptor, jewellery maker and designer. He has created a vibrant space of colour and light to display examples of his work from over 50 years and to share with the world his unique approach to life and art.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Within the Museum you will find sculptures, mirrored portraits, jewellery and costumes from the mid-sixties to the present day. Andrew’s ground-breaking performance piece, Alternative Miss World, is celebrated with outfits and crown jewels from the 15 shows held since 1972. These performances take the format of a beauty pageant but revise the standardised notions of beauty to explore transformation, creativity and celebration, in a show that goes beyond gender, age, and nationality.

There are also personal items, created by Andrew for his friends, including the actor Divine, painters Luciana Martinez de la Rosa and Duggie Fields, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and filmmaker Derek Jarman. Andrew’s work and life are inextricably combined, and his friendships and collaborations with creatives as diverse as the Sex Pistols to Stella Mc Cartney are explored in the Museum.

Founded in 1991, the Museum is now a registered charitable trust but still works closely with Andrew to create a unique and surprising experience in the Welsh countryside.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society’s museum is the foundation of Armagh County Museum’s collection. The Society was established in 1839 and from 1856 occupied the former Charlemont Place School on The Mall East, Armagh City. In 1930 Armagh County Council acquired the premises by lease. A curator was appointed who built on the Society’s collection and in 1937 Armagh County Museum was officially opened as Ireland’s first County Museum.

Examples of significant acquisitions are:

The Tenison Collection of archaeological objects acquired by The Philosophical Society in 1861 is an important corpus of Irish stone, bronze and wooden objects is unrivalled in any other regional museum in Northern Ireland. (c.250 objects)

The Hull-Grundy collection of jewellery donated by Mrs Hull-Grundy between 1975 and 1982. Consists of c.150 examples of Victorian costume jewellery many made of Irish Bog Oak.

The Buchanan Toy Collection consists of early 20th century toys donated by Professor R.H. Buchanan, (c270 objects).

Rhodes donation consists of c130 objects ranging from archaeological objects to eighteenth century costume, fine furniture, paintings and silver connected with Gervais family.

Caledon Coin Collection consists of a small but significant collection of coins including 10 early hammered pieces, the earliest being a David II groat c1360. They are part of a hoard discovered in 1851.

Nelson Butterfly Collection consists of c1600 moths and butterflies collected by county Armagh naturalist Phyllis Ismay Nelson between 1940 and 1979.

The Dougan Collection is a valuable collection of c70,000 documents (probate, leases, miscellaneous legal papers) from several Armagh solicitor’s office.

The Scott Photographic Collection consists of c350,000 photographic negatives from a local studio of significant value to Armagh’s social history covering the period 1950 – 78.

The D.P. Martin Portrait Collection consists of c700 photographic portraits (cabinet cards and Carte DeVisites), of Armagh people with biographical notes covering the period 1860 – 1930.

The T.G.F. Paterson Manuscript Collection comprises 280 notebooks (c.25,000 pages) of mostly manuscript notes relating to all aspects of the history, archaeology, genealogy and folklore of the county and further afield.

The Blacker Manuscripts consists of 10 books of manuscript notes by William and Stewart Blacker (Co. Armagh 19^th century politicians and soldiers). Contains primary source material relating to foundation of Orange Order and an important history of Armagh Militia.

Charlemont Estate Papers consists of rentals, leases, estate maps and accounts (18^th and 19^th century) relating to Lord Charlemont’s estate in Co. Armagh.

The Philip B Wilson Library consists of over 2,000 volumes. Subjects include local history, church history, agriculture, archaeology, Irish Military history, transport history and architecture. It also includes a collection of 700 rare volumes relating to Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Also a Methodist Book Collection containing over 1,500 rare texts and volumes.

The most significant collectors were T.G.F. Paterson and D.R.M. Weatherup whose combined time as curators spanned 63 years.

Paterson was instrumental in creating a coherent collection in areas such as fine and applied art, human history, archaeology, and folklife. Weatherup’s continued to consolidate in these areas also strengthening the Natural History and transport collection. Both men built up the fine library (c6000 vols) and archive that is regarded as one of the most important local studies collections in Northern Ireland.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: Not known

Licence: CC BY-NC

The extent of Armagh County Museum’s collection is in the range of 360,000 items. The collections are diverse and span all time periods, concentrating on County Armagh, its people, built heritage and landscape. They can be classified within six broad subject areas.

• Art
• Folk Life
• Human History
• Transport and Industry
• Natural Sciences
• Support Collection

Art

The art collections include fine and applied art most with close connections to county Armagh. In excess of 3,500 items, the art collection contains paintings, works on paper, ceramics, silver, jewellery, furniture, and textiles. Typically the fine art comprises the work of artists with Armagh connections, portraits of Armagh people or topographical works depicting aspects of county Armagh. It is one of the largest collections of public art in Northern Ireland.

Folk Life

A proportionally small but significant part of the collection focuses on rural traditions and ways of life county Armagh in the context neighbouring counties. The collections fall into two categories: Expressive and Material Culture.

Expressive Culture

Concentrating on folklore and language; the collections in this area are mainly note books of the first curator, T.G.F. Paterson but also include objects such as paper ephemera, regalia, religious objects and folk art.

Material Culture

The Material Culture collections cover the subject areas of domestic life and textiles. There is also a collection (c.60 items), of agricultural tools and equipment.

Domestic Life, comprising objects associated with the ‘home’ and home-making activities such as household management, housework and childrearing. Objects include toys (c.600 items), ceramic and glass ware (c.250 items), furniture (c.60 items) and general household equipment, complemented by photographs and archive material.

Textiles (c.600 items), reflecting local textile production and use including patchwork quilts, lace, samplers, and hand-woven linen.

Human History

The Human History collections reflect evidence of people and events from the earliest settlers, through the main archaeological and historical periods up to the present day.

Archaeology, (c.4300 items), with a particular emphasis on material from counties Armagh, Down and Tyrone and mostly dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

History, collections cover a very wide range of objects relating to the political, social and economic history of Ulster especially county Armagh, from the early medieval period to the present. These encompass archival materials such as photographs (c.320,000), maps (c.350), paper ephemera (c.5,000), books (c.6,000), weaponry (c.170), coins, banknotes, medals and tokens (c.800). Covered in more detail in section 5 below.

Transport and Industry

The Transport collections cover all forms of transport built or used in county Armagh, mostly eighteenth century and later.

The collections include:

Rail, road and water transport

A fine collection of Irish railway equipment, ephemera and uniforms with an emphasis on rail and tramways that operated in county Armagh and surrounding districts, eg. Great Northern Railway, Ulster Railway and Clogher Valley Railway.

Smaller collections of similar items connected with road and canal transport.

Natural Sciences

The Natural Sciences collections have particular emphasis on the geology and zoology of the county but also surrounding areas.

Geology, over 200 examples of mostly local geological material (rocks, fossils and minerals).

Zoology, consisting of terrestrial invertebrates, mainly insects and molluscs totalling (c.2000), marine invertebrates and vertebrates, mainly birds and mammals (c. 200). Significant among this section is the Phyllis Ismay Nelson (1907-79) collection of moths and butterflies.

A small amount of related material including drawings and natural science field-books, photographs, and field notebooks.

Support Collection

Unaccessioned objects used for learning and research include the handling collection and most modern books in the reference library. These are used as part of the museum’s learning programme and by students and researchers. They are nevertheless catalogued but are differentiated from accessioned objects by the prefix SCA.

Archival holdings

There are several archival collections in Armagh County Museum, outlined below.

Map Collection

Both printed and manuscript maps (c550 items) ranging from nineteenth century OS 6″ series to estate maps, valuation maps and architectural plans.

Photographic Collections

D.P.Martin collection of photographic portraits (620 items) of Armagh people with biographical information.

Weatherup transparencies, (c4000) colour slides taken by former curator recording the changing face of County Armagh between c1965 – 1985.

Scott Collection (c350,000), black and white negatives from Armagh photographic studio made between c1950 – 1976.

Museum Photographic Print Collection, (c4500 items) mostly black and white photos acquired by the museum, recording the people and places of County Armagh.

Postcard Collection, (c2000 items) containing photographic postcard views of Co. Armagh and the wider area in the north of Ireland.

Estate Papers

Charlemont estate papers, (c100 items) including estate maps, rentals, leases, expense books etc relating to Lord Charlemont’s estates in Co Armagh

Local Studies Sources

T.G.F. Paterson manuscript collection comprises 280 notebooks (c.25,000 pages) of mostly manuscript notes relating to all aspects of the history, archaeology, genealogy and folklore of the county and further afield.

Dougan Collection is an important archive for the study of genealogy and local studies in the Armagh area. Many of the papers (c70,000) derive from several local solicitors’ offices including Joshua Peel and Munroe & Anderson. They include, estate papers, probate papers and documents relating to property.

Museum Library collection consists of c11,500 books and pamphlets on all aspects of the history of county Armagh and to a lesser extent Irish history. Includes some rare 17^th century books. Including collections of scarce Quaker and Methodist books.

Blacker Manuscripts, are a collection of daybooks, diaries, memoirs and albums compiled by William Blacker and other members of the Blacker family c1813-1880 (15 volumes). Contains important accounts of military and political events most notably events connected to the origin of Orange Order.

AE Archive is a collection of personal belongings, drafts of poems and plays as well as several hundred letters written by the polymath George Russell (AE). Largest collection of papers relating to AE outside the USA.

Source: Collection development policy

Date:

Licence: CC BY-NC

Foundation in the Undercroft

Arundel Museum Society (AMS) was founded in 1962 by a group of local people. At this time, heritage was under threat from new development and was generally undervalued. AMS set out to rescue and conserve as much as possible of Arundel’s past and aimed to create a town museum with the advice of Sussex historian, Roy Armstrong, and archaeologist, Con Ainsworth. In March 1964, the first museum was established in the old prison cells in the Undercroft of the Town Hall. In this evocative but somewhat cramped and damp environment, AMS built up displays of the history of Arundel and the surrounding villages. From the beginning, the Museum relied totally on volunteer management and stewards. It was a successful small scale attraction and one of the first independent local museums in the area, but it had limitations.

The High Street Years

The Museum’s first big opportunity came in 1975 when the former Borough Council Offices at 61 High Street became available. Arun District Council offered AMS the opportunity to take a lease on this Grade 2* listed Georgian building. With huge determination, AMS created a new museum which opened in 1977. At this time, AMS became a Charity. During the 1980s and 1990s, AMS faced new challenges. Standards of curatorial care became more demanding. Techniques of conservation were more complex and scientific. With a new national structure for the management of museums and galleries came the requirement for museums to be registered to show that they conformed to minimum standards of good curatorial practice. Arundel Museum was the first in the area to achieve MLA Registration, a considerable achievement. The Museum expanded into eight galleries. In 2000, the oral history archive gathered by volunteers was published as a book entitled ‘Arundel Voices’. A grant was obtained for a new display on the Port of Arundel, and this was accompanied by a new Town Trail way-marked by ceramic plaques by local potter, Josse Davies. In 2004, an art gallery was established to stage exhibitions. A regular programme of town walks, lectures and short courses was offered, and school visits were hosted. In 2005, a new formal MLA requirement, Accreditation, was introduced with more demanding benchmarks and the need for extensive documentation and policies to meet specified formats. Arundel Museum was again one of the first in the area to achieve Accreditation, which it did at the first attempt.

An Uncertain Future

From 2000 onwards, the Museum had operated under the shadow of an uncertain future. Arun District Council had expressed an intention to sell 61 High Street, and the lease would not be renewed. AMS tried hard to find alternative premises so that a planned move from one building to another might be achieved. Unfortunately, this proved impossible. Whilst efforts to develop a new museum carried on in the background, AMS was obliged to leave their premises in the autumn of 2007. AMS volunteers, supervised by a consultant curator, undertook the enormous task of packing every item in the collection and transferring these into stores. From 2008, Arundel Museum was able to keep a presence in the town by opening in temporary portacabin accommodation, sponsored by Geoffrey Osborne Limited and Speedy Space Limited, in the car park in Mill Road. In October 2011, the Museum moved once more to temporary accommodation, this time in Crown Yard Mews where it took on the role as the Tourist Information Point for Arundel.

Rescue

Returning to 2008, the Angmering Park Estate Trust, Arundel Castle Trustees and the Norfolk Estate came to the rescue and provided AMS with a vision for the future. They agreed to jointly offer an ideal prime site for a new building in the centre of the main tourist area opposite the Lower Castle Gate entrance. AMS became involved in a two-pronged attack to achieve its aims.

• Firstly, AMS needed plans for the new building. Architect, Graham Whitehouse created plans for the building and steered AMS through the planning process, giving his time at no charge. Jonathan Potter of Potter Associates worked closely with AMS to use cutting edge design and modern technology to develop an innovative design concept for the internal displays.
• Secondly, AMS needed to embark on a major fundraising drive to raise a total of £1.4 million to build and fit out its new permanent home in the heart of Arundel. The first step was to apply for funding to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Planning consent was obtained in March 2009. Early in 2010, the news was received that the first round bid that AMS had made to the HLF had been successful. This meant that the HLF awarded AMS a grant of £102,800 to develop and submit more detailed development plans and apply for up to a further £888,000. The second-round bid was submitted to the HLF in November 2010.At the end of March 2011, AMS heard that the second-round application to the HLF for £888,000 had been granted, subject to contract, towards the project totalling £1,414,500. This grant, together with £385,500 from Arun District Council, £50,000 raised locally during the previous year and funding from other sources, provided sufficient funding for the building to go ahead. Construction commenced in June 2012, and the Museum was officially opened by His Grace the Duke of Norfolk on 24 June 2013.The collection displays in the new purpose-built museum were selected to tell the story of Arundel from prehistory to 20th century. Illustrated by key objects and photographs in the museum gallery. This includes palaeolithic flint hand axes, artefacts from the roman period, medieval items through to Arundel Castle development and buildings, occupations and people of Arundel and its countryside. Specific cases are available for changing displays, using items from the reserve collection. Additionally, there are major Museum curated exhibitions, which draw on artefacts and documents from the Museum collection. This approach utilises the collection within the limited archive storage capacity. New acquisitions for inclusion are considered against this strategy.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum consists of the following collections:

• Objects (including documents) – 2760
• Photographs – 3746
• Archaeological material – 725
• Geological material – 104
• Oral histories – 169

These are all listed in the acquisition records and on the Modes Complete system. No more than 2% of the collection is on loan to the Museum. This includes objects from Arundel Town Council, Arundel Castle, and individuals. The remainder is owned by the Arundel Museum Society.

The collections contain objects related to or used within Arundel and the adjacent collecting area. These include:

• Documents
• Maps
• Photographs
• Pictures and prints
• Implements and tools formerly used by local rural and urban trades and industries
• A collection of weights and measures
• Objects related to local shops and trades which have now closed.
• Domestic items
• Clocks including made by Thomas Walder
• Costume, fabrics and items of apparel
• Local Archaeology, including collections of Palaeolithic and Neolithic flint tools, within the local boundaries defined by the Sussex Museums Group’s Archaeological Working Party in 2013
• A collection of fossils
• Building materials
• Items relating to the River Arun and Port of Arundel and ship models.

The Museum has a reference library with a collection of books and documentary material relating to its collections. There is an oral history archive that is digitised with audiotape master copies and transcripts.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection began with a large deposit belonging to Ash Parish Council. Ash Parish Council continues to be an essential partner.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Ash Museum holds 16,589 items relating to the history of the local area and all these items have been accessioned. This includes objects, documents, photographs and digital images. The museum also holds educational material not specifically related to the local area which is not accessioned and is in project boxes and used for handling.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC