Explore collections

Since 2007 we have developed the permanent collection by both gifts and purchases. A number of items have been donated following exhibitions, we received a major gift as part of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme – the largest collection of Essex House Press books in the UK.

Following a robbery in 2011 in which many items from the Ashbee and Harts displays were stolen we have concentrated our area of collecting in acquiring new pieces for these displays, including purchase and loans.

Three of those pieces acquired were via the V&A Purchase Grant Scheme and the Art Fund and include a Tower of London goblet by Robert Welch in 2012, a pendant by C.R.Ashbee, 2012 and in 2017 a firescreen made by Thornton and Downer.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Guild of Handicraft Trust aims to preserve and promote the work of artists, designers and craftspeople working in the north Cotswolds since 1900, and therefore aims to collect work relevant to this theme.

At present the Trust owns the following collections, each of which relates to a particular individual or organisation:

• C. R. Ashbee, architect and designer: c450 architectural drawings; metalwork, some silverwork. The largest collection of books from the Essex House Press
• Charles Blakeman, sculptor and stained-glass artist: c300 photographs of work and stained-glass panels.
• Campden Pottery, pottery; ceramic pieces
• Chipping Campden School of Arts and Crafts: annual reports, records, photographs, correspondence.
• Roland Dyer, photographer: c900 black and white photographs.
• F. L. Griggs, artist and etcher: small selection of miscellaneous items.
• Alec Miller, carver and sculptor: casts, photographs, sketchbooks and drawings.
• Toff Milway, potter: ceramic piece
• Mary Osborn, weaver: textiles
• Arthur Penny, metalworker: eleven items of metalwork.
• Sidney Reeve, silversmith: c500 drawings, and photographs.
• Stanton Guildhouse: photographs
• Jesse Taylor, photographer: c450 negatives and contact prints.
• Thornton and Downer, blacksmiths: two pieces of work
• W. H. Warmington, silversmith and teacher: photographs, examples of work, and correspondence.
• Winchcombe Pottery: five pots, photographs
• Robert Welch, silversmith and industrial designer: candelabra, Tower of London goblet
• Paul Woodroffe, book designer, illustrator and stained-glass artist: 226 books or pamphlets, and 6 illustrations

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine Art Collection

The Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery has one of the most important collections in Britain, including world-famous Old Master, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, and an outstanding prints and drawings collection featuring works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Czanne and Turner. The collection includes around 530 paintings, 7,000 drawings and 20,000 prints as well as significant holdings of medieval, Renaissance and modern sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, furniture and textiles. The gallery’s unique and intimate atmosphere reflects its origins as a ‘collection of collections’, largely formed through a series of major gifts and bequests made by some of the leading collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries. These include Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947), Roger Fry (1866-1934), Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-88), Viscount Lee of Fareham (1868-1947) and Count Antoine Seilern (1901-78). Details of each collection are listed separately More than 100 important works on long-term loan from several private collections since 2002. In their range and quality these broaden the scope of the existing collections, highlighting in particular the creative continuities between Post-Impressionist painters such as Czanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin, and the generation of Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck. There is an outstanding group of Fauve paintings which includes Derain’s The Dance and Matisse’s The Red Beach, as well as works by Charles Camoin, Henri Manguin and Albert Marquet. The German works include a number of important paintings by the group of Munich-based artists known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). There is also sculpture by some of the principal figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Rodin, Maillol, Matisse, Archipenko and Laurens and 11 bronzes and a selection of works on paper by Edgar Degas, one of which is a study for the famous Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer which was exhibited at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition of 1881.

Samuel Courtauld Collection

This world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings was assembled in the 1920s by Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947). Founded on the success of his family’s textile business, Courtauld’s collection was formed at a time when there was little public interest in recent French painting in Britain. It includes such masterpieces as Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, Manet’s A Bar at the Folies- Bergre, Czanne’s Montagne Sainte-Victoire and Renoir’s La Loge. As well as amassing his own collection, Courtauld laid the foundations of the national collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art through 50,000 acquisition fund for the Tate and National Gallery. In 1932 he joined Viscount Lee of Fareham to found the Courtauld Institute, giving a large part of his collection in gifts to the Institute during the 1930s before a final bequest following his death in 1947.

Spooner Collection

18th and 19th century English watercolours which came to the Courtauld Institute Gallery in 1967 from William Wycliffe Spooner.

Decorative Art Collection

A stunning collection of 18th-century silver, made by three generations of Courtauld family silversmiths, comprising over eighty pieces, is on permanent loan from Akzo Nobel, and is shown as a spectacular buffet and table display. The Courtauld silver collection, unique of its kind, was built up from 1950 onwards by Courtaulds plc, now part of Akzo Nobel. The collection comprises pieces by three generations of 18th-century London silversmiths, members of the Huguenot Courtauld family and ancestors of Samuel Courtauld, after whom the Institute is named. Designed for domestic use and display, the items range in date from 1710 to 1779 and demonstrate the quality of workmanship and innovative design skills brought to England by Huguenot refugee craftsmen. The display is accompanied by a 48-page book, available in the Gallery Shop priced 5.00. Further information

Gambier Parry Bequest

The collection of Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-88) was bequeathed to the Courtauld by his grandson, Mark Gambier-Parry, in 1966. Gambier Parry assembled his collection between the 1830s and 1870s, initially purchasing 17th-century Italian paintings in keeping with mainstream mid-Victorian taste, before turning increasingly to earlier Florentine art of the 14th and 15th centuries. Outstanding among the paintings is The Crucifixion and Saints of 1348, a polyptych altarpiece by Bernardo Daddi. Other works from the collection include a set of predella panels depicting the story of St Julitta and St Quiricus by Borghese di Piero, and Nicola di Maestro Antonio di Ancona’s St Peter, together with iznik ceramics and Spanish lustreware that form part of Gambier Parry’s important collection of decorative arts.

Lee Bequest

Viscount Lee of Fareham (1868-1947) started assembling his collection, which is made up of European paintings 1340-1800, soon after he retired from a successful political career in 1922. An adventurous, independent-minded collector, he cared little for expert advisors, measuring his success largely in terms of discoveries and reattributions. Although sometimes opportunistic and often speculative, this approach resulted in some outstanding acquisitions, particularly of Italian Renaissance and 18th-century British paintings. Among the masterpieces in the collection are Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Botticelli’s Holy Trinity, and the important Morelli-Nerli marriage chests or cassoni of 1472. A soldier, diplomat and politician of distinction, Lee’s first great benefaction was the gift of his house, Chequers, to the nation as an official country residence for successive Prime Ministers. The founding of the Courtauld Institute of Art was also largely due to Lee, who formed the idea that Britain should have a specialist institution for the teaching of art history and bequeathed it his collection in support of this goal.

Roger Fry Bequest

Roger Fry (1866-1934). Formerly Curator of Old Master Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Fry was a leading member of the Bloomsbury Group, an enthusiastic and influential critic and a key promoter of ‘modern’ art in Britain. An early supporter of Lord Lee’s initiative in founding the Courtauld Institute, Fry bequeathed his collection to the Institute in 1934. It included examples of his own paintings, important designs by artists associated with his Omega Workshops, and objects such as an African dancing mask from Ulvira, Lake Tanganyika, to which he accorded equal status with great European works of art. Among the works on display are Fry’s 1917 portrait of the artist Nina Hamnett, known as the ‘Queen of Bohemia’, and works by members of the Bloomsbury Group such as Vanessa Bell’s A Conversation and Duncan Grant’s Portrait of Ka Cox.

Witt Collection

Comprising some 4,000 drawings and 25,000 prints, representing all of the main European schools, the collection contains many exceptional works, including sketches by Constable and Gainsborough, a masterful group by Guercino, and many distinguished Dutch and Flemish landscape drawings. Sir Robert Witt (1872-1952), lawyer and founder-Secretary (later Chairman) of the National Art Collections Fund, began creating a library of photographs and prints of paintings early in his career. He eventually amassed over 600,000 images which came to form the core of the Witt Library, now housed at the Courtauld Institute. Aware that the collecting of drawings was a relatively neglected field in the inter-war years, he decided to form a collection to complement his library of reproductions. Buying widely, he generally avoided the fashionable and expensive, searching out a variety of subject matter, styles and techniques. He often bought the work of artists who were little valued at the time, commenting in 1936 that ‘nowhere in the world is it possible to find so many interesting and attractive examples as in this country, or at such ridiculously low prices.’ An early and active supporter of the Courtauld Institute from the date of its founding in 1932, Witt bequeathed his collection of drawings on his death in 1952. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view some of the masterpieces from his collection, including many works never before on public display.

Princes Gate Bequest

This famed collection of 14th to 20th century European art was formed by Count Antoine Seilern (1901-78), an Austrian migr who settled in England on the eve of the Second World War. Guided by his friend, the distinguished scholar Johannes Wilde, Seilern developed an interest in art history while at Vienna University in the 1930s. The paintings and drawings in his collection include works from most major European schools, outstanding among which are the 32 paintings and 20 drawings by Peter Paul Rubens, including his great Landscape by Moonlight and The Family of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Other masterpieces include the Entombment triptych by the Master of Flmalle and works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Giambattista Tiepolo, as well as paintings by Count Seilern’s Austrian contemporary, Oskar Kokoshcka. On Seilern’s death in 1978 the Princes Gate Collection numbered 138 paintings and 354 drawings, and formed one of the single greatest benefactions ever received by a British gallery.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Cowper and Newton Museum was set up by Thomas Wright in 1900 in the house in which the poet William Cowper once lived. The lower floor also served as a reference library for the town. The artefacts and manuscripts donated by Wright and his contemporaries in 1900 related mainly to William Cowper and to local history and formed the core of the collection. The collection expanded to cover the life of John Newton, and has been regularly added to, through donation and occasional purchase. The anti-slavery items were added as part of a centenary celebration in 2000, and an important collection of Cowper memorabilia was acquired with HLF funding shortly afterwards.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collections consist of more than 4,000 catalogued items associated with William Cowper, John Newton and the town of Olney, including artefacts, lace and textiles, pictures and prints, and books. The bulk of the manuscript collection is held at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies and is catalogued separately.

The Cowper and Newton Collections

• Memorabilia of the poet William Cowper and Rev John Newton and their circle (Biography, English Literature, Social and Religious History).
• Original manuscripts by William Cowper and John Newton and their circle.
• A library of editions of the work of Cowper and Newton and their circle, and books and other publications concerning their lives and works.

The Olney Collections

• Objects illustrating the history of Olney and the immediately surrounding villages, the lives of people associated with them, and local crafts and industries, including lacemaking and boot and shoe making (Local and Social History).
• Books, documents and images relating to Olney and the immediately surrounding villages, and to or by people associated with them.
• Items of local geological, palaeontological and archaeological interest (Archaeology, History, Geology, Palaeontology).

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC

Decorative/Applied Art

The group of ceramics includes work by influential figures such as Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. Bernard Leach gave the Centre nearly one hundred of his pots, together with pieces he had collected in Japan, Korea and China (which influenced his work). There is also calligraphy by Edward Johnston and Irene Wellington and wood furniture by Ernest Gimson and Sidney Barnsley.

Costume/Textiles

Woven and printed textiles by Ethel Mairet, Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher.

Archives

Reference books include makers’ diaries, documents, photographs and craftspersons’ working notes. Bernard Leach bequeathed all his papers to the collection (including diaries that documented his time in Japan).

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Crail Preservation Society was formed in 1959 to make people aware of and prevent the loss of local heritage. The Society subsequently felt that there should be a focal point where information about a variety of local matters of interest could be brought under one roof. It was therefore decided to establish a museum and in 1977 the former Burgh Council, being in sympathy with the idea, conveyed to the Society the old Common Good house at 62 Marketgate, adjacent to the Town Hall, for this purpose. They also gave a variety of artefacts owned by the Burgh such as weights & measures and paintings which formed the start of the Museum’s Collection.

The most influential people in starting the Museum were Rev W Macintyre (Chairman of Crail Preservation Society), Bill Thomson (Chairman of the Museum Sub-Committee), and Archie Macdonald (First Honorary Curator of Crail Museum). Strong support was given by Provost George Simpson.

The collection has evolved over many years from donations from both local people and those with a connection to Crail either current or in the past. Harold Harrison, a former member of the Royal Navy at HMS Jackdaw, did most of the research when setting up the Airfield Collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection is made up of a large number of documents, photographs, paintings and artefacts which total 4,498 items. Original photos are kept in storage and copies are put out on display or in accessible albums. Many of the photographs are unique. There is also a small collection of recordings of oral history and local history talks. The Museum holds the Crail Sea Boxes and the Oswald Wynd Papers. There are also some original documents included in Dr W Macintyre’s papers. These mainly relate to Crail Church and the donations to the poor of clothing and shoes. The only items held by the Museum and not accessioned are items used for display purposes such as notices and stands. The Museum does not keep original films but passes them on to an appropriate archive. DVDs of the films are kept in the Museum.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology

Over 300 archaeological finds.

Arms and Armour

War memorabilia.

Costume/Textiles

200 items of Victorian costume.

Geology

A very small collection of geological specimens of local interest.

Biology

The Boyd Alexander collection of local birds and their eggs and other locally interesting natural history items.

Fine Art

The collection also includes fine and decorative art such as paintings, prints and drawings of local subjects.

Personalia

Family records and photos; research material relating to family histories, diaries and letters.

Science and Industry

Examples and products of local industries and crafts e.g. agriculture, leatherwork and ropemaking.

Social History

Domestic and kitchen equipment; School, church and local public services items; Artefacts and archives relating to local commerce, public service, transport, organisations and events; medicine; music; numismatics and some oral history.

Photographic

100 portraits and photos of individuals and locations.

Archives

The archive collection (1800 items) contains local topographical records in the form of maps, prints and photos, Deeds of property and property sales.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

North Kesteven District Council, the RAF and other private and public sector bodies formed a partnership to develop interpretation and marketing for aviation heritage and aviation attractions.  Building on this success, the group grew to include Lincolnshire Tourism, Lincolnshire County Council and other local authorities and has made aviation an important theme through which the heritage of Lincolnshire is promoted.

The history of R.A.F. Cranwell, which has provided initial training for RAF officers since 1920, is of national significance, however as a working R.A.F. base, public access is limited by security restrictions.  The Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum (CAHM) was developed to overcome this issue and to tell the story of this prestigious establishment.

At present, Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum, which opened to the public in 1992, is housed in leased farm buildings situated close to R.A.F. Cranwell at North Rauceby.  The Museum is operated and funded by North Kesteven District Council who are committed to the conservation and promotion of our local, regional and national aviation heritage.  The collections have grown up since the Museum was created and developed and include donations and loans from the RAF, the RAF Museum and members of the public.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum’s collection has been kept small as both storage and display space are limited.  CAMC owns some 756 artefacts, including a Jet Provost aircraft and other aircraft parts, uniforms, badges photographs and other memorabilia associated with RAF Cranwell, including a number of groups associated with particular cadets and officers.  There are also a small number of loans including the cockpit of a De Havilland Vampire, a balloon basket, both on loan from the RAF Museum and an ejector seat on loan from RAF Cranwell.  The earliest item dates back to 1919 and the collections covers most of the history of RAF Cranwell, through the inter-war years and the Second World War, which is most strongly represented, up to the Falklands War.

Although the collection is small it includes a number of items of more than local significance because of their association with the Royal Air Force College, which still trains new RAF officers today.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum was set up in 1928 and arose from collections made by various individuals and groups including Elbolton Cave Material from Craven Naturalists, Elslack Roman Fort material from Lane-Fox, local history material collected by Fraser Dufty and Alfred Green and geological material collected by R H Tiddeman and Arthur Raistrick, as well as material purchased from the collection of John Sunderland. Arthur Raistrick built up a regional collection relating to lead mining. More collections have come to the museum over time including those of Colonel Tottie of Coniston Hall, W W Holgate of Earby. The collection has been added to by material from excavations and watching briefs in the Craven area. This includes material from the Friends of Craven Museum (1970s), Brian Hartley’s excavations at Kirk Sink Roman Villa, Gargrave (partially deposited here) and recent commercial archaeological deposits.

The Clement Roebuck collection of art was left to the town of Skipton on Roebuck’s death in 1988. Craven District Council supported the collection from 1989 and the collection formally came to Craven Museum and Gallery  in 2006.

An inventory and deaccessioning project was carried out in 2014-15. This was carried out with the help of the Museum Development Yorkshire and following ethical guidelines. Among other deaccessions, this enabled material to be transferred to other local museums and archives including Grassington Folk Museum and the North Yorkshire Archives at Northallerton.

From the initial setting up of the museum some material was only on loan and there are a number of legacy loans within the collection which we are currently trying to address to meet current standards. A legacy loan which continues to need to be managed is of the Elbolton Material from Craven Naturalists. This has been changed from a long term loan to a short term loan, which can be renewed at each review, but the lenders do not want to change it to a donation for historical reasons. We will continue to maintain close relations with the group.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology

The archaeology collection at Craven Museum and Gallery ranges from Palaeolithic to post-Medieval and reflects the settlement and movement of people through Craven, an area partially within the Yorkshire Dales. Key collections are items relating to Elbolton and other cave excavations, the Malham Moor lithics, Elslack Roman fort, Kirk Sink Roman villa, Higher Land medieval moated house and the medieval timbers from the Red Lion in Skipton. We also have key collections from important sites near Grassington and Ingleton. The archaeology collections are of interest to national and local researchers as well as forming a collection in which local people take a close interest. Public consultation around the NLHF development work demonstrated significant interest in this area of the collection.

Social and Industrial History

Main strengths of the collection include lead mining, farming and textiles, -Dewhursts (Sylko Cotton) and other mills. Craven’s farming history for the 18th to early 20th century is particularly strongly represented. There is a small collection of toys and dolls from the early 19th to the early 20th century. Objects in the social and industrial history collections link strongly with the ephemera, photographic and oral history collections. In particular, there are both ephemera and objects which relate to the canal and railway in Craven in the 19th and 20th centuries. We have a small but significant collection relating to local trades and businesses in Craven including slaters, tailors, joiners and cloggers. These items range from 18th to 20th century. Significant individual items include the besom engine, the early 19th century lathe from Hetton and the lead ore crusher from Bishopdale.

There is also a significant small collection of items relating to Robert Thompson of Kilburn (Mouseman) which links with the Council Chamber furniture at Skipton Town Hall (entirely fitted out by Robert Thompsons of Kilburn).

We also have further small collections which reflect individual collectors’ interests from the early history of the museum. In a few cases these have been added to by subsequent collecting and include firearms, swords, snuff boxes, ceramics (lusterware and sample sanitaryware), horology (both clocks and pocket watches).

Ethnographics

We have a small ethnographic collection which reflects cultures world-wide and was mainly from the collections of W W Holgate.

Costume and Textiles

This collection contains c.170 items from the Upper Wharfedale Folk Museum (including a corded quilted waistcoat from 1730). We also have dresses made or bought locally from the 19th and 20th centuries including some children’s clothing associated with specific individuals. An additional small but significant collection are the 57 items which were worn by Mary Anne Teal from Cononley (1829 to 1904). We also have 45 samplers by local makers from the 18th and 19th century, mostly framed.

Photographs, including glass plates

The photograph collection is large including over 3,000 items. We also have c.500 glass plates. The spread of subject matter is wide including local people and buildings, famous places, landmarks, social history (including businesses and sports groups). There are glass lantern slides which reflect the talks and lectures given locally. We have two magic lanterns and cameras from a number of periods. In addition, we have 1,500 postcards relating to either Craven residents or the local area. This includes the Capstick/Hoggarth collection (871 items) which chronicles one family in Settle over several generations.

Ephemera, Books and Documents

The ephemera collection contains over 3,800 items plus 10 boxes which are currently being catalogued as part of the NLHF project (which runs until May 2021). Items date mainly from the 18th century to the present and include legal agreements and indentures, insurance documents, tickets, receipts, guidebooks, patterns, funeral cards, advertisements and Christmas and Birthday cards. Almost all the items reflect the Craven area or have Craven links.

Significant subcollections include the items collected by W W Holgate relating to his experiences in the Second World War and collections relating to local churches.

The most unusual and unique document within this collection is the diary of Richard Ryley. He records the impact of the cotton famine on his life as a cotton weaver and itinerant musician in the 1860s.

Paintings, Prints and Drawings

Paintings, prints and drawings include around 300 items, mainly framed, within this there are two specific collections: Clement Roebuck and Arthur Reginald Smith. The rest are works mainly relating to the local area or local artists and the collection includes the earliest known watercolour of Skipton by Anthony Devis.

The Roebuck Collection of 142 works includes a mix of oil paintings, watercolours, prints and drawings from the 17th to the mid 20th century. It’s core strength is the 20th century work. This includes works by: Edward Seago, Pierre Bonnard, John Piper, John Nash, Walter Sickert, Stanley Spencer, Grahame Sutherland, Laura Knight, Christopher Wood, Carel Weight and Jacobus Hendrick Pierneef. We have archive information and photographs which relate to his collecting pattern and connections with some of the artists. Although Clement Roebuck was originally from Huddersfield he spent much of his life in Craven, most notably at Starbotton where he encouraged artist friends of the mid 20th century to visit and paint the local area. His collection also reflects this local element as well as his wider collecting interests.

Maps

We have around 300 maps mainly stored flat, but some are framed or folded in book form. They relate to Craven and cover the geology, geography and archaeology of the area. 33 maps and plans relate to archaeology collections within the museum. The most significant items are two framed 18th century maps which relate to the building of the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

There are also a set of maps which belonged to the steward of Skipton Castle in the 19th century.

Numismatics

We hold items from Roman coinage through to pre-decimalisation coinage. Significant items include the Frankish tremissis from Holy Trinity Church Skipton and also the Hebden hoard of 33 denarii thought to be a Roman soldier’s pay. There are c.500 other coins including four other Elizabethan/Stuart coin hoards as well as other stray finds which we have purchased through the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Natural History

This includes taxidermy specimens of birds, fish and mammals. Many of the birds are the remains of a once famous collection from Colonel Tottie of Coniston Hall. There is also a birds’ egg collection, begun in the 1840s which relates to Henry Roundell and Colonel Tottie and contains their notebooks about the collection. We have several other collections of birds eggs, shells, butterflies and moths which have been donated by Craven residents over the life of the museum, but the specimens themselves are from worldwide.

Herbarium

There are c.1,800 individual specimens mounted and labelled with the name of the collector and the date and place of collection. Notes are also made on the rareity of certain items at the time of collection. The collection was mainly in the late 19th century and early 20th century and spans a period of approximately 40-50 years. Most of the specimens relate to Craven but some are from further afield and there is a small collection of material from India. The herbarium contains specimens of plants which are now extremely rare such as the Lady’s Slipper Orchid. The herbarium relates particularly to the plants found in the unique limestone landscape of Craven.

Geology

There are approximately 200 trays and boxes of geological specimens. Many of these relate to the Craven area although some are from further afield. Most are from the collection of Arthur Raistrick who was a noted geologist and one of the founder members of the museum. Amongst his collection are minerals which relate to lead mining and plants from the coal measures. We also have four outsize aggregate specimens of fluorite which are very rare (due to their size).

Oral History Recordings

We have 110 oral history recordings relating to the Craven Area. These have been collected from the 1980s up to the present. All oral histories on tape cassette have now been digitised and we are in the process of transcribing all of our holdings.

Key collectors:

WW Holgate (2nd World War Collection relating to the Home Front, Archaeology, Ethnography, Social History, Minerals

John Crowther (Archaeology, Social History, Herbarium)

John Frankland (Herbarium)

Arthur Raistrick (Lead Mining, Geology, Archaeology)

F N Dufty – First Curator of Craven Museum (Social History, Archaeology)

R H Tiddeman (Geology: reef knoll fossil collection)

Richardson Brothers (Archaeology: Malham Moor lithics)

Clement Roebuck (Paintings, Prints and Drawings)

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

Much of the material that has been collected since the museum opened has come from the area’s hill farms, where sheep husbandry has been the core activity for several centuries. This agricultural material, mostly from the past 150 years, is all provenanced to the collecting area.

The nature of the area and its traditional economy was until quite recent times such that people had few possessions, with those that they had often being passed between generations. The strongest groups of materials have typically come from farm clearances following death or relocation on retirement, and these typically include personalia and items retained as mementoes that in a museum context often represent interesting and unusual survivals of farm ephemera.

The museum has always resisted the temptation to acquire large items of farm machinery or domestic furniture due to limited space.

The museum has from the start systematically collected local photographic images, whether as originals or in copy-negative form where the original is returned to a private owner.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2025

Licence: CC BY-NC

In terms of sheep husbandry, the activity generates few objects, but the collections contain examples of almost all items regularly used, including some interesting veterinary material intended for ‘farm’ rather than professional use.

One group of material relates to shooting – the area has been, and remains much used for field sports – although as a matter of policy the museum does not hold firearms.

There is a small but significant group of sporting and other trophies, won or presented locally.

There is a substantial collection of books, preserved as museum objects. These fall into three broad categories:

• The contents of hill-farm bookshelves – typically agricultural texts, year-books and show catalogues, family bibles and religious texts and cookery books.
• Original, rare and locally-relevant historical or topographical texts.
• The remains of Crawfordjohn Subscription Library.

An important, visually attractive and interesting group of local kirk pewter is held on loan.

There is a growing body of ephemera relating to community life and social activities, generated for example by the Curling Club, Public Hall, SWRI and the Village School.

In terms of domestic life, there are particularly strong collections of lighting appliances from the days before electricity, dating back to the 18th century, and of the ephemera of cooking and washing clothes. There is some costume, as is usual typically female and of 19th century origin, but all with the advantage of local provenance.

There is a large selection of documents of interest to visitors tracing their roots. Among these are indexes to births, marriages and deaths from the Old Parochial Register; census transcriptions and indexes 1841 to 1911; extracts from newspapers and an interesting collection of local photographs and maps. A database entitled “Crawfordjohn People” was gifted by Dr Gael Ferguson of New Zealand – it is a unique resource and provides information from 1650-1851.

The Collection has steadily grown over the years and now contains 3000 items.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2025

Licence: CC BY-NC

Social History

The social history collections number around 500 items and relate to the old parishes of Crawley and Ifield, Gatwick and to a limited extent the neighbouring parishes of Worth, Slaugham, Lower Beeding and Charlwood. Part of the collection relates the history of Crawley New Town to the Garden City and New Town movements.

Science and Industry

The collection holds around 1350 items relating to local trades and industries e.g. there are a number of artefacts relating to Wealden iron and a comprehensive collection of shoemakers’ tools.

Archaeology

Crawley Museum Centre holds a collection of around 1,000 items of archaeology of local significance.

Costume/textiles

Crawley Museum Centre has a small collection of decorative textiles.

Fine Art

Crawley Museum Centre has a collection of around 75 works of art.

Numismatics

Crawley Museum Centre has a very small amount of numismatic material.

Personalia

Crawley Museum Centre holds a small collection of personal possessions.

Archives

The current collections cover the existing New Town area which comprises the old parishes and to a limited extent the neighbouring parishes of Worth, Slaugham, Lower Beeding and Charlwood. Part of the collection relates the history of Crawley New Town to the Garden City and New Town movements.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC