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Social History Collection

The Domestic collection contains furniture, ceramics, costume, books and laundry, kitchen, baking and rugmaking equipment. All the large furniture is displayed and no new items are likely to be collected. The ceramics range from storage jars to table ware and commemoratives. Costume is largely ladies’ underwear, nightware and dress accessories with some children’s wear. Household linen and other textiles cover the range from doillies to cushion covers and samplers. Also general local history material and an interesting small group of suffragette items. Laundry equipment is used in the schools programme. This domestic collection represents 40% of the catalogued items.

Subjects

Social History

Science and Industry Collection

Two separate collections are recognised: textile collection equipment and clog making. The textile collection is 3 witch looms, several spinning wheels, a replica spinning jenny, warping frame and creel, replica cropping bench and books and associated small items of equipment for making cloth. 10% of the catalogued items. The clog making collection consists largely of tools, jigs, lasts, benches, clog furniture and finished clogs. The collection also includes old stock, discontinued tools and materials, dies for stamping out clasps and printing blocks for illustrating trade catalogues from former clog manufacturers. 25% of the catalogued items.

Subjects

Science and Industry

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Science and Industry Collection

Material relating to the local industries of silver and lead mining; lime quarrying and burning and industrial archaeology is represented in the collection.

Subjects

Science and Industry

Other

Subjects

Agriculture; Archives; Arms and Armour; Costume and Textile; Geology; Maritime; Medals; Personalia; Photography; Social History; Transport; Decorative and Applied Arts

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection was started by Richard Wooldridge when he found a 1937 Pattern backpack in a roadside ditch in 1968. After collecting his father’s wartime items and, over time, the wider family’s pieces, it was decided to start a museum. Upon realizing the seriousness of his collecting more and more items appeared and he was able to set up a mini-museum in his bedroom, much to his mother’s dismay.

Once he started working and had a regular income Dr Wooldridge was able to increase the collection size dramatically and when he purchased his first house the garage was converted into a museum.

After contacting various tourist boards, societies and councils for assistance the collection was reviewed by the Government who declared in to be of national importance, and assisted in setting up a registered charity to provide a building to house the collection. The charity was officially set up in 1996 and gathered momentum, with donations from private and public funds and finally in 2001 a suitable building was found, a former bonded warehouse, which offered very good security and excellent potential as a quality museum.

The museum was named the Combined Military Services Museum after the Combined Operations of World War Two, as this reflected the three services as did the collection.

The following few years were extremely busy with donations from military sources, an armour collection that was purchased and saved from export. One 5th July 2004, after 36 years of planning the doors to the museum opened.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Combined Military Services Museum is a state registered charity, which houses an independent collection of British military artefacts. The Wooldridge Collection began in 1968 and concentrates on the conflicts fought by the British Armed Forces from the start of the 16th Century to present day. The Museum displays only genuine period pieces and the collections include mainly combat uniforms and equipment rather than ceremonial dress. The Museum aims to illustrate changes and developments within the British Armed Forces through a history of uniforms and equipment. The Museum houses predominantly British military artefacts and contains key items from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, British Army and the Secret Services.

The Wooldridge Collection is currently the Museum’s main and largest collection of exhibits, whilst the Trust Collection forms the secondary collection. The Wooldridge Collection also includes an extensive assortment of medals in addition to an impressive range of munitions.

The collection can be broken down into sections:

Medieval and Civil War

Pole arms, swords, daggers, muskets, armour, helmets and cannon

First and Second World Wars

Uniforms, guns, ordinance, equipment,

First World War Posters

A collection of 40 First World War recruiting posters in perfect condition has been cleaned, conserved and digitized and is available for research. We intend to make the digital images available to view online.

Special Forces

Uniforms and equipment from SAS and SBS including a complete collection from the Iranian Embassy Siege.

SOE and Resistance

Rare pieces including Odette Sansom’s ribbons, various radios and clandestine weapons and gadgets, Roger Landes’ SOE papers and the Riggal papers

Cold War and Spy/Espionage

An important collection of weapons and clandestine equipment from the cold war spy era including pieces belonging to Peter and Prue Mason (code named Zoe), Ian Fleming, Kim Philby and others. Key items are a lipstick-shaped miniature pistol, a Bulgarian assassination umbrella hiding a poison pellet injected by hypodermic needle, and a fountain pen concealing a pistol. This collection is regularly in demand for loans to international museums.

Uniforms

Including pieces belonging to Stephen ‘Ginger’ Burns, a tail gunner in ‘H for Harry’, on the famous ‘Dambusters’ raid, Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris’s RAF uniform and more than 60 fully dressed, high quality mannequins displaying unforms from the Napoleonic War to the Afghan war.

Holocaust

The museum is proud to be able to display a number of pieces relating to the Holocaust including a striped jacket from Bergen Belsen concentration camp. We contextualize this carefully and work with the Holocaust Memorial Trust to ensure appropriate display.

MOD Donnington Firearms Collection

A nationally important collection of some 1200 firearms and the Victoria Cross Bronze matrix, transferred by the Ministry of Defence.

The Museum holds in excess of 1500 firearms, of which some 50% are active (live) and the Museum holds a Museum Firearms License (MFL), issued directly by the Home Office. Our firearms are stored under strict security, in accordance with current firearms regulations and we have a detailed security protocol agreed with the Essex Police Force. We work closely with the local police forces who will bring us firearms if they are of significant historical interest, rather than destroy them in amnesty operations.

Cockleshell Heroes Operation Frankton Canoe

An iconic piece of the British military story from the Second World War, a significant feature of the Wooldridge Collection is the inclusion of the only surviving Mk2.
‘Cockle’ canoe and equipment used on Operation Frankton, the so called ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ raid, in 1942.

The collections are well documented onto MODES cataloguing system and held under secure conditions The collections are owned by the CMSM Trust, confirmed by documentation. Around 60% of the collection, numbering nearly 7000 pieces are on permanent display and approximately 3000 items are held in store. The Museum regularly makes loans available to other museums, most recently the ‘We Never Sleep’ exhibition at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Museé d’Armee in Paris, National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum in London.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The main body of the current collection owned by Compton Verney Collection Settlement, CVCS, (Trust Deed dated 14.10.1999) was acquired with financial assistance from the Peter Moores Foundation (PMF) whose founder was philanthropist Sir Peter Moores (1932-2016) and who financed the setting up of the collection. Items added since have been supported by CVCS where required.

Sir Peter Moores travelled to Germany and Italy as a young man which ignited his interest in buying works which formed the basis of Compton Verney’s Northern European and Neapolitan collections. He became interested in Chinese works later in his life and began purchasing at auction, advised by experts in the field and the British Museum. Compton Verney’s folk art collection was purchased as a group in the 1990s to save it from being split up, sold and leaving the UK. The works collected by Enid Marx and Margaret Lambert were a donation from Enid Marx in the late 1990s. Portrait miniatures are the most recently acquired group and were a bequest from the Estate of Lady Grantchester, Sir Peter Moores’ sister. Works have been added by purchase or donation to all the collections owned by CVCS since they were initially acquired.

The policy of CVCS will usually be to lend the collection to CVHC for display at Compton Verney but in some cases loans of either a temporary or a long-term nature to other organisations will be agreed following discussion with CVHC. All incoming and outgoing collection loans are managed by CVHC.

All incoming loans displayed alongside the CVCS collection (either long-term or short-term) are made to CVHC in line with its curatorial and collections strategy.

It is a condition of the loan from CVCS to CVHC that CVCS ensures CVHC has a sufficient number of qualified personnel who are able to discharge their CVHC obligations in this policy. Staff with direct curatorial responsibility should be equipped by qualification and/or experience to curate such a collection of works of art, holding, where appropriate, post-graduate qualifications in the history of art or collections management.

Overall responsibility for the strategic direction of CVHC including programme and operational strategies resides with the CEO. Day to day responsibility for collections strategy, management, acquisitions and normal business in relation to collections is the responsibility of CVHC to make recommendations to CVCS to deliver in line with this policy and the overall strategic mission of CVHC.

CVHC develops and manages collections and relationships with CVCS in line with staffing responsibilities and structure. Collections management standards for an Accredited organisation are adhered to at all times by the collections and curatorial team: Director of Programme, Collections Manager, Senior Curator, Curator and Curatorial Assistant. The CEO, Director of Programme and Collections Manager report at CVCS meetings as appropriate.  CVHC staffing structures will be in line with organisational requirements.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Current collections owned by CVCS and loaned to CVHC are:

ACE Designated collections:

Chinese archaic bronzes, cloisonne and pottery from the Neolithic period to the Tang Dynasty, designated in 2008.This represents one of the largest and most important collections of bronze ritual vessels outside China. There are 111 pieces in the collection with a very small number in storage including 4 works by contemporary artist Kurt Tong which reference ancestors and ritual. The collection includes 3 items approved for handling and used by groups of all ages under supervision. In 2024 new contemporary work will be acquired from the artist Gayle Chong Kwan as part of the 20:20 project, a national artist residence initiative led by The Decolonising Art Institute at University of the Arts London to diversify historic collections.

Non-designated collections:

Neapolitan works of art, principally from the period 1600-1800; including oil paintings, works on copper, marble sculpture, silver-gilt sculpture and coral decorative works. There are 52 works in this collection, around 5 in storage at any one time, and a drawer of a cabinet used in supervised handling sessions.

Germanic and Netherlandish works of art principally from the period 1450-1650; primarily panel paintings and sculpture. There are 33 pieces in this collection and one or two in storage at any one time.

Portraits and miniatures: Portraits from the period 1500 to 1820, including a bequest of portrait miniatures from the late Lady Grantchester. There are 93 works in this collection. This includes 73 portrait miniatures, with around 57 in storage at any one time. A small group of portrait miniatures are used in supervised handling sessions.

Folk Art from the 19th and early 20th century, a mixture of objects and paintings collected by private collector Andras Kalman (1919-2007) and his wife Dorothy and acquired as a group. A few similar works have been added to this collection since the initial acquisition. This forms the largest display of its type in the UK. There are 176 pieces in this collection and only one or two in storage at any time.

The Marx-Lambert Collection was bequeathed by designer Enid Marx (1902-1998) and comprising a small group of works by Marx and a large number of objects collected by Marx and companion historian Margaret Lambert (1906-95), which inspired Marx’s design work. There are over 434 pieces in this collection, including 70 donations in storage from Margaret Lambert’s executor Eleanor Breuning

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection, artefacts, photographs and archive material has evolved by donations from the local community over the past 45 years.  The Ronan Cross and querns became part of the collection in 1992 and the Donald Thomson collection of books was added in 2013.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The society has collected written, oral audio and artefact material pertaining to the area on topics such as land-use, crofting, weaving, fishing, emigration, croft histories and associated photographs, placenames, employment, services, education and schools, newspaper cuttings, songs and bardachd, tales and traditions, archaeological artefacts including the Ronan Cross and a highly significant collection of quern stones.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection

The museum holds a small but rare collection of prehistoric material from early to later Bronze Age including the Astbury log boat excavated in the 1920s (held at Manchester Museum). Other finds include palstave and barbed flint arrowheads. Medieval artefacts include a ‘quillion’ 15th century type dagger found in the 1950s. Town Centre excavations have also provided more recent examples of ceramics and leatherwork.

Subjects

Archaeology

Social History Collection

Local history material includes the 17th century town stocks and also five finely illuminated Royal Charters granting various rights to the town by James I (1566-1625) – these are loaned by the Town Council. 18th-19th century social history items include a miscellaneous group including toys from the 1780s, 19th century weights and measures and Victorian police truncheons.

Subjects

Social History

Costume and Textile Collection

Includes some 19th century lace costume originally acquired by the Congleton Amateur Dramatics Society.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Fine Art Collection

Includes topographical prints from the 19th century and a pair of oil paintings of ‘Cloud End’, an outstanding landscape feature of Congleton by Hilton L Pratt.

Subjects

Fine Art

Science and Industry Collection

Ephemera and objects associated with the 19th century cotton industry of the town and other local industries and trades.

Subjects

Science and Industry

Numismatics Collection

There are two coin hoards from the 17th century/Civil War period, both notable in numismatic and historical terms and on loan from other institutions.

Subjects

Numismatics

Biology Collection

Some natural history material.

Subjects

Biology

Photographic Collection

A sizeable collection of local images (half with original negatives) and including 19th century topographical photographs.

Subjects

Photography

Archives Collection

Various documents relating to local businesses, societies and events.

Subjects

Archives

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum was established as Constantine Heritage Collection in 2005 and was renamed Constantine Museum in 2014. The museum inherited a collection developed by members of the Constantine History Group. This original collection, representing the social and economic history of the parish, has subsequently been increased by both donations and loans.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: Not known

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection

Among the museum’s most notable artefacts is the acrostic. This famous piece of graffito is scratched on to the surface of a piece of 2nd century AD wall plaster and is in the form of a palindrome. It is perhaps the single most important piece of evidence for the spread of Christianity in Roman Britain before the conversion of Constantine I. Only seven examples are known from the Roman world. The collection of Romano-British sculpture, including architectural sculpture, is considered one of the finest and most extensive in the country, numbering over 200 items. It was a centre for artistic achievement and among the finest pieces are: a Corinthian column capital with Bacchic figures carved in high relief; the tombstone of Sextus Valerius Genialis, one of the earliest military tombstones from Roman Britain; a head of Mercury from a cult statue; the head and shoulders of a river god, a powerful portrayal of a male in the early middle age; a votive high relief of Mercury; a sculpture depicting three mother goddesses and their infants; the Dannicus tombstone; and the Septimius stone, a 4th century piece with an inscription mentioning Lucius Septimius as governor of Britannia Prima, and thereby important as evidence for the administrative division of Britain in the Roman period. Cirencester was home of two schools of mosaicists during the 4th century and both are represented in the collection. There are five complete pavements in the museum: the Seasons mosaic; the Hare mosaic is a significant example of the Saltire school, with its unique portrayal of a hare as its centre piece; the Hunting Dogs mosaic; the Barton Farm Orpheus mosaic is a fine example of the Orpheus school; and the Kingscote Venus pavement. The archaeology collection at Cirencester is extremely important. Its greatest strength is its magnificent Romano-British collection which is well provenanced to Cirencester and the Cotswolds. Cirencester, known in the Roman period as Corinium, was a regional capital and the collection is rich in all aspects of Romano-British material. In addition to the aspects which are described as Strengths, the domestic Romano-British collection is very strong with important stratified collections of ceramics, metal work, gemstones and other small finds; the collection of finds from cemeteries is also notable. Important archaeological material of other periods is well represented in the collection, most notably perhaps the Saxon cemetery finds from Butler’s Field Lechlade, unique in Britain as the only pagan cemetery known to be overlain by its Christian successor; Barton Farm; and Kemble. There are finds from Cirencester Abbey and artefacts attesting to the importance of the wool trade, a major source of wealth and influence for the area throughout the Middle Ages.

Subjects

Archaeology; Archaeology (settlement)

Numismatics Collection

The most important aspect of the numismatic collection at Corinium Museum is the Roman coin collection, which is exceptional for its size and its local provenance.

Subjects

Numismatics

Social History Collection

The social history collection is principally of Victorian and Edwardian date and ranges from domestic and social to industrial material mainly from the Cotswolds.

Subjects

Social History

Costume and Textile Collection

The costume collection is all locally provenanced and reflects both town and country life, with a good collection of day clothes and smocks from the Cotswolds.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Geology Collection

This is a collection of geological material of Cotswold origin.

Subjects

Geology

Archives Collection

Photographs, documents and ephemera illustrate life in the Cotswolds, local architecture, topography, and notable people and events. The material ranges in date mainly from 1880 to the present.

Subjects

Archives

Other

Subjects

Fine Art; Music

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology Collection

The Cornish archaeological collection is of high quality and ranges from prehistoric to the post-medieval period, with especially good concentrations of neolithic flint and stone tools; bronze age metalwork, including three exceptionally fine gold collars or lunulae; and iron age and Roman pottery. There are many prehistoric artefacts from other parts of Britain and Europe, including some important items such as the Ropley gold armilla from Winchester and the Westminster bronze sword, both dating to the last bronze age. There is a substantial collection of Danish neolithic flint and stone tools. Highlights of the significant collections of Egyptian, Greek and continental Roman and Byzantine artefacts are: a 25th dynasty mummy from Karnak; red-figure ware from Apulia, Italy, when it was a Greek colony; Roman glass from Tiberia, Palestine; and Coptic textiles.

Subjects

Archaeology

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum holds 908 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; canopic jars; coffins; coins; faience figures; faience vessels; flints; funerary cones; glass vessels; jewellery; metal figures; animal remains (mummies); human remains (mummies); papyri; pottery; ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ figures; relief sculpture; ropes; scarabs/sealings; shabtis; stelae (stone); stelae (wood); stone figures; stone vessels; textiles/leather; toilet articles; tools/weapons; wooden figures; wall paintings. The collection includes a pink granite head of an Amarna princess (TRURI 1600.291), possibly from Petrie’s 1891 excavations at that site. 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): Akhmim (1923); Amarna?; Beni Hasan (Garstang – Liverpool University, 1904); Fayum; Helwan; Ehnasya (Petrie – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1903-1904); Karnak; Luxor; Memphis (Petrie – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1908); Oxyrhynchus (Grenfell and Hunt – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1904); Sedment (Currelly and Petrie – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1903-1904); Thebes (Belzoni, 1819).

Subjects

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

Biology Collection

Fauna – most of the collection comprises mounted birds. There are good representative collections of moths, butterflies and other insects, including a comprehensive beetle collection. There is a substantial group of shells, both Cornish and world-wide. Flora – the museum has a number of 18th century herbaria, most of which are not relevant to Cornwall, and some are of foreign material. The most important herbarium is that of Hamilton Davy, formed before he wrote his book of the flora of Cornwall (1910).

Subjects

Biology

Costume and Textile Collection

This material comprises costume and accessories including civil and military uniforms, made and/or worn in Cornwall between the 18th and 20th centuries. The collection also includes Cornish examples of domestic textiles, sampler, quilts, etc. Of significance is the Crysede collection of pieces, lengths, garments, sample-book designs, tracings, company documents, printing-blocks and photographs. There are some European items of costume, also tapestry, embroidery and lace, as well as Far and Middle Eastern textiles, including shawls, leather work and embroidery.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Decorative and Applied Art Collection

The principal Cornish ceramics are examples from Lake’s former pottery in Truro, Bernard Leach’s studio in St Ives and work by Michael Cardew and family. Items made for local use are also represented, such as ceramics for mining companies; and commemorative wares. The British and European ceramics collection comprises over 3,000 pieces of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain and is particularly fine and a strength of the museum. The non-European ceramics collection is strong ranging from an interesting early group of Chinese and Korean pieces to 19th century Japanese ware. There is a small number of Islamic and South American examples, including Islamic tiles. Glass is repesented by a large number of local glass bottles, and some drinking glasses with local associations; table and decorative glassware from Britain, Germany and Italy dating from the 16th to 19th centuries; and some stained glass. There are a few pieces of Middle Eastern glass. The most important items are examples of Venetian glass; a range of English wine glasses of 18th and 19th century date; and some Nailsea glass novelties. Metalwork in the museum includes silver, pewter and copper. There is a small but interesting collection of silver tableware from West Country sources, including a very rare 17th century spoon with a maker’s mark of John Parnell, who worked in Truro from c.1610 until his death in 1666. The pewter collection is a major strength of the museum. The museum has a good collection of decorative copper-ware, chiefly made at Newlyn c.1890-1940, and also at St Ives and Hayle. It was an important craft industry with links to the English Arts and Crafts Movement. There is a small collection of jewellery associated with Cornish families. The museum’s collection of Japanese sword-furniture, comprising some 180 items, has been described as one of the best collections of Japanese applied art in the provinces. There are a number of other interesting pieces of non-European metalwork as well. There is decorative woodwork from Cornish churches and other buildings; furniture, including chairs, cabinets, carving, small boxes, etc. from Britain and Europe; and Japanese netsuke and other Far Eastern and Near Eastern items, some of excellent quality. The two most significant items are a rare George II cockfighting chair; and a 16th century cross-framed chair, once the property of Henry VIII. The British ceramics collection includes examples of most of the principal factoreis and types from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The role of Cornwall as a source of ceramic raw materials – china clay, china stone, lead, cobalt and tin – and the trading links between the county and the major ceramic producers, as well as the quality of the collection itself, make this a highly significant collection. There are also good examples of ceramics from Holland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain which provide useful comparative material. The pewter collection is extremely fine and largely originates from the 1935 Major John Richardson bequest. It includes items of both local and national interest dating from c.1660-1840. Among a number of very rare 17th century pieces are a small cup dated 1668 and two ‘wriggle-work’ tankards c.1695.

Subjects

Ceramics; Metalwork; Decorative and Applied Arts

Ethnography Collection

The main countries represented by this collection are: China, Japan, India, the Middle East and North Africa. There are individual items from Korea, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Borneo, Papua New Guinea; Micronesia, Fiji, Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Oceania and Sub Saharan Africa. The collection developed as a result of Cornishmen collecting while abroad, so the material is varied and not comprehensive in any particular area, though intrinsically interesting.

Subjects

Ethnography

Fine Art

Paintings – Half the paintings have Cornish connection and are mostly 18th to 20th century in date, though there are a few 17th century works. There are some 19 works by John Opie, the best known 18th century Cornish artist; and 12 works by Truro-born miniaturists Henry Bone and son. The Newlyn and St Ives schools are represented by around 40 works of 19th and early 20th century date. The remaining painting collection comprises European paintings ranging in date from c.1400-1900. As well as British artists, there are French, Dutch, Italian, Flemish and German works. The most significant group is a series of early Italian panel paintings by Giovanni Boccati, Francisco Nicolas Borras, Naddo Ceccharelli, Benozzo Gozzoli, Sebastiano Ricci and a triple portrait by Lucas Cranach. In addition, there are paintings by Tiepolo, Hogarth, Constable, Dirk Hals, Godfrey Kneller, Peter Lely, Poussin, Alfred Stevens, Lord Leighton and Sargent. There are also about 40 miniatures. Drawings and watercolours – Again, half the collection has a Cornish connection, the most significant, works by the Newlyn school artists such as Dame Laura Knight, Lamorna Birch, Ralph Todd, Henry M Rheam and Henry Scott Tuke. Most of the works are of topographical themes. The European drawings and watercolours range in date from the c.15th to the 20th century, and include works by British, Italian, German, Dutch and Flemish artistis. Artists represented include Correggio, Il Guercino; Francesco Guardi, Tiepolo, Descamps, Gericault, Callot, Guys, Pater, Claude Lorrain, Boucher, Rubens, Van Dyke, Constable, Cotman, Samuel Prout, Hogarth, Gainsborough, George Romney, Turner, Alfred Stevens, Rowlandson, Rossetti and John Sargent. Prints – There are approximately 100 prints with a Cornish association, most of topographical interest. The most significant are a series by Allom and Daniel. There is an important collection of prints by European artists such as Canaletto, Claude and Tiepolo. Sculpture – Cornish sculpture is represented mainly by portait busts of subjects associated with Cornwall, by Cornish sculptors and those with Cornish associations. The principal groups are works by Northey Burnard (most on loan), Alan Wyon and Howard Bate. The European collection is small and includes interesting examples of Gothic and Renaissance sculptures in wood, ivory and bronze. There is also a series of 18th century plaster casts of classical sculptures. Non-European material includes oriental carving, bronzes, etc. principally from Japan, China, India and, to a lesser extent, Islamic countries. The Japanese collection is of major importance.

Geology Collection

The museum’s mineral collection is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest in the country. It comprises mainly specimens from Devon and Cornwall, built on the private collection made in the 18th century by Philip Rashleigh, but includes some foreign material, especially from Europe and Russia, and a world-wide selection of cassiterite. There are also fossils, though few of these are from Cornwall.

Subjects

Geology

Medals Collection

There is a small, but good, collection of campaign medals.

Subjects

Medals

Numismatics Collection

There is a good representative collection of Cornish tokens; a quantity of local Roman coins, including several hoards; and an interesting collection of Cornish bank notes and associated material relating to Cornish banking.

Subjects

Numismatics

Science and Industry Collection

Among the collection, there is a small collection of old cameras and several items of scientific equipment of the type used to demonstrate scientific principles.

Social History Collection

This collection embraces industry, trade, mining, fishing and military, social and political life. Individual items are of great interest, especially those linked to families living in Cornwall today. In recent years, post-medieval church plate and silverware, and a 20th century tourism collection have been added. There is an attractive collection of toys, mainly Victorian and Edwardian, with good examples of dolls, dolls’ houses and models. Many have a Cornish connection.

Subjects

Social History

Transport Collection

Among the transport collection are the Trewinnard coach and the Tangye bicycle.

Subjects

Transport

Photographic Collection

This is one of the most important of the museum’s collections comprising a substantial number of images in different formats of Cornwall and Devon, ranging in date from the 1840s to the present. There are also 16mm films by Major Gill, taken in the Truro area in the 1930s and notes from his family; also a small selection of early 1900s audio recordings of Richard Jose, the Cornish tenor, and others on folklore and specific Cornish topics.

Subjects

Photography

Archives Collection

The archive collection at the museum is highly significant and the Courtney Library, which houses it, is one of the main sources for the study of the history and culture of Cornwall. The library is strongest on Cornish subjects and includes lengthy runs of original files of local newspapers and periodicals. There are archives of various leading local families; and extensive holdings of documents originally collected by the local historian Charles Henderson and bequeathed to the museum in the 1933. There is also an extensive collection of autographs dating from the 17th century; and printed and manuscript plans, maps and engravings.

Subjects

Archives

Other

Agriculture; Arms and Armour; Maritime

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Medals Collection

Remarkably, all the eight Victoria Crosses awarded to the Regiment are displayed in the museum, including the four awarded for the defence of Lucknow in 1857. In addition, is a large collection of other campaign medals, orders and decorations awarded to members of the Regiment.

Subjects

Medals

Personalia Collection

There is an important collection of personalia relating to notable members of the Regiment.

Subjects

Personalia

Costume and Textile Collection

This fine collection includes the many colourful uniforms worn by the Regiment and dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, as well as helmets and other accessories. Textiles include flags, colours and banners of the Regiment.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Photographic Collection

There are photographs recording many aspects of the Regiment and its activities.

Subjects

Photography

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC