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Bishop’s Stortford Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q113370202
Instance of:
museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
859
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113370202/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Cornucopia)

    Personalia

    The Rhodes Collection includes military uniform, his dress clothes, school blazers, flags and cloths including material relating to Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) and to Sir Herbert Taylor (1865-1943) and books on Rhodesia and Africa from the collections Mr Hugh Marshall, a former colonial officer in Northern Rhodesia, and other donors. The collection of the former Rhodes museum, which were acquired in 1938, include various pieces of furniture, household effects and memorabilia associated with the life and times of Cecil Rhodes, including portraits of Rhodes and his associates. Items were also donated which had belonged to his brother, Frank, to Louisa Rhodes and to his father Rev. Francis Rhodes. Personal items include watches, clocks, prayer books, walking sticks and cigarette case. The ethnographic collections include basketwork, beadwork, woodcarving, tools and weaponry, musical instruments, masks and domestic art from many countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Portraits, watercolours, etchings and a collection of watercolours detailing Rhodesian flowers by Agnes Strickland.; The Rhodes collection includes an archive of images from Southern Africa from the mid 19th century, Rhodes family portraits and views of Bishops Stortford. Also postcards of local views, Rhodes House and African views. There is a small collection concerning mining and geology in southern Africa.

    Local and Social History

    The museum holds collections of domestic items including household equipment, tools, tins, needlework items, china and glass and toys and games, sports and recreations such as cinema and theatre programmes. Local trades and industries are represented by carpentry handtools, shoemaking tools and accessories, bricks and brickmaking tools, plumbing tools and accessories, measures, shop fittings and signs relating to local trades and printing machinery and items from other local industries. The museum has a small collection of agricultural hand tools. There is a small collection of local costume mainly Victorian/Edwardian. There is a small collection of local archaeology, both stray finds and material from local digs, including pottery and other artefacts, a stone coffin and skeleton, plaster panels and timber sections. The collection includes local history documents, printed ephemera and the archive of Sir Walter Gilbey. The museums local collections include about 630 photographs of local views and people and about 200 postcards.

    Archives

    The major local history archive is that of Sir Walter Gilbey, and contains personal correspondence, documents of the W and A Gilbey Wine Co and the family connections. The Rhodes collection includes letters, official documents, wills, birth certificates, newspapers and journals, books and printed material such as histories of southern Africa, Rhodes biographies, maps, albums, programmes and catalogues. The collection includes newspapers letters, books photographs and other items belonging to Sir Herbert Taylor (1865-1943) Chief Native Commissioner, Matabeleland, 1895-1913, Chief Native Commissioner, Southern Rhodesia 1913-28.

    Source: Cornucopia

    Date: Not known, but before 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Bishop’s Waltham Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q113370023
Instance of:
museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2325
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113370023/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection history (Collection development policy)

    The Bishop’s Waltham Historical Collection opened in 1898 in the hallway of the Bishop’s Waltham Institute in Bank Street. It comprised items collected by local antiquarians, items from the parish council such as the bell from the demolished market hall, padlock from the local stocks and collected items such as prints, paintings, coins and locally made clocks. In the early days the objects were looked after by the schoolmaster. On his death they came under the care of the Parish Council and were renamed the “Parish Treasures”.

    Around 1980 a group of local historians got together to discuss the possibility of a proper museum in Bishop’s Waltham and the Bishop’s Waltham Museum Society was born. The members scoured the town for suitable premises for a permanent museum. They found a derelict outhouse behind Barclays Bank.

    After several months of discussions a lease was arranged at a peppercorn rent. The Bishop’s Waltham Museum Society became the Bishop’s Waltham Museum Trust a registered Charity. Extensive repairs and refurbishments were carried out by local traders and volunteers and the Museum opened at Easter 1987. For 15 years the museum opened regularly from April to October. The collection grew with donations from local people of social history until the room for display and storage was becoming a problem.

    In 2002 the opportunity arose to open negotiations once again with Barclays Bank on the possibility of leasing the adjoining kitchen. Barclays agreed that the Museum could lease the kitchen on the same terms as the Scullery. After 2 years of discussions with solicitors, consultants, builders etc. an archway between the two rooms was eventually constructed in February 2004. The new Museum re-opened in April 2005.

    John Bosworth was Curator until 2005 when he died after a long illness. John was responsible for the collection as it is now. He devoted his life to the museum, collecting artefacts and keeping a photographic testimony of the village life. With his death a lot of knowledge and information was lost. While the provenance of objects cannot be re-established, documentation has since been improved.

    In 2006, Barclays Bank building was sold and the peppercorn rent agreement expired. Search for suitable premises began. The only obvious building was the farmhouse within the grounds of the ancient Bishop’s Waltham Palace, one of the palaces of the Bishops of Winchester. Discussion with English Heritage started and an agreement was signed in September 2008 whereby the museum would be housed in the ground floor of the Palace Farmhouse. Under the present Maintained Property Agreement (MPA), the Museum has free use of the building, heating and lighting but contributes towards rates and water cost. In return the Museum Trust has the responsibility to open, close and inspect the Palace Grounds in addition to running the museum. The upper floor is reserved for English Heritage Palace exhibition, which was kept in the building after English Heritage vacated. This collection mostly comprises finely carved masonry from the palace buildings and a model of the palace.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2021

    Licence: CC BY-NC

  • Collection overview (Collection development policy)

    The collection is comprised of artefacts and archaeological material covering pre-history through to the present day. The Victorian period is particularly well covered with exhibits of the local terracotta, brick and tile works and other local businesses, domestic and agricultural objects.

    The Parish Treasures

    The Parish Treasures are the original items in the collection. At present they are on long loan from the Parish Council but it is hoped they will be acquired by the museum in 2030.

    English Heritage Collection

    These items, mainly carved masonry, remain the responsibility of English Heritage but form an important display in the museum relating to the Palace itself.

    Archaeology

    The collection is comprised mainly of field walking materials and of finds from the Southbrook excavation. All the material is from within the Parish of Bishop’s Waltham. The period represented is from prehistoric to the early modern.

    Archive and printed ephemera

    The collection contains deeds and plans, maps, Parish magazines, business invoices, trade catalogues, pamphlets and many unrelated items from within the collection area.

    There is a small library of books and articles relevant to the history of Bishop’s Waltham but these are not part of the collection.

    Photographs

    The photograph collection of the previous curator is extensive and in the process of being catalogued. It includes copies of early photographs and postcards and his own personal photographs taken over decades. Over 2,500 photographs have been scanned and catalogued with approximately 500 to go.

    Social and Industrial history

    Domestic items are associated with the home, laundry, preparation of food, local pastimes and sport.

    Trade items are associated with Mrs Askew Shop, Gunners bank, Arthur Helps terracotta pottery, Blanchard brick and tile work, local mineral water and brewery businesses, Padbury clockmaker, Etheridge blacksmith

    Austin and Wyatt property management documents have been acquired as an archive and are in the process of being sorted before accessioning individual items related to the parish.

    Agricultural life

    The collection includes various tools and equipment used on local farms.

    Military History

    The collection consists mainly of material from the two World Wars and a small number of items related to the Bishop’s Waltham Palace and the Civil war.

    Art and paintings

    The collection includes eighteen century prints of BW palace, framed photographs and 19th century oil paintings representing the village square, and 20th century paintings of the town and station.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2021

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Bishopsteignton Heritage

Wikidata identifier:
Q113369973
Also known as:
Bishopsteignton Museum of Rural Life
Instance of:
museum
Accreditation number:
T 664
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113369973/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Black and White House Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q113369746
Also known as:
Old House Museum
Instance of:
museum; local authority museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
751
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113369746/
Collection level records:
Yes, see Herefordshire Museum Service

Black Country Living Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q880185
Responsible for:
Locksmith’s House
Also known as:
Black Country Museum
Instance of:
living museum; open-air museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum; Designated collection
Accreditation number:
761
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q880185/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Cornucopia)

    Social History Collection

    The ironmongery collections have been actively built up over many years, and now offer good coverage of local products, including edge tools, enamelled holloware, galvanised holloware, and tinware. The museum has 300 items relating to public houses, many from the Fox Inn at Dudley. It also has a reconstructed public house, the Bottle and Glass Inn from Brockmoor in Brierley Hill. The domestic life collections are particularly strong on material relating to cooking, washing and sewing, and there are good community life collections in the fields of education and the cinema. Retailing collections include extensive coverage of grocery, chemists’, ironmongery and hardware items. The museum has large collections relating to daily life in the Black Country. These include extensive coverage of ironmongery, public houses, domestic life and retailing.

    Subjects

    Food and drink; Shops (commerce); People (children); Cinema; People (society); Social History; Cleaning and laundry; People

    Science and Industry Collection

    The collection of iron founding equipment includes 300 foundry patterns and moulder’s tools. There is a good range of locally-made cast iron products, including items from Cannon’s of Bilston, and the Kenrick loan collection. There is a large collection of blacksmith’s tools and equipment, including a Goliath hammer, an oliver hammer, and the entire contents and actual building of a ten hearth oliver shop from Blackheath Chainmaking equipment has been collected from several local sources, and includes a backyard chainshop and women’s chainmaking tools. The museum has good collections in a variety of Black Country metalworking trades, including screw making, edge tool making and sheet metalworking. Large scale manufacturing industries represented in the collections include coal mining, chemical engineering and construction. The engineering collection includes steam engines, pumps, electrical engineering and engineering models. Other trades covered in the collections include cooperage, woodworking, plumbing, leather working and shoe repair. Collections relating to food production include a slaughterhouse, a bakery and sweet making equipment. The collections relating to Black Country working life are the most extensive in the museum. They include material from an extensive range of metalworking trades and industries, mining, chemical engineering, construction, wood and leather working collections, and slaughterhouse, bakery and sweetmaking equipment.

    Subjects

    Food processing; Chemicals; Industry and commerce; Iron and steel manufacture; Construction; Science and Industry; Wood; Mechanical engineering; Manufacturing; Coal mining; Metal working; Electrical engineering

    Transport Collection

    The museum’s transport collections include locally-built vehicles, trams and trolley-buses, and an outstanding collection of canal boats and associated boatbuilding equipment. There are 11 tramcars, 2 horse trams, a double decker tramcar, and three trolleybuses. The tramcars serve not merely as exhibits, but also as transport around the extensive site. Canal transport items include 8 canal boats, a working boat dock and boatbuilders’ tools. The canal collection is outstanding, including extensive boatbuilding and maintenance equipment. The museum’s collections include a small number of locally-made vehicles, including a Bean car and lorry, a Star car and lorry, an AJS car, a Guy bus and chassis, and three Sunbeam bicycles.

    Subjects

    Car and lorry manufacture; Transport; Railways and guided systems; Horse-drawn transport; Inland waterways

    Costume and Textile Collection

    The collection is dominated by women’s costume. There is a small group of authenticated Black Country men’s working class costume. The collection is dominated by women’s costume, including underwear, nightwear and accessories. There is a small group of authenticated Black Country men’s working class costume.

    Subjects

    Costume (leisurewear); Costume and Textile; Costume (workwear)

    Agriculture Collection

    The collection consists of tools, and a small collection of items relating to livestock. Tools and material related to livestock.

    Subjects

    Agriculture; Food processing

    Other

    Other items relating to the Black Country.

    Subjects

    Geology; Maritime; Music; Coins and Medals; Numismatics; Oral history; Personalia; Photographic equipment; Photography; Coins and Medals; Documents (personal); Documents (historic); Documents (commercial); Archaeology

    Source: Cornucopia

    Date: Not known, but before 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Black Watch Castle and Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q113369808
Also known as:
Black Watch Regimental Museum
Instance of:
museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum; Recognised collection
Accreditation number:
676
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113369808/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Collection development policy)

    The Museum Collections contain:

    • Paintings and prints
    • Medals and decorations awarded to members of the Regiment
    • Uniforms and accoutrements of The Black Watch
    • Colours, pipe banners, flags associated with the Regiment
    • Trophies, weapons, silver and miscellaneous items
    • Archived material

    The collecting area for the Museum is not defined geographically. Material will be acquired on the basis of a proven connection with The Black Watch. The collections will therefore consist of items (including digital media) relating to The Black Watch Regiment (Regular, Territorial, affiliated, volunteer and militia) and Battalion (3SCOTS), and its history. This can include:

    • Items owned by, or used by, members of the Regiment/Battalion or their immediate families
      • and originating in the traditional recruiting areas for the Regiment
      • or originating in the areas where the Regiment/Battalion or members of the Regiment/Battalion have been stationed for peacetime training or operations
      • or originating from Theatres of War in which the Regiment/Battalion or members of the Regiment/Battalion have been present.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2019

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q15199595
Responsible for:
Turton Tower
Instance of:
museum; local authority museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
234
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q15199595/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Cornucopia)

    Ancient Egyptian and Sudanese Collection

    The museum holds 329 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; canopic jars (lid); coffins (fragments; also cartonnage); flints; jewellery; metal figure; metal vessel; human remains (mummies); papyrus; pottery; ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ figure; relief sculpture; scarabs; shabtis; stone figures; stone vessels; textiles; toilet articles; tools/weapons; wooden figures. 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): El Arabeh (Garstang – Egyptian Research Account, 1900); Alexandria; Oxyrhynchus (Egypt Exploration Fund?); Esna (Garstang and Jones – Liverpool University, 1905-1906); Hawara (Petrie, 1888); Heliopolis; Qasr Ibrim (Emery – Egypt Exploration Society, 1961). Objects are known to have come from the following location in Sudan (with the name of the excavator/sponsor and year of excavation given): Sesebi (Blackman – Egypt Exploration Society, 1936-1937).

    Subjects

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

    Medals Collection

    The Hart collection includes 500 military medals and there are also 500 commemorative medallions (see also numismatics).

    Subjects

    Medals

    Photographic Collection

    A collection of 100 photographs by Elizabeth Ashworth and an extensive photographic archive of social and local history related subjects including 6,000 postcards.

    Subjects

    Photography

    Biology Collection

    A small collection of mammals and birds (mounts and study skins), fish, birds eggs, skeleton material, shells, corals, beetles, butterflies and moths (insects mainly from the 19th century Arthur Bowdler collection) and botanical specimen sheets.

    Subjects

    Biology

    Ethnography Collection

    Reverend Ashe Collection of Ethnography, items acquired during the 1880s Benin expedition by the East Lancashire Regiment and other items ranging from Maori artefacts, African masks and carvings, Chinese court costume, pre-Inca ceramics and native American artefacts.

    Subjects

    Ethnography

    Science and Industry Collection

    Commercial material such as the contents of a clogger’s shop and two small printing workshops. Also a substantial collection relating to the history of the cotton industry, including original and replica textile machinery dating from 17th-mid 20th century.

    Subjects

    Science and Industry

    Arms and Armour Collection

    The museum holds around 5000 items relating to the East Lancashire Regiment, 30th Foot, 59th Foot and 2nd Lancashire Rifle Volunteers (collection is owned by the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment). Objects include silver table decorations, ceremonial maces, Regimental uniforms (1790s-1954) and colours, weapons and firearms. Military collections also include some museum-owned material linked to local people.

    Subjects

    Arms and Armour

    Social History Collection

    The museum has a large collection of social history material, mainly pre 1945 and containing over 40,000 items (many are cross-reference to other subject areas such as archives, photographic, industry etc.) There are general domestic items, architectural items, children’s toys and the contents of local shops such as a tobacconist’s. Focus on collecting has been on the development of collections which reflect the history, culture and heritage of Blackburn’s South Asian population (specifically the Gujarat, Punjab and Bangladesh) and a large group of Bollywood film posters has been added to the collection.

    Subjects

    Social History

    Costume and Textile Collection

    A range of costume from c.1830-1945 including men’s and women’s clothes and accessories and individual items belonging to Kathleen Ferrier and local dignitaries. The textile collection includes handloom weaver’s pattern books, 1950s printed cloths and Jacquard samples from local named mills. There is also material from South Asia, mainly acquired since 1990 and including contemporary textiles and costume.

    Subjects

    Costume and Textile

    Numismatics Collection

    The Edward Hart Bequest left to the town in 1946 included many thousand rare coins ranging from 1250 Greek and Greek Imperial coins, 1865 Roman coins, 70 Byzantine, 2125 British coins and 600 trade tokens (see also medals). There are also nearly 2000 coins from Europe and British colonies and banknotes donated as part of the Hornby and Horne collections. Other numismatic material relates to the Cuerdale Hoard and Prestwich Hoard.

    Subjects

    Numismatics

    Decorative and Applied Art Collection

    Ceramics range from 17th century Chinese pieces to early 20th century Lancastria ware decorated by Walter Crane, and includes some local commemorative ware. Sculpture comprises around 30 marble, plaster and bronze busts, mostly of local dignitaries. Ivory statuettes and other carvings also feature in the collection together with a range of metalwork (silver and gilt, replicas, trophy cups, silver and silver-plated tableware). Furniture includes several pieces by Waring and Gillow, a 15th century Flemish cabinet and an Arts and Crafts style oak chest. There are also some sculptures and enamels from the Far East. The collection features a small collection Icons, mainly from Russia and Greece, dating from the 15th-19th century and mainly acquired by Thomas Boys Lewis, a Blackburn cotton manufacturer. Horology includes a wall clock and six long case clocks dating from the 18th and 19th centuries and also a collection of 18th century pocket watches, most representing local makers.

    Subjects

    Decorative and Applied Arts

    Archives Collection

    Archives are comprised of two main collections, the Kathleen Ferrier Archive and material acquired by collector edward Hart. The philately collections include 6 volumes of British and colonial stamps from the Bragg Collection and around 600 Blackburn postal covers. The Kathleen Ferrier Archive chronicles the remarkable life and career of the important 20th century opera star (1912-1953), who has direct associations with Blackburn. Her sister, Winifred, donated the archive. The other important archive in the collection was bequeathed to the town in 1946 by Edward Hart, the son of a local manufacturer along with a large collection of fine art prints, medals and coins. There are 500 books and illuminated manuscripts, which date from the mid-13th century to the early 16th century and include fine works from Persia and Arabia. The wide-ranging archive also features items such as Egyptian hieroglyphs, cuneiform tablets and Hebrew scrolls, a single leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, and several rare books, many with rare bindings including works printed by William Caxton, early editions of Shakespeare plays and a copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer.

    Subjects

    Coins and Medals; Documents (historic); Opera; Collections; People (musical); Fine Art; Archives; Ancient Egypt; Documents (personal)

    Fine Art Collection

    Oil and watercolour paintings from 17th century to present. There are also Greek and Russian Orthodox icons, the T B Lewis Bequest of Japanese woodcut prints, a small collection of pen and ink drawings by John Sharples and posters of Bombay Talkies movies. The museum has a collection of over 250 easel paintings, mainly of the 19th century and depicting themes such as animals, landscape. Animal painters include artists such as J F Herring, Thomas Sidney Cooper, Richard Ansdell and well-known bird painter Archibald Thorburn. There are also many exceptional classical Victorian works including ‘Cherries’ by Frederic, Lord Leighton, ‘Diana or Christ?’ by Edwin Long and Albert Moore’s ‘The Loves of the Winds and the Seasons’. A small number of European, mainly Dutch, works also feature in the collection and range from the 17th to 19th century. The watercolour collection includes 330 works by all the typical artists of the 19th and early 20th century including Turner, Samuel Palmer, David Cox, William Hunt, and Thomas Girtin. Prints include the John Sharples archive of local material and total over 500 works. The Hart Collection contains an important group of 1,000 Japanese prints representing the major artists associated with Ukiyoe prints (meaning ‘images of the floating world’) such as Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Shunsho and Harunobu. The prints depict actors, landscapes, famous courtesans, daily life and myth and legend.

    Subjects

    Watercolours; Paintings; Fine Art; Prints

    Source: Cornucopia

    Date: Not known, but before 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Blackridge Community Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q113370161
Instance of:
museum; local authority museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
1898
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113370161/
Collection level records:
Yes, see West Lothian Council Museums Service

Blackwell Arts and Crafts House

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q4923584
Also known as:
Blackwell
Part of:
Lakeland Arts
Instance of:
historic house museum; English country house; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2068
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q4923584/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Cornucopia)

    Fine Art Collection

    Paintings from Abbot Hall’s collections, which reflect the Arts and Crafts style, are also displayed at Blackwell (see description under Abbot Hall).

    Subjects

    Fine Art

    Music Collection

    A recently restored Manxman piano by Baillie Scott, designer of Blackwell. Works by the Elwell family, mainly Frederick William (1871-1958), but also his wife Mary Dawson Elwell and nephew Kenneth Elwell. Other Elwell works are housed in the Ferens Art Gallery , Hull Prints, drawings and watercolours of Beverley Minster and St Mary’s Church.

    Subjects

    Music

    Decorative and Applied Art Collection

    These include 17th century oak court cupboards and chests, Simpson furniture and objects from the Keswick School of Industrial Art as well as studio pottery by makers such as Bernard Leach, Hans Coper and Lucie Rie. Sculpture from Abbot Hall’s collection is also on display.

    Subjects

    Decorative and Applied Arts

    Source: Cornucopia

    Date: Not known, but before 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Blaenavon Community Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q85673666
Also known as:
Amgueddfa Cordell a Treftadaeth Gymunedol Blaenafon, Blaenavon Community Heritage & Cordell Museum
Instance of:
museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2337
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q85673666/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Blaina Heritage Action Group Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q125133048
Also known as:
Blaina Heritage Museum
Instance of:
local museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2295
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q125133048/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Blairs Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q4924227
Instance of:
museum
Accreditation number:
T 502
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q4924227/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Blaise Museum

Wikidata identifier:
Q9658405
Part of:
Bristol Museums
Instance of:
historic house museum; English country house; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
942
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q9658405/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Blake Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q15199663
Also known as:
Bridgwater Blake Museum
Instance of:
house; local museum; independent museum; garden
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
916
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q15199663/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection history (Collection development policy)

    Blake Museum was founded by Bridgwater Borough Council in 1926, and initially concentrated on General-at-Sea Robert Blake and the Battle of Sedgemoor to the exclusion of pretty-well everything else. From the 1950s Social History was included. In 1957 No 7 Blake Street was purchased, allowing the Museum to expand towards the Mill at the end of Blake Street. In the 1960s when the local brickworks closed down, a number of artefacts were acquired. In 1974, the local government changes meant the museum’s building and contents were transferred to Sedgemoor District Council. In 1983 a Museum Custodian was appointed by the District Council and later the Council tried to close the museum. Following protests, the museum was run by volunteers, but funded by the Council, with a voluntary administrator. He was succeeded by a paid Museum’s Officer. In the early 1990s the Bridgwater Museum Trust was formed to purchase the Mill to allow for expansion of the museum, but in 1995 an arson attack destroyed the upper floor of the Mill, but without material damage to the museum collections. In 2000 a full-time education officer was appointed. In 2002 a new Museum Officer was appointed on the retirement of the earlier one. On the autumn of 2007, the District Council announced it was to close the museum, disperse the collection and redevelop the site.

    After comprehensive negotiations, the District Council, agreed to transfer the museum and contents to the Bridgwater Town Council, and it would be run by volunteers from the Museum Friends. The transfer was effected on 1 April 2009. For the next four years serious work was undertaken in the museum to bring the building up to modern standards.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

  • Collection overview (Collection development policy)

    Subjects

    Archaeology

    The collection consists mainly of finds from archaeological digs, and chance finds. The principal source for much of the collection has been from the fieldwork of Bridgwater and District Archaeological Society. The collection also includes plans, drawings and some archive material. Approximately 50% of the material is from Bridgwater itself and the remaining half from the surrounding area. the period represented is from the Prehistoric period to post mediaeval. The collection includes 2 Mesolithic skulls, found at Greylake, near Othery. A significant collection of local Roman material, forming the Tarrant collection, includes numerous examples of cast brooches.

    Archive, Printed Ephemera and Photographs

    The material held by the museum supports the social, industrial, and military history collections. The Archive and Ephemera contain letters of Admiral Blake and the Duke of Monmouth, trade catalogues and carnival and political posters, electoral registers and pamphlets. The Photograph Collection is very extensive and has been catalogued. It represents the work of several local photographers and extends to subjects outside the collections area but is retained as their oeuvres. The material includes glass plates, negatives, original prints from the 1860s and later, transparencies and colour prints. Some of the museum’s archive material is housed in the Somerset Record Office

    Social & Industrial History

    The existing material has been divided into four categories: domestic, agricultural, maritime and industrial . The collection contains a number of typological groups, such as Friendly Society Brasses, Horse Brasses and Constables’ Staves and Truncheons, as well as individual items of particular note; e.g. the L’Escopette Camera (one of only three known in existence, it has a Bridgwater association). Domestic life includes artefacts associated with the home, laundry, preparation of food, and leisure pursuits. Items that reflect community life include that from educational establishments, societies, churches and public houses, local Guy Fawkes Carnivals. Rural life is represented by a small collection of agricultural machinery and tools, blacksmiths’ bellows, saddlers’ tools and dairy equipment. Industrial material includes an extensive brick and tile collection, brewing, glass making, bell founding, and the port trades of shipbuilding and rope and sail making. The maritime collection, includes a sizeable collection of model ships, a model representing Bridgwater Docks circa 1900, various documents, and a selection of craft tools from associated trades. The period covered is from Tudor to the present. A large collection of the museum’s brick and tile material was transferred to the Brick & Tile Museum at Bridgwater in the 1990s. Some Carnival material was transferred to the Bridgwater Carnival Centre in 2010.

    Costume and Textiles

    The collection, largely collected during the 1980s, consists mainly of women’s garments dating from the nineteenth century, with some examples of twentieth century items. Menswear is under-represented, but there is a stronger selection of underwear and children’s garments, and fashion accessories of the Victorian period. There is a small collection of samplers which includes some eighteenth century examples, and lace making paraphernalia. In 2000 the Museum acquired material to represent the products produced by the textile industries in Bridgwater in the 20th Century. Much of this material is of national significance, in particular products made by S. Leffman and Son (later Baird Clothing) and shirt and collar manufacturers. The collection is severely constrained by storage and display space, which is inappropriate for much of the material.

    Decorative Arts

    The museum has a small collection of Decorative Art items, which are illustrative of its major themes, in particular furniture and artefacts, associated with the seventeenth century and with Robert Blake. Of particular note are Blake’s sea-chest, and a stained glass panel by Edward Frampton dated 1889 depicting Blake’s funeral. On loan from the Alford family are items of personal effects connected with three Somerset families. The museum also has a small collection of presentation silver and artefacts associated with the Borough of Bridgwater. Of individual interest is a nineteenth century replica of the Alfred Jewel, as well as several clocks made in the town.

    Fine Art

    This is almost exclusively confined to two-dimensional graphic art, and comprises maps and prints of a local and topographic nature, watercolours and oil paintings dating from the seventeenth century. The material includes pencil drawings, pictures and silhouettes of three Somerset families, on loan to the museum. Over 300 drawings, paintings and water colours by John Chubb (1746-1818) represent a substantial proportion of the work of the Bridgwater-born artist. The collection is complemented by nineteenth century prints of his sketches of the town.

    Military History

    The collection consists mainly of material from the Civil War period, the Battle of Sedgemoor and the two World Wars. Some Battle of Sedgemoor material is on loan to the Battle of Sedgemoor Heritage Centre at Westonzoyland.

    Numismatics

    The collection includes coins, military commemorative medals of local significance, a small number of Somerset bank notes and about forty public house and trade tokens of local provenance.

    The Geographic Area of the Collections

    The Museum has acquired items originating from, used in, or having connections with, principally, but not exclusively the Town of Bridgwater and the parishes of the former Rural District comprising: Ashcott, Bawdrip, Bridgwater, Bridgwater Without, Broomfield, Burtle, Cannington, Catcott, Chedzoy, Chilton Polden, Chilton Trinity, Cossington, Durleigh, East Huntspill, Edington, Enmore, Fiddington, Goathurst, Greinton, Lyng, Middlezoy, Moorlinch, Nether Stowey, North Petherton, Othery, Otterhampton, Over Stowey, Pawlett, Puriton, Shapwick, Spaxton, Stawell, Stockland Bristol, Thurloxton, Wembdon, West Huntspill, Westonzoyland, Woolavington and, in the District of West Somerset, Stogursey. The Museum has also collected items relating to Burnham and Highbridge Carnival which relate to Bridgwater Carnival Clubs.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2015

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Blakesley Hall

Wikidata identifier:
Q4924644
Instance of:
historic house museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
637
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q4924644/
Collection level records:
Yes, see Birmingham Museums

Blandford Fashion Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q113370121
Instance of:
museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2036
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113370121/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection history (Collection development policy)

    The Museum’s collections come from two sources. The first part of this consists of objects formerly belonging to Mrs Betty Penny MBE, and originally held in the care of the Costume Settlement Trust, of which Mrs Penny’s son Anthony was the principal Trustee.The Trust was dissolved in 2015, and the title of these items was transferred by Deed of Gift to Blandford Fashion Museum.

    Since it was established May 1996 the Museum has also been acquiring objects separate to those in the Trust, primarily by donation from the public, and in keeping with the Museum’s collecting remit, described below.

    In 2020, the museum was bequeathed a small number of textiles formerly belonging to the sculptor Elisabeth Frink, from the estate of RLB Jammett.These were accessioned and added into the primary collection.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2025

    Licence: CC BY-NC

  • Collection overview (Collection development policy)

    The primary collection is the costume collection, which contains around 6000 items dating from the eighteenth century (1735) to the late twentieth (1989). It is primarily focussed on womenswear, the bulk of which is from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Much of the collection reflects fashions worn by the middle classes, with a significant collection of wedding dresses. The collection also contains a wide range of shoes, hate and sleepwear as well as childrenswear and a small selection of menswear.

    Around two hundred of the items in this collection were formerly owned by the Costume Settlement Trust, with an emphasis on ladies’ fashionable dress with a good mix of day and evening wear. The collection includes some items of fancy dress and some smocks.

    In addition to the primary collection, the Museum holds three further collections. These are:

    • Artefacts from Mrs Penny’s collection and further artifacts acquired since the Museum opened for the purposes of display and furnishing of interiors. Separate records are kept of these items.
    • Archival material relating to the Cavalcade of Costume, including film, photographic and paper, photographic and paper materials. Separate records are kept of these items, and many have been digitised. They are available for the public to view upon request.
    • Costume items in the handling and education collections, which are not fit for display and are therefore not accessioned to the primary collection, but which are used to further the Museum’s educational and outreach purposes. Separate records are kept of these items.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2025

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Blandford Town Museum

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q31979006
Also known as:
Blandford Forum Museum, Blandford Museum
Instance of:
local museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
1053
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q31979006/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection history (Collection development policy)

    In 2007, Blandford Museum Trust adopted in its entirety the Museums Association Code of Practice for Museum Authorities (1987), now the Code for Museum Governing Bodies.

    The history of Blandford Museum has been set out in the booklet: Blandford Forum Town Museum: The First 21 Years, by Pam Le Bas, former Museum Archivist. The majority of the museum collection has been the result of the efforts of first curator, Ben Cox, who both assembled the collections and managed the exhibits. The purpose of the museum is to display these objects and inform the public about them.

    Blandford Museum traces the history of Blandford and surrounding villages from prehistoric times to the present. Blandford Museum Trust was formed in 1975, and the museum was formally opened in 1985. The existing collections form the bulk of the collections held by Blandford Museum Trust. They contain mainly 19th and 20th century material, with a small range of items from the 18th century. We are starting to collect more items from second half of the 20th century and even very recent items if they are of special relevance to the Blandford area. This is putting a strain on our storage space and the Trustees are considering ways to deal with this problem. Currently, we use local storage, but one of our Strategic Aims is to acquire another building for expansion.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2023

    Licence: CC BY-NC

  • Collection overview (Collection development policy)

    Palaeontology & Archaeology

    The museum holds a few fossils from the Jurassic to Cretaceous, such as dinosaur footprints and a partial skeleton of a Plesiosaur. There is also a small archaeological collection from the Upper Palaeolithic of the area in the immediate vicinity of Blandford. Later remains are from the Shillingston Roman villa, and Roman artefacts from Hod Hill. The archaeology display includes material from Cranborne Chase, Roman remains on loan from the County Museum, and Mediaeval artefacts.

    Mediaeval

    The Museum’s Mediaeval artefact collection is small because so much was destroyed by the devastating fire in 1731. Some stone work from the former church and a few artefacts form the current collection. Items do still periodically come into the museum.

    17th to 20th century artefacts

    These artefacts comprise the bulk of the museum’s holdings. They relate to five main areas:

    1. Agriculture – a collection of tools from rural Dorset, mainly 19th century. Some of these are on display on the ground floor.
    2. Domestic and Office – a collection of domestic artefacts, much of which is on display in the reconstructed Victorian kitchen, domestic music and office data equipment.
    3. Rural crafts – collections of tools for cobbler’s workshop and blacksmith’s forge, together with the material products of these crafts, are held by the museum and are on display in two reconstructed workshops. The museum also holds saddlers’ artefacts mostly on display.
    4. Transport – a key area of expansion in Blandford Museum is the collection of railwayana relating to Blandford railway station. A scale model of the station has been built, and railway signs and artefacts are being collected. A large collection of books and maps has recently been acquired, and photographs are being collected. We are currently developing collections of bus artefacts, including uniforms and bus signs.
    5. Toys – the museum holds a good collection of toys, including unique 19th century objects, mostly on display in a reconstruction of a Victorian child’s playroom. The museum also has a selection of Wend-al toys made during the mid 20th century in Blandford.
    6. Education – a small collection of 19th century school room artefacts are held, and these are on display with the complete costume and artefacts of a Blue Coat boy from the former Blandford charity school. We have also acquired the entire archive of St Leonard’s School which closed down in 2006.
    7. Public Services – small collections of police and fire brigade artefacts are held, mostly from the 19th and early 20th century. Ration books and other war time artefacts are held and on display.
    8. Military – good collections of medals, uniforms, military hardware, gas defence artefacts, home guard, ARP, and government literature. These are currently on display on the upper floor, including a purpose-built display from the Boer war to WW2. We hold a small collection of Nepalese objects relating to the Nepalese community residing in Blandford due to the Royal Signals Camp nearby.
    9. Coins and commemorative medals – small collections of these are held in the museum but mostly not on display.
    10. Costume – the museum holds a large costume collection, including domestic, military, Public Service, Local Government, rural smocks and a good collection of Victorian accessories such as scarves, umbrellas, quilts, embroidery, gloves, sticks and many others. There is also a small collection of Dorset buttons. In general the museum does not exhibit costume since there is a separate costume museum in Blandford, and we restrict exhibits to costumes of historical importance to Blandford.
    11. Town Council – there are several types of artefact recording the local political history of Blandford. There is a selection of civic robes; the town pillory is exhibited on the ground floor; a misericord is on loan from the Town Council; and the Bond doors from the old Customs and Excise on White Cliff Mill Street are in storage offsite to dry out for a year in preparation for conservation work to be carried out.
    12. Local individuals and families – material from some of the historical families is preserved, mostly photographic but some artefacts as well: the Portman family, Ryves and Rogers families, Jack Counter VC, and the Bastard brothers who rebuilt Blandford in the mid 18th century.
    13. Music – a small collection of musical instruments, some on loan from the Town Council such as the Serpent and Ophicleid, and a flute made by one of the Barfoot family in Blandford. We also hold the costumes and instruments from Blandford Marching Brass Band.
    14. Clocks – several Blandford clocks are held by the museum, including a hand-made gravity clock and a recently donated 1720’s (pre-fire) clock, which came without a case but was otherwise completely intact. We received a grant to build a modern glass case which allows the workings to be clearly seen.
    15. Art – the fine art collection consists of a number of early works by Alfred Stevens, the Victorian painter born and brought up in Blandford, and other works by David Wright, Herbert Neville, and Ruth Speke. During the construction of many of the recent exhibits we have also had paintings of people and places by Philip Le Bas, a well known artist, and Peter Rush, who specialized in papier mache figures. A recent diorama has also been contributed by Felicity Baker. Some of these artists have helped with contextual art for exhibitions. In addition, there are numerous paintings, drawings and etchings by other artists.

    Photographic Archive

    A photographic collection consists of circa 5000 images. Our main source has been the collection of Sam Jardine, who formerly had a photographic shop in Blandford, and was compiled by Ben Cox. It consists of black and white prints, colour transparencies from the collection of Ben Cox, and glass negatives from a variety of sources. The three main collections are of Blandford town and Dorset villages, and an increasing collection of photographs of the Somerset and Dorset railway. All have been digitized by the museum photo archivist. We are still collecting photos when possible. These are made available to users for a small fee.

    Archive

    Blandford Museum’s former curator published a number of books and booklets on many aspects of Blandford history, and in the course of this he built up an impressive archive. The archive is organized in two heads, Dorset villages and Dorset families, with a third currently being added on the Somerset and Dorset railway. We are always receiving new archival information, which is assessed by the Archive curators for relevancy to the museum and are incorporated into the collection accordingly.

    1. Dorset villages – all villages within the collecting area of Blandford Museum have documentation of varying degrees of detail. This is currently being cross-referenced with the photographic archive, and when complete all information will be retrievable from either source.
    2. Dorset families – most of the families of note living in and around Blandford have documentation of varying degrees of detail. This is being added to as information comes to hand.
    3. Somerset and Dorset railway – transfer of the archive collection of John Evans is currently under way. He has already donated his collection of ~400 catalogued maps and a number of his books, and he is cataloguing the main part of his collection prior to handing it over. This archive consists of photographs and collected documentation spanning the ~100 year life of the railway. This work is still in progress.
    4. Blandford area trades, services, and industries, local shops, archaeology, schools, and any other materials relevant to the Blandford area.
    5. A well curated set of records on all soldiers appearing on the war memorials of 17 local villages. This work was donated to the museum from the Blandford U3A.
    6. Materials relation to the British Monarchy (specifically Queen Elisabeth II Jubilees/death and King Charles III Coronation.
    7. A long term aim is to scan the entire archive and maintain it online, but so far we have been working to put lists of material and indexes online and making them available on the museum web site.

    Source: Collection development policy

    Date: 2023

    Licence: CC BY-NC

Bletchley Park

(collection-level records)
Wikidata identifier:
Q155921
Also known as:
Station X
Instance of:
historic house museum; English country house; military museum; park; tourist attraction; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
2321
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q155921/

Collection-level records:

  • Collection overview (Wikipedia)
    • Secrets Revealed introduction
    • The Road to Bletchley Park. Codebreaking in World War One.
    • Intel Security Cybersecurity exhibition. Online security and privacy in the 21st century.
    • Lorenz Cipher
    • Alan Turing
    • Enigma machines
    • Japanese codes
    • Home Front exhibition. How people lived in WW2
    • Office of Alistair Denniston
    • Library. Dressed as a World War II naval intelligence office
    • The Imitation Game exhibition
    • Gordon Welchman: Architect of Ultra Intelligence exhibition
    • Codebreaking offices as they would have looked during World War II.
    • Interactive exhibitions explaining codebreaking
    • Alan Turing’s office
    • Pigeon exhibition. The use of pigeons in World War II.
    • Life as a WRNS Bombe operator
    • Bletchley Park: Rescued and Restored. Items found during the restoration work.
    • Wartime garages
    • 2366 Bletchley Park Air Training Corp Squadron

    This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Bletchley Park”, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    Source: Wikipedia

    Date: 2025

    Licence: CC-BY-SA

Blickling Hall

Wikidata identifier:
Q17535638
Part of:
National Trust
Instance of:
historic house museum; English country house
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
1749
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q17535638/
Collection level records:
Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.

Blists Hill Victorian Town

Wikidata identifier:
Q4926919
Instance of:
open-air museum; independent museum
Museum/collection status:
Accredited museum
Accreditation number:
1713
Persistent shareable link for this record:
https://museumdata.uk/museums/q4926919/
Collection level records:
Yes, see Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

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