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Local and Social History

The social history collections include craft and trade tools (woodworking, wheelwright’s, blacksmith’s, cobblers, barber, tailor), domestic and household items, toys and items illustrating a Post Office and general store of the 1950’s. Of particular interest is the ‘Straw Bear’ and other ephemera relating to the Straw Bear Festival.; Collection of bricks, tools, photographs etc representing brick manufacture in Whittlesey.; Extensive collection of photographs postcards and copy images showing streets, buildings, events and people from Whittlesey and the surrounding villages.; Coins and tokens of local significance.; Medals of local significance.; Memorabilia associated with Sir Harry Smith, the Hero of Aliwal, who was born in Whittlesey in 1787 and fought in many battles including the campaigns of the Spanish Peninsula Wars.; Fossils found during the excavation of local brick pits.; Collection of costume with local associations or provenance, ranging from wedding dresses of the 1870’s to underwear, shoes, uniforms and local labourers working outfits, up to the 1960’s.; Extensive collection of pamphlets, news cuttings and other material relating to local customs and traditions, people, buildings, events and involvement in the two World Wars. A ‘Straw Bear’ costume and other ephemera associated with the Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival. This tradition was revived in 1979, and involves a man dressed in straw dancing through the streets of Whittlesey on the first Saturday after Twelfth Night.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834. During the early 20th century the idea first took root of establishing a museum in his memory in Walthamstow. In 1914 the Walthamstow Antiquarian Society was established which awoke interest and stimulated a renewal of effort, particularly in the acquisition by gift and purchase of Morris materials. Following the Morris centenary in 1934, Walthamstow was presented with gifts by the artist Frank Brangwyn RA and A.H. Mackmurdo consisting of a varied selection of fine and decorative art. Due to the outbreak of war and other difficulties, the Gallery did not open until 1950.

The collection falls into three groups; the Brangwyn Gift of fine art and sculptures, mostly 19th Century, the Mackmurdo Gift of chiefly furniture, designs, fabrics by his own hand and the Century Guild, and the Morris collection. The first two groups have remained largely the same since the Gallery opened. As result of the active collecting policy adopted for the Morris collection, this group has greatly been enlarged both by gift and purchase and remains the focus for acquisition today.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The William Morris Gallery’s collections consist of three main groups; the Morris Collection, the Mackmurdo Collection and the Brangwyn collection.

The Morris Collection, which contains some 350 cartoons/designs and works in various media by William Morris (1834-1896) himself and by his closest associates – Edward Burne-Jones, D. G. Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Philip Webb, Jane, Jenny and May Morris, Charles, Lucy and Kate Faulkner. The designs are for textiles, wallpapers, painted decoration, tiles, furniture, and stained glass. In addition there are substantial holdings of Morris & Company wallpapers, woven and printed textiles, carpets, rugs, embroideries, tapestries, furniture, metal-work, tiles and original hand-blocks for printing the chintzes. There are also manuscripts, documents relating to Morris & Company and catalogues of the Firm’s work, letters by Morris and others of his circle and personalia. Among the books and printed material there are proofs of Morris’s early typographical work, examples of his calligraphy and illumination, special bindings designed for commercial editions of his own works together with a complete set of the books printed at his Kelmscott Press and other Press ephemera. The collection also includes original photographs of Morris and his circle.

The Mackmurdo Collection, bequeathed in 1942 by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851-1942), architect designer and founder of The Century Guild, one of the earliest groups of the Arts & Crafts Movement. This comprises a substantial number of architectural designs by Mackmurdo himself. There are also cartoons and designs for furniture, stained glass, wallpaper, textiles and miscellaneous items of decoration, drawings and watercolour studies, as well as furniture, printed and woven textiles, wallpapers and metalwork by Mackmurdo or by those associated with him in The Century Guild, notably Herbert Horne and Selwyn Image. There is also a complete set of the Century Guild’s magazine, The Hobby Horse, together with the printing blocks used for titles, initials and tail-pieces; other books written by Mackmurdo; correspondence and manuscripts, including his History of the Arts & Crafts Movement; photographs and personalia.

The Brangwyn Collection, donated by Sir Frank Brangwyn R.A. in 1935, which comprises cartoons/designs for applied arts and mural schemes, ceramics and furniture designed by Brangwyn; oils, watercolours, drawings and prints by him; correspondence, personalia and books illustrated by him. The Brangwyn gift also includes an extensive collection of oils, watercolours, drawings and prints by the Pre-Raphaelites and other 19th-/early 20th-century British and Continental artists, and sculpture by Rodin, Dalou and others, the donor’s intention being that these collections of fine art should complement the Gallery’s applied art collections.

In addition to the above, the Gallery has representative collections of work by other leading figures in the Arts & Crafts Movement. Included are: ceramics by William De Morgan and the Martin Brothers; glass by James Powell & Sons; furniture and metal-work by Ernest Gimson, Sidney Barnsley, George Jack and C. F. A. Voysey; textiles, paintings and illustrations by Walter Crane; and an important collection of designs and cartoons for stained glass by Christopher Whall and others associated with his studio.

The Gallery also has a reference library containing an archive of Morris letters and other manuscripts and some 3000 volumes of works on or by Morris and his associates; relevant exhibition catalogues; contemporary 19th-century periodicals; journals and other publications related to the period covered by the Gallery’s main collections. The reference library is open to the public by appointment.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

Birkenhead’s Art Gallery and Museum was founded in 1913 and originally housed within the town’s old library, the museum collections begin at this point. Prior to this some paintings were collected for display in Birkenhead’s Town Hall which were subsequently absorbed into museum collections. The opening of the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in 1928 expanded the possibilities offered by the service. With a purpose-built museum and art gallery the range and size of collections continued to expand. The reorganisation of local government in 1974 broadened the role of the gallery, now providing a museum service for the whole of the Wirral Metropolitan Area. This also involved taking responsibility for small collections that had been developed in Wallasey and Bebington.

The overview is of currently accessioned collections. There is an acknowledgement that certain collection areas contain considerable numbers of unaccessioned items. Measures are being taken to tackle the documentation backlog in line with the Documentation Policy.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2016

Licence: CC BY-NC

FINE ART

BRITISH WATERCOLOURS

By means of a series of bequests and prudent purchases, notably in the period 1920-1935, the gallery has a significant collection of 18th and 19th century watercolour paintings and drawings by British artists. It is unrivalled in the area, representing most major figures in this medium. Since the publication of the watercolour catalogue in connection with the loan exhibition to Italy in 2004 there has been increased interest and a larger number of loan requests.

THE LIVERPOOL SCHOOL

Merseyside produced a large number of significant artists in the period 1810 – 1910. This “Liverpool School” is well represented in the Williamson collections and has been for over 30 years enhanced with a significant loan collection.

PHILIP WILSON STEER

Philip Wilson Steer was born in Birkenhead in 1860. He left the town as a child and has become especially important in the artistic heritage of the Wirral. Consequently the Williamson has built a collection of his work that is of national importance, including a major bequest from the artist’s nephew. A catalogue of the collection was published in 1998.

LOCAL PAINTINGS

The Williamson Art Gallery & Museum is the virtually the only institution on Merseyside actively researching and supporting local historic and contemporary painters. This important role has produced, through extensive research, much material evidence on the Royal Cambrian Academy, the Wirral Society of Arts and the policy of annual purchases from the Wallasey/Wirral Spring exhibitions, now Williamson Open, has continued to update this area.

HISTORIC BRITISH PAINTINGS

Apart from the categories above, the remaining British paintings in this collection are mixed. The earliest dates from c1670, some are by major artists, some are extremely trivial.

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH PAINTINGS

The collection of contemporary British work will be increased to include artists, styles or themes that aid the interpretation of modern painting. The support of the Contemporary Art Society and the National Art Collections Fund has added some important examples to the Williamson as have donations from the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest and transfers from the disbanded Bristol Schools Loans Collection.

FOREIGN PAINTINGS

Works by foreign paintings have been acquired in a random way and do not form any coherent group. There is no intention to seek additional items.

PRINTS

Based upon several large and important collections (John Finnie, Seymour Haden, Watson bequest and the yet to be accessioned Albert Taylor collection), the prints provide an interesting and valuable collection. Its main strength represents British printmaking of the first half of the 20th century.

PHOTOGRAPHS

There is a substantial collection of bromoil prints by Christophe Symes which has yet to be fully explored and researched. The gallery has actively encouraged the recent promotion of better photography on the Wirral, with local and national exhibitions. Photographic prints will not be usually purchased unless:

1. they coincide with one or more of the above categories e.g. local history
2. they form part of a special commission highlighting a particular aspect of local/social history
3. they are/were produced by major local photographic printmakers
4. they are designated for addition to archive resources rather than fine art collections.

SCULPTURE

Original plans for the Williamson provided for a sculpture/entrance hall. It has long ceased to serve that function. Sculpture once displayed at the exterior of the buildings has long since been removed in the 1930s due to vandalism. The small existing collection provides problems for storage and movement.

DECORATIVE ARTS

LIVERPOOL PORCELAIN

Several factories were producing porcelain of various types and quality in Liverpool between c.1750 and c.1800. The Knowles Boney collection of some 300 pieces at the Williamson is very comprehensive and was presented some 40 years ago. It has remained on almost continuous display as a condition of the gift. Whilst it is noted that some 10% of the total is not of Liverpool origin, it remains as one of the country’s most important collections. The retention of the Knowles Boney collection intact is an essential part of their use and interest.

DELLA ROBBIA POTTERY

The collection of Della Robbia Pottery at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum forms an unrivalled addition to the history of Merseyside ceramics. Produced in Birkenhead 18941906 it is natural that the Williamson should add to its growing Della Robbia collection (presently some 250 items). Items purchased in the 1920s from the founder Harold Rathbone form the basis of this comprehensive collection. There is a significant number of important pieces of high quality while others document individual workers or styles, some of which are in poor condition.

The Gallery has made public its interest and consequently the collection has grown significantly in the period since the publication of an “Interim Report” on the history of the Della Robbia Pottery to coincide with a major exhibition in 1981, and the Antique Collector’s Club volume published 2014.

OTHER MERSEYSIDE CERAMICS

The Williamson Art Gallery & Museum has a significant collection of Seacombe Pottery, the little known factory purpose-built in 1852 to produce wares mainly for export. Examples are rare and would be pursued unless they already exist in the collection.

Liverpool tin and lead glazed creamwares are poorly represented in the permanent collections. Additions will be acceptable at low prices or by donation only.

Herculaneum pottery was the only major factory to continue manufacturing in Liverpool in the first half of the 19th century. The Williamson houses some half dozen items attributed to Herculaneum (some unmarked) and small number on loan.

BRITISH CERAMICS

A good collection of 18th and 19th century British ceramics exists albeit with some important omissions. Additions will fill these gaps or act as background reference to the major collections (eg. Merseyside ceramic history, Della Robbia).

CRAFTS

The Williamson has a commitment to exhibit contemporary crafts on a regular basis. This extends to collection policy and items have been acquired through the Contemporary Arts Society and by purchase through the region’s foremost exhibitions. Financial restrictions have prevented development of this collection.

ORIENTAL

Since the early Williamson bequest (1916) there has been a small oriental collection, mainly ceramics, but including lacquer, jade, cloisonné, bronze, prints and paintings. Whilst there is a small number of superb exhibits the majority of the collection, though decorative, is not significant.

CONTINENTAL

There is a small number of continental items in the collections, mostly ceramics (Meissen and Sevres). Acquisitions in recent years in this area have only been to contextualise other areas of the collection.

LEE FABRICS

When A.H. Lee and Sons Tapestry Works closed in Birkenhead’s North End in 1970 the Williamson acquired a small amount of machinery, a quantity of sample materials and extensive archival material. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Liverpool Museum also acquired material. The collection is one of the most complete records of any textile factory in the 20th century, missing only order books. The collection continues to create interest, especially following the major exhibition of 2008-09.

TEXTILES & COSTUME

No coherent or representative collections have been formed at the gallery. A small reference collection of textiles is included in the Lee Tapestry archives. This includes oriental braids, 18th century crewelwork, Berlin wool work, samplers and other embroidery.

GLASS

Existing collections include 17th century Venetian glass, a strong group of 18th century drinking glasses, Irish glass and 19th century decorative glass.

METALWORK

Civic Silver forms the major part of metalwork included in gallery collections. This includes Mayoral regalia from Wirral and those Boroughs that existed before local government reorganisation in 1974. There are other utilitarian objects with little artistic merit together with a small pewter collection.

JEWELLERY

The jewellery collection is very small and ancillary to costume. Items have also been acquired as part of the craft acquisition policy.

FURNITURE & CLOCKS

The acquisition of furniture has been and is restricted because of limitations in space and adequate environmental control. Existing collections are of local interest – Arrowe Park furniture and work by local craftworkers. Other items may be useful for the display of decorative arts such as oriental ceramics in an oriental cabinet.

MARITIME

MODELS

The Williamson displays a large number of maritime models: ferries, tug boats, cargo and passenger vessels and associated items such as engines and half-block builder’s models. Most concentrate on Birkenhead’s link with Cammell Laird’s Shipbuilding, the River Mersey and Birkenhead’s dockland history. A collection of miniature models recently catalogued is being explored for display, especially for its usefulness to demonstrate relative scales.

PICTURES

An archive collection of paintings, prints and photographs related to locally-built vessels is housed at the gallery. Also, dockland views and pictures that show ships in their correct context rather than just ‘portraits’ is a useful adjunct to the model collection.

ARTEFACTS

These items are used to interpret life at sea, the economic and social impact of shipping on Wirral’s history, techniques of navigation and construction etc.

SOCIAL HISTORY

These are items that, while shedding light on other items of the collection do not fit readily into that category. These include toys, domestic equipment, office equipment etc. Particular emphasis is placed on the educational use of sometimes relatively humble material and will be acquired with the schools service in mind.

NATURAL SCIENCES

The gallery collections contain no significant natural history specimens. Items of special interest were transferred to Rawtenstall Museum as early as 1916. What remains have been re-catalogued but are in poor condition, have little or no associated source information or have deteriorated through poor storage or display. What remains is currently used as source material for schools and colleges.

ARCHAEOLOGY

LOCAL

Archaeological items from Birkenhead Priory constitute a small but significant group.

Items of local archaeological sources are of natural interest to the gallery. Staff have liaised with specialists at the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside whose skills permit the responsible monitoring of Wirral finds and excavations. This co-operation will continue along with such acquisitions that avoid conflict of interests.

Staff cannot ignore the activity of metal detectors whatever may be felt about the dangers and irresponsible damage to sites caused by the worst offenders. Valuable finds brought to the attention of gallery staff include the discovery of Roman and Medieval material.

Wherever possible it is the policy of the gallery staff to encourage members of the public to make their finds known to curatorial staff without actively furthering damage to existing sites. Attention is drawn to the conditions imposed upon acquisition were damage has been caused to ancient monuments.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

A number of smaller collections include items from various periods, eg. prehistoric, Cypriote, Roman and Pre-Columbian etc. There is no intention of seeking further additions but rather to consolidate and research existing items in the gallery.

ETHNOGRAPHY

The collections documented during the re-cataloguing programme have revealed a modest collection sufficient for present resource purposes. There is no intention of adding new items.

GEOLOGY

The Geology collection comprises a single large range of samples amassed by Charles Chambres. This represents an interesting and cohesive group and, being well catalogued is used in conjunction with specialists for the education authority. There are no plans to expand this collection.

MILITARY

There is a small collection relating to the local regiments in particular the Cheshire Rifles. This includes banners, swords, uniforms, guns, badges and archives. There are also a few weapons from the first and second world wars as well as the Boer war.

The Fine Art collections include a number of items that relate to the First and Second World Wars, especially the work of Thomas Burke and Albert Richards.

TRANSPORT

Following the acceptance of a large loan collection (the ‘Baxter’ collection) in 1988 Wirral Borough Council expressed a long term commitment towards the development of a heritage trail embracing a transport museum with particular emphasis on the Wirral’s heritage. The Museums Service collected vehicles and associated information, memorabilia and museum items with particular emphasis on tramway history and the Mersey Ferries.

The Baxter collection was returned to its owners in 2015 and the separately housed transport collections are vested in the volunteer group Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2016

Licence: CC BY-NC

Decorative and Applied Art Collection

The Arts and Crafts Movement collection is the pre-eminent collection in Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum. The primary strengths of the collection are furniture, metalwork and private press books. The decorative art collections are rich and diverse in nature, including ceramics, glass, silver, pewter and jewellery, treen and furniture. They illustrate the main styles and media in English decorative arts from the 17th century to the 20th century. Although the emphasis of the collection is British, it includes important foreign items from both Europe and further afield, notably from China, Japan and the Indian sub-continent. The highlight is the world-renowned collection of the British Arts and Crafts Movement from the 1860s to the present day, including furniture, metalwork, jewellery, ceramics, plasterwork and leatherwork, paintings, textiles, embroideries and printed books made by Cotswold craftsmen inspired by William Morris. There is an important archive which supports the main collection.

Subjects

Decorative and Applied Arts

Fine Art Collection

The fine art collection was founded with the gift of 43 Dutch and Flemish paintings to the Borough of Cheltenham by the 3rd Baron de Ferrieres in 1898. Chiefly divided between 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings and 19th century Dutch and Belgian paintings, the collection is of exceptional importance. The collection includes British and foreign paintings, drawings and prints, notably a major collection of 17th to 19th century Flemish, Dutch and Belgian works. There is an excellent collection of works related to Gloucestershire, either topographical views of the county and portraits of people connected with it (particularly by Richard Dighton in the early 19th century); or paintings or drawings by artists connected with Gloucestershire. Of particular importance are two large paintings of the landscape around Dixton Manor, one of which shows haymaking in progress c.1725-35. These paintings are considered key documents of rural English life at the time. There is also a fine small collection of miniatures and paintings from the War Artists Advisory Commission.

Subjects

Paintings; Fine Art

Costume and Textile Collection

There is a large collection of British costume and textile which spans the period from the 16th century to the present day. It illustrates changes in style of women’s costume over the period. The rarest pieces are of Anglo-Indian costume worn by a Cheltenham family in India. The collection includes some uniform. There are examples of European and Chinese costume. The textile collection includes embroidery and quilts.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Social History Collection

There is a collection of general social and domestic history from the 17th century to the present day relating to the history of Cheltenham and its locality. It includes a unique early 19th century chimney sweep’s trade sign; a Highlander figure from a tobacconist’s shop; other local shop fittings and fixtures; trade signs; and carved coats of arms. There is also a group of 19th century architectural models.

Subjects

Social History

Science and Industry Collection

This collection includes examples of late 19th and early 20th century decorative ironwork produced by William Letheren, one of the leading art metalworkers of his day; and items of wood carving and plasterwork by H H Martyn and Co. There are a few scientific instruments.

Subjects

Science and Industry

Geology Collection

This is a substantial and important collection of mainly Cotswold geological material, including specimens from the collections of several important 19th and early 20th century geologists, notably S S Buckman, Captain R P Wild and Lindsall Richardson, whose brachiopod collection is of major importance. The collection includes a small number of highly significant type specimens.

Subjects

Geology

Biology Collection

The natural science collections include herbaria, shells and taxidermy, including work by the leading 19th century Cheltenham-based taxidermist Thomas White.

Subjects

Biology

Transport Collection

The last surviving Cheltenham tram, c.1900, is in the collection, as well as a few locally made carriages; and railway station plates, the footplate for the Cheltenham Spa express, c.1930 and railway ephemera.

Subjects

Transport

Agriculture Collection

This collection largely comprises hand tools, most of local provenance.

Subjects

Agriculture

Personalia Collection

The collection relating to the composer Gustav Holst, who was born in Cheltenham, is owned by the museum but is on loan to the Holst Birthplace Museum Trust. The collection comprises paintings, furniture, musical scores and recordings, and manuscripts and photographs. The Antarctic explorer Edward Adrian Wilson was also born in Cheltenham and there is a collection including important scientific specimens from the National Antarctic Expeditions of 1901-4 and 1910-13, along with many examples of his watercolours and drawings, family papers, letters, photographs and personalia.

Subjects

Personalia

Arms and Armour Collection

This collection includes both firearms and edged weapons. It is a representative collection of British and foreign material, including locally manufactured firearms and oriental edged weapons, especially Japanese swords.

Subjects

Arms and Armour

Medals Collection

This is a small collection of mainly military and commemorative medals, mainly of 19th and 20th century date and relating to local families.

Subjects

Medals

Numismatics Collection

There is a good representative collection of numismatics from the iron age to decimal coinage. It includes a number of Roman and Civil War hoards, such as the Willersey Roman coin hoard and the Winchcombe hoard of 16th and 17th century coins. There are also commemorative coins and local tokens.

Subjects

Numismatics

Ethnography Collection

The ethnographic collection comprises weapons, clothing, eating and drinking utensils and religious items mostly from Africa, the Pacific, the Americas and Asia, particularly India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Among the highlights are Indian sculpture from the 2nd century AD; and a group of Tibetan items brought back from the Younghusband expedition to Tibet in 1904. The collection is particularly strong in West African objects collected in the early 20th century and covering the period from the turn of the century to the 1940s. The African material is particularly strong on weapons and beadwork. The collection is of particular interest in that it was assembled by civil service and military families, many of whom retired to Cheltenham after working and living abroad in Britain’s Empire. Robert Powley Wild (1882-1946) was HM Inspector of mines in the Gold Coast. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became an expert on the geology of the area and developed a keen interest in its local culture. Wild donated West African artefacts to Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum during this period and it forms a significant element in the ethnography collection. Lt Col R Longfield Beasley (1878-1954) was a distinguished soldier who was posted to the West African Frontier Force from 1901-1906, when he collected many examples of West African weapons, as well as some domestic items. In 1933, he donated his ethnographic collection to Cheltenham Museum.

Subjects

Weapons; Ethnography; World Cultures

Archaeology Collection

This collection covers the area of north Gloucestershire and spans the period from the palaeolithic to the industrial revolution. Particular strengths are finds and excavation archives from the neolithic long barrows of Belas Knap, Notgrove and West Tump. Significant iron age collections include material from Salmonsbury Camp (Bourton-on-the-Water), Kings Beeches (Cleeve Hill), Oxenton Hill and Leckhampton Hill. Romano-British settlement sites are represented by finds from Bourton-on-the-Water, Andoversford, Syreford, Vineyards Farm (Charlton Kings), Haymes (Southam) and Wycomb and the villa sites by Compton Grove and Whittington Court. Anglo-Saxon material from the cemetery at Bishop’s Cleeve has recently been acquired. Medieval finds are so far the earliest artefacts attesting to permanent settlement on the site of Cheltenham itself. The collection also includes some Egyptian, Classical Greek and Roman artefacts.

Subjects

Archaeology

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum holds 180 ancient Egyptian objects which are part of the Archaeology collection. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; basketry; ceramic figures; faience vessels; flints; foundation deposits; funerary cones; glass vessels; jewellery; metal figures; animal remains (mummies); human remains (mummies); pottery; ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ figures (fragments); relief sculpture; scarabs; cosmetic palettes; shabtis; stelae (stone); stone figures; stone vessels; textiles; toilet articles; tomb models (fragments); 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): Abydos (Egypt Exploration Fund); Alexandria; Amarna; Aswan; Oxyrhynchus (Egypt Exploration Fund); Beni Hasan; Gizeh (mortuary temple of Mycerinus); Gurob; Lahun (Petrie); Memphis, including el-Badrashein; Thebes, including Deir el-Bahari (Naville – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1906-1907] and a village near Luxor. A provenance of Aswan was identified through internal evidence. There are also a number of photographs in the collection.

Subjects

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

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum Theatre Collection

Collection of approximately 3,400 theatre playbills, 1791-1920, mainly for Cheltenham theatres, but a small number for other Gloucestershire towns, as well as Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Ilfracombe, London, Portsmouth and Teignmouth.; Handwritten catalogue; chronological list. Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham Borough Council.

Subjects

Theatre; Performers; Playbills; Regional theatre; 18th century; 19th century; 20th century

Archives Collection

The Arts and Crafts Movement archives form an important part of the archive collection. They include letters; drawings; photographs; printed ephemera; exhibition catalogues; articles; unpublished research material; history files on individual designers, makers and collectors; and reference books. The Emery Walker Library has a large supporting archive of material including trial proofs by William Morris in developing the Kelmscott Press and documents on the early Socialist Movement with which Walker and Morris were both connected. There are also important archives relating to the composer Gustav Holst and the explorer Edward Adrian Wilson; and one of the largest collections of 19th century theatre playbills in a provincial museum. Other archive material comprises printed ephemera relating to Cheltenham and Gloucestershire.

Subjects

Archives

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Wiltshire Museum is run by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS), an independent charity founded in Devizes in 1853. The Society was founded by a group of Wiltshire gentlemen following the acquisition of the John Britton library of topographical and antiquarian books and manuscripts. The inaugural meeting resolved to form a society ‘to cultivate and collect information on archaeology and natural history in their various branches and to form a library and museum illustrating the history, natural, civic and ecclesiastic of the County of Wilts’.

The Society held exhibitions in various buildings in the town, before moving to the former Grammar School in 1873 and building a new entrance hall before opening in 1874. It acquired adjoining Georgian town houses in 1903 and 1943, and opened a new art gallery extension in 1980.

Over the last 167 years, the Society has built a membership of over 1,000 members and its collections are Designated by Government as being of national significance. The most important is the Stourhead Collection, namely the objects and archives of the excavations undertaken by William Cunnington over 200 years ago, mostly in the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection (before 1600 AD)

The archaeology collection is the most important part of all the collections. It is extensive, numbering an estimated 45,000 items (bulk finds from archaeological assemblages counted as one item), and wide ranging in its scope, covering all periods of human history in Wiltshire. The great strength of the collection lies in its prehistoric material, in particular that of Neolithic to Iron Age date.

The archaeology collection includes the finds from over 650 excavations in Wiltshire, the most significant of which are from the hundred or so early Bronze Age barrows excavated in the early 19th century by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington I. This collection is known as the Stourhead Collection.

The early Bronze Age collection is of exceptional importance because of its size and range; the uniqueness of many of the objects; the fact that it includes many prestige items, including objects made of gold, amber, jet and shale; its association with the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, and its relevance to the history of archaeology. A selection of the collection was most recently published in, Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods: An examination of ritual and dress equipment from Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age graves in England. J Hunter and A Woodward, 2015.

The objects from archaeological excavations are complemented by casual finds, again of all periods, including items declared as ‘treasure’ under the Treasure Act (1996).

Recent History Collection (post 1600 AD)

The recent history collection numbers around 9,000 items and focuses on life in the district formerly known as Kennet, since 1600. Kennet was a non-metropolitan local government district in Wiltshire, which was abolished as part of structural changes to local government in 2009. For the purposes of this document the term ‘Kennet District’ continues to refer to this geographical area. As ‘districts’ have only existed as political areas since 1974, inevitably the museum holds items acquired in the more distant past from elsewhere in Wiltshire. It also holds some classes of object which relate to all of Wiltshire.

The main subject areas are local trades and industries, domestic items, education, law and order, agriculture, personalia and sport. The collection includes a number of individual items of particular significance. The strength of the collection lies in the objects relating to the history of Devizes (which links to the Devizes collection in the archive and library) and Avebury parish.

A more recent addition to the recent history collection is the Wiltshire Life Society Collection, transferred to the Collections Trust from the Lackham Museum of Agriculture and Rural Life Trust in 2010. The collection was previously on display in the Great Barn at Avebury until 2000. The collection includes 650 agricultural items and a library of 400 related books and 400 photographs. The collection was transferred with funding for its long-term care.

Numismatics Collection

The collection numbers around 28,000 coins, medallions, tokens, banknotes and related items. It consists chiefly of coins found in Wiltshire and coins etc which were either struck in Wiltshire or which refer to Wiltshire people, places or events. There is also a small general collection of Roman and English coins. The first group includes coin hoards deposited between the Iron Age and Civil War period, and assemblages of coins from the excavations of archaeological sites and stray finds of coins. The second group includes Saxon and Norman coins struck at Wiltshire mints; tokens of different types issued in Wiltshire from the 17th century; banknotes etc. issued by local banks and medallions relating to the county. There are a number of unique items. The strength of the collection lies in the comparatively large number of Iron Age coins, the scope of its collection of Wiltshire tokens, medallions and banknotes and, in provincial terms, the size of its Roman coin collection.

Natural Sciences Collection

The natural sciences collection was mainly donated by individual botanists and geologists, although Salisbury, Swindon and Trowbridge museums hold small collections of locally found fossils. The collection numbers around 25,000 specimens from the whole of Wiltshire. The Geology collection contains over 6,000 fossils with representative specimens from every rock type in the county. Of particular importance are the Greensand and Chalk fossils donated by William Cunnington III, most of whose collection was given to the Natural History Museum, London, in 1906.

On the botanical side the museum houses a Society Flora started by T B Flower and T A Preston in 1870 which now contains around 3,000 specimens, collected up to 1966. The ‘Grose Herbarium’ consists of 9,000 sheets of fully documented pressed plant specimens collected by Donald Grose while he was writing The Flora of Wiltshire. Another important holding is the collection of lichens and bryophytes assembled by Francis Rose.

Animal bones, plant remains etc. from archaeological excavations in Wiltshire are considered in the Archaeology and Recent History Collections above.

Art Collection

The art collection comprises original watercolours, drawings, oil paintings, prints and engravings, amounting to approximately 10,000 works in total. The collection consists primarily of works by Wiltshire artists, who were either born in or have other associations with Wiltshire; and works depicting Wiltshire subjects. There are a small number of paintings which are associated with significant people from Wiltshire. The art collection covers the work of most of the topographical artists who have worked in the west of England since 1750. It also has close links with the archaeological collection, with for example numerous views of Stonehenge and Avebury and other archaeological monuments and paintings by archaeologists and historians such as Sir Richard Colt Hoare, John Britton and Denis Grant King. A selection of the collection was published in Richard Hatchwell’s Art in Wiltshire (2005); the Public Catalogue Foundation’s volume of Oil Paintings in Public Ownership: Gloucestershire & Wiltshire (2011); The Watercolour World – showcasing online 1,400 watercolour pictures from the art collection (2019).

The strength of the collection lies in its topographical collection which includes nearly 600 watercolours of Wiltshire churches and other buildings by John Buckler from almost every Wiltshire parish, as well as its collection of works relating to archaeology, including the watercolour drawings of archaeological objects made by Philip Crocker which served as the originals for engravings in Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s Ancient Wiltshire.

Archive and Library Collections

The archive and library collection is one of the largest and last surviving independent county repositories in the UK, numbering approximately 37,000 items (bulk accessioned where appropriate). The collection originates from the acquisition of the John Britton library of topographical and antiquarian books and manuscripts and the subsequent founding of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society in 1853. Appropriate archival documents were transferred to the Wiltshire Record Office after it was created, over 100 years later and are now held at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.

It is primarily a local studies collection of books, journals, newspapers and other printed items including photographs, postcards and maps relating to Wiltshire. There is also a document collection consisting of both printed material and original manuscripts.

The collection has a separate archaeology section which includes a general collection of archaeology books, the principal archaeology journals, papers of Wiltshire antiquaries and the written records of more recent excavations in the county. The natural history section similarly includes general natural history books, specialist journals and the papers of early natural historians. These complement the museum collections. There is also a smaller general history collection. As well as reference books on art history and decorative art there are a number of individual unique items in the library.

Particularly important areas of the collection include the papers and annotated books by early antiquaries and historians such as William Stukeley, Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington 1, as well as the collection of printed ephemera and the extensive range of national and county journals.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

Costume and Textile Collection

This is a strength of this small voluntary museum and is an interesting, if unusual, collection. It comprises material given to the museum by M H Simms in 1983 and formed part of the Simms collection of police memorabilia. It includes historic British uniforms from 1830 to the 1970s; and examples of uniforms from Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Japan, Russia and Africa. Costume accessories and police equipment is included, such as helmets, caps, shoulder and breast badges, truncheons, whistles and handcuffs. This is one of the core collections of the museum and is considered a strength of this small museum.

Subjects

Crime and Punishment; Costume and Textile; Police service; Costume (workwear)

Decorative and Applied Art Collection

The 15th century Winchcombe Maces are an important element of the museum’s collection.

Subjects

Decorative and Applied Arts

Archaeology Collection

There is carved stonework from Winchcombe Abbey (798-1539) and a few other local artefacts from the neolithic period onwards.

Subjects

Archaeology

Social History Collection

There are domestic, industrial and trade artefacts including household utensils and tools used in local industries. There are also examples of Winchcombe pottery.

Subjects

Social History

Agriculture Collection

This is a small collection comprising local implements and hand tools.

Subjects

Agriculture

Photographic Collection

This collection provides a good record of local people, buildings, activities and events.

Subjects

Photographic equipment

Archives Collection

This collection includes letters; accounts; certificates; autobiographies; reminiscences, memorabilia from both World Wars; Victorian posters announcing local meetings; Winchcombe history and guide books; and other books of Gloucestershire interest. There is a copy of the Elizabeth I Winchcombe charter of 1574.

Subjects

Archives

Other

Subjects

Geology; Medals; Medicine; Music; Numismatics; Personalia; Transport

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum presents the history of the town of Winchelsea, including maps, models, pottery, and other displays. There are wall panels listing mayors of the town from 1295 onwards.

The museum was established in 1950. One of the first accessions for the museum collection was a set of photographs of Winchelsea, presented by Hastings Corporation. Subsequent accessions have included artefacts associated with the Cinque Ports and archaeological items.

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

Source: Wikipedia

Date: 2025

Licence: CC-BY-SA

The Windsor & Royal Borough Museum (the museum) was founded in 1951 as the Guildhall Exhibition (as part of Windsor’s Festival of Britain17 celebrations), a small local history museum in Windsor Guildhall; it was owned by the Royal Borough of New Windsor, Berkshire. The majority of items on display and in store were concerned with the history of the pre-1974 Borough of New Windsor, although there was also a strong royal element and a significant number of items relating to the town of Eton.

In 1974 the Guildhall Exhibition was taken over by the new Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM), and items from the old Maidenhead Museum were given to the collection. The Guildhall Exhibition was closed in 1982. The collection was then transferred to a store in Tinkers Lane, Windsor, where it is still based.

From 1983 the museum provided a large exhibition on ‘Victorian Life in Windsor’ for the Royalty and Empire Museum in the Central railway station, until it closed in 1991.

In the early 1990s, the name of the collection was changed to the Royal Borough Collection, and the decision was taken to extend the collection to cover the whole of the borough. From 1995 onwards the museum had changing exhibitions in 100 sq. m. at 24 High Street, and a permanent ‘Town & Crown’ exhibition illustrating the growth of Windsor town. In 1998 the name of the collection was changed again to the Royal Borough Museum Collection.

In 2006 the council withdrew from 24 High Street and the whole collection was again returned to storage except for two small displays: in Windsor Library and York House, Windsor. The name of the collection was changed once more to Windsor & Royal Borough Museum, to locate it as being in Windsor, also to make it easier to find via internet searches and to increase ‘brand recognition’. The scope of collecting is now defined as being within the geographical boundaries of the current borough of RBWM.

In 2009, a small display was installed in Cox Green Library. At this time, there was a firm commitment from the RBWM administration to find a suitable venue in central Windsor and enable much more of the collection to be on display. The ground floor of the Grade 1 listed Windsor Guildhall in the High Street was secured as a museum space attracting over 30,000 visitors per year after it opened in March 2011. The official opening of the museum took place in December 2011 by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2010, the Museum was given the fixed display case in the reception area of Maidenhead Town Hall. The display in York house was removed in 2012 to allow for more objects to be displayed in the museum space at Windsor Guildhall. Displays were also installed at the rebuilt Dedworth Library in January 2013 and the new Boyn Grove Library in April 2014.

In 2012, the museum received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a two-year project called Beyond the Castle Walls. This funding enabled the museum to actively engage with the local community to deliver events and build partnerships with schools and local heritage groups. In addition, the collection was developed and over 50 oral histories were recorded and accessioned into the collection. To complement project events, displays were created using objects from the collection and loans themed on the decades 1920s, 1940s, 1960s and 1980s.

In 2014, the museum was awarded more funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for an 18-month project called For King and Country to commemorate the First World War in the borough. Research was carried out to create an online database of local war memorials and their stories. To introduce the project in 2014, an exhibition called ‘Windsor at War’ was displayed featuring objects from the collection and loans. Towards the end of the project in 2015-2016, an exhibition themed on different aspects of life during the war and featuring loaned objects from local residents (who had attended the project road shows) were displayed in the museum and at locations around the Royal Borough.

On 18 March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic closed the museum to the public at Windsor Guildhall, however, museum staff continued to work from home. Access was restricted to council buildings and only the Museum Team Leader was allowed on site at the museum store and museum at Windsor Guildhall during Lockdown one for temperature and security checks. From March 2021, access was widened to allow the rest of the museum staff on site at pre-arranged dates and for a limited time.

Donations to the collection were still considered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021) though offers were limited. A contemporary collecting project, Royal Borough Memory Box18, was launched in March 2021 with an online entry form system and consideration and acceptance of digital objects for the first time.

During the Lockdowns (Lockdowns 1-3; 2020-2021), items that had been digitised were used for online content such as Minute Wonder19 videos. Other collections care such as loans checks, audits and accessioning were limited both because of inaccessibility to the museum store and museum at Windsor Guildhall and also due to staff being requisitioned as local contact tracers for NHS Test and Trace20 for 6 months (October 2020-March 2021), to assist with the national Covid-19 response.

In August 2020, museums could reopen under the government restrictions, but RBWM had taken the decision to move the Royal Windsor Information Centre (RWIC) into the museum at Windsor Guildhall and therefore priority was given to redevelop the gallery space. From April 2021 to February 2022, the museum team’s focus was on this project. During this time, a full audit of items on display was carried out, followed by deinstall, and reinstall of items in the permanent cases (Cases 2-6, 24) and deinstall of old displays. In addition, new displays were installed in other cases (Cases 1, 7, 8, 9, 21A-B, 22 and the dock) and many other new interpretation panels were installed to realign the visitor flow. A stained-glass window of Prince Leopold in a light box was also moved from the museum space to the Guildhall stairs. Images of items from the collection were also used for a new exhibition (2D) celebrating 10 years of the museum, displayed on the Corn Market, Windsor Guildhall, outside the museum’s closed doors.

On 4 February 2022, the museum was re-opened (after being closed for almost 2 years) with the RWIC in situ. Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (then as the Earl of Wessex) officially opened the museum on 23 March 2022, as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II had done in 2011 and 1951.

New displays were installed in 2022 for Windsor Carriages, Windsor Castle Fire and Restoration (30 years since the fire) and in May 2023 for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

In Autumn 2022, the museum team agreed to stop displaying museum objects at Dedworth Library (occupied since 2013) and Boyn Grove Library (occupied since 2014) for several reasons. Firstly, both cases were not of museum standard in terms of the environment and security requirements necessary for an Accredited Museum and secondly the reduction of staffing to the museum team over the pandemic (reduced from 4.5 full-time equivalents (fte) to just under 3 fte’s made it difficult to support the volume of displays in all the locations. The cases were donated to the libraries for their use. The display case at Cox Green Library was moved to Maidenhead Library in July 2023 to offer a more secure displaying space. Displays continue at Maidenhead Town Hall, Maidenhead Library and Windsor Library.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum is a local history collection of about 13,000 artefacts, which has been built up since 1951. It is a varied and remarkable collection including prehistoric tools, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon artefacts, maps, textiles, books, paintings and prints together with objects and ephemera from before Victorian times up to World War II and the 1960s. This has been supplemented in recent years by Saxon and Bronze Age archaeological artefacts, the Clewer Collection, a large collection of oral histories as well as a Covid collecting project ‘Royal Borough Memory Box’ launched during lockdown.

Notes on specific collections and collectors:

Below are specific collections and collectors that have developed the collection over the years. This list is not exhaustive but gives a wider overview of how the collection has developed and continues to grow:

Items loaned or donated in the 1951 Exhibition as part of the town celebrations for the 1951 Festival of Britain. This includes items such as the bust of William Shakespeare, made from Hearne’s Oak.

Judith Hunter actively collecting from individuals, her own acquisitions to the collection and through contacts such as the Friends of the Museum and her regular visits to the Windsor & Eton Express, Sheet Street, to collect photographs. Other curators have sourced and purchased various items through the years both for the main collection and for the handling collection.

The Friends of the Museum have encouraged donations from their network and purchased a few items for the museum e.g., The Queen Anne’s Touch Piece. They have also purchased equipment (such as the new MUS-CASE 24 in March 2023) and helped raise funds.

1991 deposit of paintings found in Maidenhead Town Hall basement. These are of former Mayors of Maidenhead and Windsor. These paintings were previously part of the RBWM Civic Collection. Clewer Museum Collection (CMC) donated in 2009. The CMC was started by a Revd at Clewer Church in the late 1970s. Gradually local people donated items and the Revd also continued to collect, building a collection of about 400 items. It was on display in the Gate House at Clewer Church from the 1980s-about 2000. Then stored in boxes in a shed in the Church yard until it was donated to the museum in 2009. Two museum staff members along with volunteers spent two weeks in Clewer Church sorting though and cataloguing the items.

Maidenhead Museum collection deposited in 1991. This collection of about 100 items was originally on display in the older Maidenhead Library until its removal in the 1950s, supposedly for the closure of the building for demolition (to make way for the current library). Everything was stored in ammunition boxes in the basement of Maidenhead Town Hall and was rediscovered and rescued by the Maidenhead Historical Society and deposited with Windsor & Royal Borough Museum (then called the Royal Borough Collection) with the plan for it to be given to Maidenhead Heritage Centre (MHC) when it found a location. The collection was offered to MHC in 2013 and it was decided that it should remain with Windsor & Royal Borough Museum. The collection is made up of items from a private collection from the late 19th century, and later donations which was then displayed at the library. This collection originally included key items such as the Maidenhead Cavalry Helmet, French Cockade, and the Mummy’s hand.

The Oral History collection. This collection was started during the Beyond the Castle Walls National Lottery Heritage Fund project (2012-2014). The collection is at the time of writing made up of about 55 recordings from a wide range of interviewees.

Royal Borough Memory Box. Since 2020, the collection has acquired digital and 3D items through an online Royal Borough Memory Box.21 The original purpose of the memory box was to collect materials documenting residents’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its focus has now widened to encourage submissions that represent all aspects of modern life, with an emphasis on recent events, including His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s funerals.

Materials collected include digital photographs, video clips, poems, journals, and 3D artistic creations, such as a patch work quilt and hospital scrubs.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC