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Oxford Bus Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7115257
- Instance of:
- museum; independent museum; transport museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1667
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7115257/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The collection comprises road vehicles of various descriptions and associated artefacts, photographs and literature, to explain and illustrate the history of road transport, primarily within Oxfordshire, with particular reference to local bus and coach services and the products of Morris Motors. The majority of the vehicles are in the ownership of the Oxford Bus Museum Trust, which it is intended shall own any further vehicles of historic significance acquired to be featured in the museum’s displays.
Bus museum collection
Road vehicles, including
- Buses
- Coaches
- Charabancs
- Vans
- Horse-drawn vehicles
- Motor cycles
- Pedal cycles
Models of
- Road vehicles
- Buildings
Mechanical components, including
- Tram components
- Bus chassis
- Sectioned bus
- Engines
- Gearboxes
- Garage equipment
Equipment associated with passenger transport, including
- Ticket machines
- Uniforms
- Badges
- Destination blinds
- Street furniture
Other items associated with passenger transport, including
- Tickets
- Timetables
- Bus stop signs
- Advertising signs
- Taxi meters
- Photographs
- Obsolete money
Display items, including
- Mannequins
- Assorted toys
- Luggage
- Various implements
Morris Motors collection
Road vehicles, including
- Cars
- Vans
- A tractor
Exhibits to illustrate the manufacturing process, including
- Drawings
- Cut away vehicles
- Cut away components
- Staff memorabilia
Factory items, including
- Fire brigade equipment and memorabilia
- Band equipment and memorabilia
- Timekeeping equipment and documents
- Upholstery samples
Display items, including
- Photographs
- Advertising material
- Motor components
- Packaging
- Badges
- Manuals
- Maps
- Containers
- Models
- Mannequins
Both collections include numerous photographs.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2017
Licence: CC BY-NC
Oxford University Herbaria
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q3359052
- Instance of:
- botanical museum; herbarium
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q3359052/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Cornucopia)
Daubeny Herbarium
Worldwide collection of angiosperms and gymnosperms, especially rich in African woody material. FHO has grown to approximately 400,000 specimens (plus associated carpological and spirit collections) and has outgrown the cupboard capacity of the herbarium of the 1950s.
Xylarium
Worldwide collection of angiosperms and gymnosperm wood, especially rich in species from former British Colonies. Large wood blocks are arranged alphabetically by family, genus and species and smaller blocks are arranged in numbered wooden boxes. Microscope slides are maintained vertically in aluminium slide holders in steel filing cabinets. The FHOw comprises 29,953 entries of 24,343 wood blocks and 13,100 microscope slides; 7,673 (31.5%) wood blocks have associated microscope slides. 1,635 (5.5%) accessions in the database are from gymnosperms, and the remainder from non-gymnosperms including palms and tree ferns. 10,678 species, 2,719 genera and 239 families are represented. 51 accessions are associated with type material. Geographical distribution is 22.1% Malaysia, 20.8% tropical Africa, 11.9% from South America. 200 countries are represented. 765 collectors are listed, but 25.5% of accessions have no collector and 348 (45.5%) collectors have one accession. Main collectors are Krukoff, Gamble, Vigne, Breteler, Molfino, Cuatrecasas, Cooper, Stern & Brizicky and Anderson, and Forest Departments from former British Colonies have 7502 accessions (25.1%) and 59.7% of accessions were made in 1930- 1950s. FHOw contains a mixture of scientifically important and historically interesting materials including collections of Vigne (Ghana), Anderson (Sarawak), Breteler (Cameroon, Venezuela), Brown (Borneo), Cooper (Liberia), Cooper & Slater (Panama), Cuatrecasas (Columbia) and Krukoff (Brazil, Sumatra) and historical collections include Gamble (India) and Molfino (Argentina, HRH the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and individual items collected by Erasmus Darwin (FHOw 12208, Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. Webb and Richard Spruce. There are about 1,000,000 specimens in the world’s xylaria, 123,000 (11.3%) in the UK; FHOw and PRLw are unusual in having more than 10% of the collection supported by herbarium vouchers. FHOw is the 13th largest (the largest is the US Forest Products Laboratory with 98,635 accessions) and 33rd oldest (the oldest is Leningrad, founded in 1823) xylarium in the world.
Fielding-Druce Herbarium
Robert Morison (1620-1683), specimens are mounted on sheets according to numbers published in Plantae Historiae Universalis Oxoniensis, pp.632-635 & 641, about 60 taxa are represented on 76 sheets, British and foreign material, but very few specimens are localised or dated; Collectors include: Buddle, A. (c.1660-1715); Doody, S. (1656-1706); Lhwyd, E. (1660-1709); Morison, R. (1620-1683); Petiver, J. (1663/4-1718); Plukenet, L. (1642-1706); Richardson, R. (1663-1741); Robinson, T. (c.1657-1748), others possible are Bobart, J., Byrch, E., Du Bois, C., Pargiter(?), Plot, R., Sherard, J., Sloane, H., Stephens, L., Stonestreet, W., Vernon, W., Wheler, G. and Willisel, T. Johann Jacob Dillenius (1684-1747) Lichens noted in Crombie, J.M., 1880, On the lichens of Dillenius’s ‘Historia Muscorum’, as illustrated by his herbarium. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 17: 553-581 and Druce, G.C. & Vines, S.H., 1907, The Dillenian Herbaria. Oxford University Press, Oxford). William Sherard (1659-1728) collection 389 mounted and packeted specimens, many poorly localised and dated, but definite material from Berkshire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, London, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Salop, Somerset, Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Caernarvonshire, Denbigh, Merioneth, Montgomery, Radnor), Ireland, Canary Islands, France, Greenland, India, Lapland, Peru, Switzerland(?), Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Contains some very important early material and complements the Dillenian collection. Collectors include: Bartram, J. (1699-1777); Bauhino, J. (1541-1613); Bobart, J. (1641-1719); Brewer, S. (1670-1743); Brown, A. (fl. 1692-1698); Brown, L. (fl. 1699-1749); Buddle, A. (c. 1660-1715); Bulkley, E. (c. 1651-1714); Catesby, M. (1679/80-1749); Celsius, O. ((1670-1756); Clayton, J. (1686-1773); Cole, T. (fl. 1720-1730); Dillenius, J.J. (1684-1747); Doody, S. (1656-1706); Green, W. (fl. 1726-1740); Jones, W. (fl. 1730); Lhwyd, E. (1660-1709); Linnaeus, C. (1707-1778); Mitchell, J. (1711-1768); Petiver, J. (c. 1658-1718); Rand, I. (?-1743); Richardson, R. (1663-1741); Sherard, W. (1659-1728); Sibthorpe, J. (1758-1796); Stonestreet, W. (?-1716); Vaillant, S. (1669-1722); Vernon, W. (fl. 1688-1711). John Sibthorp (1758-1796) 2 collections of 81 mounted specimens related to numbered entries (858-924 & 1177-1190) in Flora Oxoniensis (1794) (pp. 315-335, 416-419), but 21 sheets cannot be traced and 11 specimens are missing from their packets; 51 sheets of 54 packets of material, undated but some localised from Greece Athos, Athens, Crete, Imbros, Limnos, Parnis, Skiatho and Zante, probably all collected in 1795, and Sicily. General Collection mainly collected by Sibthorp including some from to Ben Lomond c.1780 e a stone to get at a Lichen’ (reproduced in Lack, H.W. with Mabberley, D.J., 1999, The Flora Graeca Story,. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p. 18). Localised material of Sibthorp is from: Hermitage (Berkshire), Rivalston(?), Ben Lomond (Stirlingshire), Craig Chialleach (= ?Craig na Callich, Perth), Crammond Island (= Cramond Island, Firth of Forth), King’s Park (Edinburgh), Pentland Hills (nr. Edinburgh), Roslin (Midlothian) and Taymouth (Perth). I33 packets transferred from the Sibthorp Lichen collection and other material from Cornwall, Scotland and Wales collected by John Lightfoot (1735-1788) between 1772 and 1774. Charles du Bois (1656-1740) collection on 102 sheets from c.1697-1724, some localised and/or dated. Collectors include ?Bobart, J. (1641-1719); Brown, A. (fl. 1692-1698) Johanna Island, Comoros, Indian Ocean (1697); Buddle, A. (c. 1660-1715); Bulkley, E. (1651?-1714) Fort St George, India (1702-1703); Bengal (1704); Catesby, M. (1679/1680-1749) South Carolina, USA (1724); Doody, S. (1656-1706); Du Bois (1656-1740) Tunbridge Wells; Petiver, J. (c. 1658-1718); Plukenet, L. (1641-1796) ?Palma/Canary Islands; Stephens, L. (1654-1724/1725); Stonestreet, W. (?-1716); Vernon, W. (1667/1688-c.1715) Maryland, USA (1698). Bishop C. Lipscombe (1781-1843) collection is a bound volume containing 452 taxa of mounted specimens and 209 taxa on stone, separately stored, of British and foreign material, few specimens localized or dated. Exsiccati are kept separately from the other collections: Baxter, W., Stirpes Cryptogamae Oxoniensis, 1825, 1828, Oxford, 2 fasc. (complete) Bohler, J., Lichenes Britannici, 1835-1837, Sheffield, 16 fasc. (?incomplete) Dietrich, D.N.F., Herbarium Florae Germanicae, 1830-?, Jena (?incomplete) Don, G., Herbarium Britannicum, 1804-1812, Edinburgh, 9 fasc. (complete) Funck, H.C., Cryptogamische Gewachse des Fichtelgebirg’s, Ed.I (1801-1805), 5 fasc.; Ed.II (1806- 1838), 42 fasc.
Source: Cornucopia
Date: Not known, but before 2015
Licence: CC BY-NC
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q1760005
- Also known as:
- Museum of Natural History, Oxford, OUMNH, Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford
- Instance of:
- natural history museum; university museum; academic archive; museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum; Designated collection
- Accreditation number:
- 1163
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q1760005/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
Earth Collections
The Earth Collections comprise around 600,000 fossils (including 1,400 type specimens), around 34,000 minerals and gemstones, around 250 meteorite samples and sections, approximately 1,880 polished decorative rocks, and more than 200,000 other rock samples and sections.
Highlights of the collection include the first scientifically described dinosaurs and Mesozoic mammals, the most complete human skeleton known from the British Palaeolithic (the ‘Red Lady of Paviland’), and the historic Corsi collection of decorative stones. Other significant historical collections are those of Edward Lhwyd (1660-1709), William Buckland (1784-1856), John Phillips (1800-1874), and Charles Lyell (1791-1875).
Around 60% of the fossils are fully catalogued, and a further 25% have been listed to inventory level. All are securely stored in good quality storage furniture or boxes. Funding is currently being sought for new storage furniture to accommodate the growing collection of large Mesozoic vertebrates, and is a priority within Earth Collections.
All minerals, meteorites, decorative stones and mineralogical instruments are well documented and stored in good quality storage furniture and boxes. Around 25% of the rocks are fully catalogued, and a further 50% have been listed to inventory level.
There is extremely limited expansion space available for Earth Collections material in the museum building. Approximately 25% of the collections are stored in 2 off-site stores, the majority of which is at a dedicated heritage store.
Life Collections
The non-entomological Life Collections contain an estimated 300,000 specimens including around 1,150 type specimens. They comprise in excess of 25,000 spirit specimens, 150,000 molluscs, 18,500 bird skins, 8,000 bird egg clutches, 8,000 dry invertebrate, fish, amphibian and reptile specimens, 3,000 skeletal specimens and 1,000 mounted mammals and skins.
Significant historical holdings include the Tradescant collection (the oldest natural history collection in the UK); the only soft tissue remains of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus); the Chelonia collection of Thomas Bell; specimens from the old Ashmolean Museum collected by the Duncan brothers; many specimens from the former Christ Church anatomical museum; and a large quantity of historic fluid-preserved specimens.
Storage for much of the collections is of a reasonable too high standard, although there is limited expansion space. There is need for improvements for the storage of the osteological and the dry invertebrate collections. Progress continues to be made in working through a backlog of cataloguing. Data on the mammal, bird skin and various smaller invertebrate groups have been transferred to the Museum CMS and is being updated.
The entomological collections (including all Hexapoda, Myriapoda & Arachnida) comprise over 6 million dry and spirit preserved specimens of which over 25,000 are type specimens. Worldwide in scope, there are major holdings in Palaearctic, Ethiopian and Oriental material. The collections are strong in both extent and number of types in the following orders: Coleoptera, Blattaria, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. All recognized types are numbered and catalogued on the Museum CMS. British material is arranged on a checklist basis (though now significantly dated) with the remainder of the collection arranged to family level in systematic order. Recent grant assisted collection work has enabled about two thirds of the collection to be re-housed to modern pest proof storage. Re-housing the rest of the collection is a priority of the Museum.
Library and Archive
The Library covers all the museum’s disciplines. In total, it houses about 19,000 bibliographic items, and reprint collections numbering nearly 90,000 items. It is founded on two major research collections, the Hope Library (entomology) and the Arkell Library (geology and palaeontology), which specialise in material for taxonomic research related to the collections, and contain holdings that are mainly unique to Oxford.
Archives relate to the history of the museum’s building, collections, research and other activities, and particularly important holdings are the papers of eminent 18th to 20th century scientists including those of entomologists Rev. F.W. Hope, J.O. Westwood and J.C. Dale, and geologists William Smith, William Buckland and John Phillips. Examples of more recent additions are the papers of W.J. Arkell, K.G. Cox, A.E. Eason, M.R. House, W.S. McKerrow, and L.R. Wager.
The museum also holds a small but significant number of art and objects, including 406 items of historic mineralogical apparatus formerly used in the museum.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2019
Licence: CC BY-NC
Oxfordshire County Council
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q6386253
- Responsible for:
- Museums Resource Centre Oxfordshire; Oxfordshire Museum
- Instance of:
- non-metropolitan county council
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q6386253/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
Archaeology
All collections relate specifically to the modern county of Oxfordshire.
The Archaeology collections cover a broad time span from the Palaeolithic to the 17th century. The County Museums Service is the official repository for archaeological material and archives and most of the collections are acquired following assessment and excavation in advance of development. Individual finds are either donated by landowners or acquired through the Treasure process.
Geographically the collections come from throughout Oxfordshire.
• Vale of White Horse: Abingdon collections are of national interest with outstanding prehistoric and Saxon material. The cemeteries at Shrivenham and Watchfield are key site to the interpretation and understanding of beliefs and social organisation amongst early Anglo-Saxon communities in the fifth and sixth centuries.
• South Oxfordshire: Dorchester was a centre of national importance in late Neolithic/early Bronze Age and sub-Roman periods; the Anglo-Saxon site archives from Berinsfield, Cuddesdon, Bix and Dorchester of national significance.
• West Oxfordshire: the Standlake and Stanton Harcourt areas provide collections of nationally significant evidence for Neolithic/Bronze age settlement and ritual activity. The medieval Eynsham Abbey archive is of outstanding quality.
• Cherwell: in addition to the prehistoric, North Oxfordshire hill forts and Grim’s Ditch sites, the earlier and more recent excavations from Banbury Castle and medieval town are of considerable interest.
• Oxford: archaeological archives illustrate the prehistoric importance of the Oxford area. The Roman pottery industry is well represented. The medieval and post medieval collections are of national significance.
History
The History collections have been built up by careful acquisition over 60 years.
Donations from members of the public make up the majority of the collection and the Museums Service provides an important social and cultural function in caring for this material, which illustrates the lives of ordinary people in Oxfordshire over the last 400 years.
The collections are h3 for the period between 1850 and 1950. The collections illustrating personal and domestic life are particularly good, with significant collections of toys and games, smoking and drinking items. Domestic life is well illustrated by collections of furniture, ornaments and domestic utensils.
Specific collections of note:
Working Life
• The strength of the collection is the agricultural and associated food processing and craft material illustrating the period 1850-1940.
• Woodland industries are well represented. They include chair bodging, tent peg and ladder making from the Chilterns, and brush making. The timber ‘bob’ from Buscot and timber carriages are of national interest.
• The Stonesfield slate collection is important and supported by excellent documentation.
• The textile industry is represented by important collections from the blanket manufacturers Smith’s and Early’s of Witney, as well as material from the tweed industry in Chipping Norton and the plush industry in Shutford.
• Other rural crafts represented in the collections include masons’ and stone working tools, blacksmithing and tin-smithing, leather working (including saddlery, harness and boots and shoes). Pottery products are represented by the brick industry (e.g. Nettlebed) and country pottery makers (e.g. Leafield).
• Brewing is particularly well represented, including items from Morrell’s, Morland’s, Hall’s, Brakspear’s and Hook Norton breweries.
• Car manufacturing is well- represented by tools and equipment from Morris Motors and MG.
• Retail activity is represented by collections from Cape’s of Oxford, Banbury’s and Brotherton’s of Woodstock, and Rathbone’s of Banbury.
• Contemporary working life has been recorded at USAF Upper Heyford, Banbury Cattle Market and Early’s of Witney, all before they closed; and to a limited extent by collection at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and Harwell.
Textiles
• The collection covers a range of men’s, women’s and children’s dress from the 17th century to the 20th century, together with some costume accessories and textiles. Most of the collection is based on items relating to local use or manufacture, however, some items are included as comparative pieces. While many items individually are of local importance, when grouped together some form sub collections of regional significance. There are also a small number of items of national importance.
• Groups of particular interest and importance include women’s dress 1820 -1940, with an especially good concentration of printed cotton dresses of the early to mid-19th century, women’s hats, men’s and women’s working dress (particularly smocks), a small collection of 18th century men’s waistcoats and collections relating to local trades, such as corsetry, plush weaving, wool weaving (especially the Witney blanket industry) and gloves.
• One-off pieces of greater significance, counted of national importance, include a 17th century cavalier’s outfit; the Stonesfield embroidered carpet; a group consisting of an 18th century baby’s cap and pocket, found secreted in a building; a late 18th century guidon for the Abingdon Volunteers; an 18th century corset, and a dress which belonged to William Morris’ daughter, May.
Fine Art
• The collection includes paintings, prints and drawings that are either by Oxfordshire-based artists or depict aspects of Oxfordshire. The works represent both well-known artists and also lesser-known individuals whose work is nonetheless of historical significance. In recent years significant additions have been made to the collection by purchases supported by grant aid from the National Art Collection Fund, Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund with support from the Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum.
• The following are some of the better known artists and/or collections: works by Michel Angelo Rooker (1746-1801) including a view of Oxford Castle; a small but significant selection of works by William Turner of Oxford (1789-1862); a watercolour of a view near Banbury by Thomas Rolandson (1756-1827); a series of watercolours of Oxford by James Shuffrey (1859-1939); a series of watercolours of Oxfordshire public houses by Carl Woods (1950s); a single work, The Jungle, acrylic on canvas, by Terry Frost (1915-2003); a set of 12 prints published by the Penn Print Room of the Cotswold countryside by Robin Tanner (1904-1988); a number of prints by Stanley Anderson (1884 – 1966); a series of watercolours of Banbury by Maurice Draper (1908 – 2012 ); and of Cogges by Nina Carroll (1932-1992).
• The collection also includes a number of naive works, notably two views of Abingdon by Robert Howes (c1830) and a view of Church Green, Witney, artist unknown (c1800).
• A portrait of Henry North of Woodstock, by Sir William Beechey RA (1753 -1839) is the most significant recent addition to a collection of portraits of Oxfordshire people
Decorative Arts and Crafts
• Decorative arts and crafts are represented by historic material in our main collections and through The Contemporary Craft Collection, formerly the Southern Arts Crafts Collection, which was transferred to the ownership of Oxfordshire County Council in 1998. The core of this collection was formed by Southern Arts, the Regional Arts Board, through purchase over a period of around 30 years. The collection features a broad survey of craftwork covering a range of different media (including wood, silver, metalwork, ceramics, textiles and paper) from a national arena of crafts people. It is of regional significance overall but includes a variety of pieces made by crafts people of international standing such as David Leach, John Makepeace, Michael Brennand-Wood and Alan Caiger-Smith.
•Transfers have been made to the Contemporary Craft Collection of material of quality and value that was bought for the former Schools Loans Service, but which no-longer required by the Museums Service’s Learning and Access team.
Photographs
The collections include a number of framed photographic prints that have been collected, catalogued and stored at the Museums Resource Centre as part of a coherent collection or as an object in its own right. Photographic collections are held and collected by the History Centre.
Natural Sciences
The natural science collections have undergone an extensive review since 2008 in line with the Disposal Procedures outlined in the 2006 – 2011 Acquisitions and Disposal Policy.
As part of the limitations on its collecting identified in the previous policy, the Museums Service has transferred the collections into the ownership of other organisations as outlined below:
The collections were
• The collections, comprising of reference, voucher and reserve collections, have been audited and reviewed by experts in the field and material transferred to suitable museums and educational establishments that have appropriate facilities to care for the collections such as the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, The British Museum, The River and Rowing Museum.
• Other material, originally collected to support wider educational work, and not part of the main collection, was transferred to the Service’s handling collections and to other museums and educational establishments in the County such as The Hill End Centre, The Northmoor Trust, and a number of schools.
• Geology: This collection consisting of some 5,000 specimens, primarily of Jurassic fossils, but also including borehole samples of the older rocks underlying Oxfordshire. The British Geological Survey has accepted cores for the national collection. The collections were evaluated by a geological specialist, and the Oxford Natural History Museum. The collections were transferred to the Oxford Natural History Museum.
• All transfers and disposals have been recorded according to the standards required for accreditation and in accordance with SPECTRUM Procedure on de-accession and disposal.
Handling Collections
The Museums Service also holds collections which consist of items that are acquired and maintained solely for handling and other educational purposes. These objects are not collected for their Oxfordshire provenance and are not subject to this policy. The Museums Service’s Learning and Access Team manage this resource and follow best practice for the documentation and care of collections as is appropriate in respect of a collection of this nature.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
Oxfordshire Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7755816
- Part of:
- Oxfordshire County Council
- Instance of:
- local museum; local authority museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1152
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7755816/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Cornucopia)
Natural Science
The Natural Science Collection has examples of the flora, fauna and geology of Oxfordshire, Geology of about 5,000 specimens ranging from rocks from deep boreholes to fossils and minerals. The biology collection is about 200,000 specimens from mammals to invertebrates with dry collections of most groups of insects collected by entomologists, including W J Le Quesne, T R Eagles and E S Brown. Skeletal material, including many bird skulls and mounted birds and mammals, many of species found in Oxfordshire. The collection of Western European Birds Eggs given by the Jourdain Society is internationally important and has over 7000 clutches representing 600 species; a spreadsheet is available as a download. The herbarium includes collections of Bryophytes, mostly presented by the late Dr E W Jones, Lichens, and the Voucher collection of the Fungus Survey of Oxfordshire.
Archaeology
Collections include about 200,000 items excavated and found from the Quaternary, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Medieval and Post-medieval including finds and records from all the towns and nearly all the parishes in Oxfordshire. These collections comprise animal bones, human skeletons, metal finds (jewellery and personal ornaments, weapons, tools, vessels, locks and keys, fittings), pottery, tile, glass, flint, stonework, building materials, bone objects, wooden objects, slag and soil samples from Neolithic to 18th century. The sites are Neolithic ritual landscapes, Bronze Age cemeteries, Iron Age settlements, forts and farmsteads, Roman villas, roadside settlements and small towns, Anglo-Saxon cemeteries and hamlets, Saxon and Medieval towns, monasteries, markets and The University. New sites include Eynsham Abbey, and 6 sites, part of Oxfordshire Archaeology 2000 -Mill Street, Wantage; Bicester Fields Farm, Bicester; Didcot ‘B’ Power Station; Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames; Windmill Hill, Nettlebed; and West of Church View, Bampton.
History
The History Collections include items of people’s everyday lives from the 17th century to the present day – objects from home and domestic life, eating, drinking and cooking vessels and utensils, things to do with laundry and cleaning. Domestic furniture is collected, as are clothing and costume, personal adornment, smoking, sport, hobbies, games and toys. Also transport by cycle, horse, car and rail; shops and shopping, retail and wholesale, grocers, butchers, bakers, drapers, haberdashers, department stores, electrical retailers, chemists, and of course, hotels, restaurants and public houses and corporate life – schools and education, the military, the police and the fire service. The collections are from most towns and parishes in the county. The Dew Collection, an important collection of 18th, 19th and 20th century belongings from this north Oxfordshire family includes costume, household and home life, shops and shopping, working life, public life and transport.
Rural Collection
The Rural collections, from most towns and parishes in the county, include agriculture and food production, both livestock and crop husbandry, transport, markets and auctions, field draining, ploughing, cultivating, harvesting, weed and pest control, farm machinery, dairy cattle, milk, butter and cheese making, beef cattle, sheep and shepherding for lamb and wool, pigs and pig killing, horses and harness for horse-power, bees and beekeeping. Rural industries include country crafts and crafts men from blacksmith, harness maker and saddler, hurdle maker, chair leg and tent maker, ladder maker, wheelwright and wagon builders, farm implement and machinery makers, wood turner and thatch spar making, thatching and brick making, slate making and stonewall building.
Industry
Industrial collections feature malting and brewing, blanket weaving, builders, carpenters, stonemasons and woodcarving crafts, as well a boat builders. Contemporary science and technology industries are included.
Pictures
The picture collection ranges from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and photographs from the 19th and 20th. The very important and large collections of photographs include Banbury Livestock Market and images of Cherwell.
Source: Cornucopia
Date: Not known, but before 2015
Licence: CC BY-NC
Packwood House
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7123054
- Part of:
- National Trust
- Instance of:
- historic house museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1860
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7123054/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Padstow Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q113363921
- Instance of:
- museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 950
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113363921/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection history (Collection development policy)
The geographical areas from which the collections will be drawn are the parishes of Padstow, St Issey, St Minver Lowlands, St Minver Highlands, St Merryn, St Ervan and St Eval.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2020
Licence: CC BY-NC
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
Maritime
Objects relating to maritime history, especially shipbuilding lifesaving, wrecks, navigation, the fishing and sea trade and maritime paintings and prints
Transport
Material specifically related to the railway and its impact on the fishing industry and tourism
Military
Material related to WW2 especially to the home front and local naval activities
Trades, Industry, Social Life and Immigration Fishing, Farming
Artefacts relating to farming, fishing
Archaeology
Material from the Harlyn Bay burial site excavation
Local Customs and Traditions
Specific Obby Oss material related to Padstow Mayday
Photographic Collection
Items relating to social life, ships and ship wrecks, Padstow lifeboat, transport, trades and industry, military, local families, personalities, customs and traditions
Archive Collection
Material related to social life, trades and industry, transport and local customs, and traditions
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2020
Licence: CC BY-NC
Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q15123837
- Also known as:
- Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
- Part of:
- OneRen
- Instance of:
- museum; art museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum; Recognised collection
- Accreditation number:
- 476
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q15123837/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Cornucopia)
Ancient Egyptian Collection
The museum holds 330 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; basketry/ropes; canopic jars; coffins (including cartonnage fragments); coins; flints; glass vessels; jewellery; metal figures; animal remains (mummies); human remains (mummies); musical instruments; pottery; ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figures’; scarabs; shabtis; shabti box; cosmetic palette; stone figures; stone vessels; textiles; toilet articles; tools/weapons; weights. 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): Amarna (Egypt Exploration Society); Badari (Brunton – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1924-1925); Ballas (Quibell and Petrie, 1895); Beni Hasan (Garstang – Liverpool University, 1902-1904, acquired from the Beni Hasan Excav. Committee in 1951); Fayum (British School of Archaeology in Egypt; donation 1954; no further details in records, but excavator probably Caton-Thompson); Lahun (Petrie); Qasr el-Sagha (Caton-Thompson – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1924-1925); Thebes.
Subjects
Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Archaeological sites; Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Archaeological excavations
Source: Cornucopia
Date: Not known, but before 2015
Licence: CC BY-NC
Pallant House Gallery
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7127735
- Instance of:
- art museum; charitable organization; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 263
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7127735/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Panacea Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q109719126
- Instance of:
- museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 2306
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q109719126/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection history (Collection development policy)
The Panacea Museum and the objects on display within it, are owned and managed by the Panacea Charitable Trust. The Museum opened in 2012 and achieved Accreditation first in 2014 and again in 2023.
During the period 2012 to 2022, the Panacea Charitable Trust reviewed its collections to identify which items to allocate for the purpose of exhibition and display in the Panacea Museum. These items were formally accessioned to the museum. These items are classified as part of the museum’s collection and fall in line with the Panacea Museum’s policies, procedures and plans relating to collections management, care and documentation.
Those items which the charity retain as separate from the museum collections comprise the archives relating to the Panacea Society, and items located in the offices of The Panacea Charitable Trust including items previously used by the Society but not approved for Museum purposes. These items do not fall under the remit of the Panacea Museum’s policies, procedures and plans. The buildings are owned and managed by the Trust and are outside of the Museum’s remit.
The Panacea Museum tells the stories of the Panacea Society, a twentieth century Christian community founded and led by women. The Society’s headquarters were in Bedford and the Museum is based in their campus of 19th century houses, chapel, outbuildings and gardens. Members of the Society came to believe their leader was the daughter of God and their garden the Garden of Eden, they also believed they had found the ‘panacea for all ills’ which gave the name for the Society. The Society began in 1919, first registered with the Charity Commission in 1926 and came to an end in 2012. Further details are on the website: www.panaceamuseum.org
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2024
Licence: CC BY-NC
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The Museum Collections consist mainly of 19th and 20th century domestic items associated with members of the Panacea Society or are associated with the houses owned by the Society. The Society also collected a number of items relating to the prophet Joanna Southcott and these are also in the collections. Archival material relating to the Society, Southcott and other modern prophets is held by the Panacea Charitable Trust Archive and is made available to the Museum. A small number of important items are on loan to the Museum notably the Southcott Cradle which has been on loan from the Salford Museum & Art Gallery since 1924.
The society had their own private museum where they accumulated items they considered important, this ceased before 2012. In 2001 the Society held a sale of items with a high market value under the direction of the Charity Commission. Since then further items belonging to the Society were disposed of, the criteria and methods for this is not documented. In 2012 all items used in the new Museum displays were accessioned, since then many other items have been transferred into the Museum collections as relating to the Panacea Society.
The Museum rarely acquires new items for the collections, in 2023 an exception was made for two items sold at auction in 2001 offered back to the Museum. It is anticipated that a similar exception might be made in the future. Currently only items known to have a connection with the Panacea Society are accessioned into the collections.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2024
Licence: CC BY-NC
Pannett Art Gallery
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q113577924
- Instance of:
- art museum; art gallery; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 2318
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113577924/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Papplewick Pumping Station
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7133101
- Also known as:
- Papplewick pumping station
- Instance of:
- pumping station; museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 563
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7133101/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Parc Howard Museum
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q15265404
- Also known as:
- Parc Howard Museum & Art Gallery, Parc Howard Museum and Art Gallery, Amgueddfa Parc Howard
- Part of:
- Carmarthenshire County Council
- Instance of:
- museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 2043
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q15265404/
Parham Airfield
Museum
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7136967
- Instance of:
- museum; military museum; aviation museum; independent museum
- Accreditation number:
- T 667
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7136967/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Paxton House
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q1276023
- Instance of:
- country house; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum; Recognised collection
- Accreditation number:
- 1278
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q1276023/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Paycockeʼs House and Gardens
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q17536153
- Also known as:
- Paycocke's House and Gardens
- Part of:
- National Trust
- Instance of:
- building; estate; tourist attraction
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1753
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q17536153/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Peace Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7157398
- Also known as:
- Peace Museum, Bradford
- Instance of:
- museum; charitable organization
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1778
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7157398/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection history (Collection development policy)
The Peace Museum started collecting objects for the collections in 1994, call outs were placed in relevant peace associated newsletters and the collection rapidly grew from there. Initially the majority of items entering the collection were ephemera and archival materials. This early concentration on these object categories meant a need to shift the focus of the type of collecting, meaning from 2012 emphasis was placed on 3D over 2D items. Currently archival material is a low priority unless the material is of significant importance.
Significant Acquisitions
Some of the significant acquisitions into the collection are:
- Masuteru Aoba Posters (1994.9-17)- a collection of colourful posters by Japanese artist Masuteru Aoba.
- The Conchie (2001.92)-an oil painting of a Conscientious Objector and Army officials.
- Joseph Rotblat Items-(2008.19)- a collection of personal items from Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Joseph Rotblat including robes, glasses and scientific equipment.
- Thalia Campbell Textile Collection (2008.25.1-53)- a significant collection of banners that has been on long term loan to the museum since 2008. These banners vary in subject and period.
- Axel Suitcase (2008.26)- Brown suitcase used by Axel Landmann in 1939 in the Kindertransport scheme.
- Prisoner of Conscience Sculptures (2014.1-3)- A set of three large metal sculptures created by Malcom Brocklesby in memory of Bert Brocklesby a WW1 CO who was imprisoned at Richmond Castle.
- Treaty of Versailles (2016.11)- Bradford copy of the Treaty of Versailles from World War One.
- PAX Coin (2022.64) – Roman coin depicting PAX, goddess of Peace. 276-282BC
Key Disposals:
The museum has only had a few disposals from the collection.
- Van (1996.276.1)- White Volkswagen Van used at Peace Camps. Stored offsite and disposed of due to poor condition and health and safety concerns as the van became a hazard. See Trustee Minute 2015/8.
- Caravan (1996.277.1)- Halcyon Spirit Caravan used at Upper Heyford Peace Camp. Stored offsite and disposed of due to poor condition and health and safety concerns as the caravan became a hazard. See Trustee Minute 2015/8.
- Films collection (1999.32-275)-a large collection of videos and films that were stored at Yorkshire Film Archive. In 2008 YFA were no longer able to store them and they were transferred back to Concord Media who were the original donors. The museum determined this as the method of disposal as the films could not be used/stored by the museum.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
-
Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The Peace Museum collection consists of over 16,000, including graphic and fine art (watercolour and oil paintings, prints, banners, flags, batik wall hangings, and peace posters from around the world), photographs, videos, slides and a range of artefacts and archives.
The collection predominantly relates to:
- Peace history from the First World War to the present, such as anti-war placards from the 1930s, artefacts relating to the lives of First World War conscientious objectors, artefacts relating to the Nobel Peace prize, and a wide range of items of peace movement and disarmament memorabilia from the 1950s to the present day, including diaries, photographs, badges, songbooks, camp artefacts etc.
- The Collection’s material on inter-faith and intercultural understanding includes calligraphy, art and artefacts from different religious traditions such as the Baha’is and the Religious Society of Friends,
- A collection of personal stories, documented with photos and videos, reflects Bradford’s heritage as a city for peace and the active peace-making work of Bradford’s communities today.
The collection of the Peace Museum is the only one of its kind in the country and is a unique and valuable resource.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
Peak District Mining Museum
(collection-level records)
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q15265780
- Also known as:
- Peak District Lead Mining Museum
- Instance of:
- mining museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 561
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q15265780/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Cornucopia)
Science and Industry Collection
Regional significance and National interest. Items associated with lead mining and miners, lead smelting and mining and mineral quarrying today. Limitations on storage of large machinery.
Subjects
Lead industry; Quarrying; Miners; Lead mining; Mining; Science; Minerals; Industry
Geology Collection
Regional significance and National interest Howie collection of minerals, 1,700 specimens of high quality; otherwise around 160 specimens, mostly minerals, includes 23 good quality specimens on loan from Natural History Museum. Also collections on loan from Dr Willies, Dr Ford and D Penney.
Subjects
Natural sciences; Geology; Minerals
Source: Cornucopia
Date: Not known, but before 2015
Licence: CC BY-NC
Peckover House and Garden
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q7158762
- Also known as:
- Peckover House, Bank House
- Part of:
- National Trust
- Instance of:
- historic house museum; building
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1751
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q7158762/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Peebles Museum and Gallery
- Wikidata identifier:
- Q54851285
- Also known as:
- Tweeddale Museum and Gallery
- Part of:
- Live Borders
- Instance of:
- local museum; local authority museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 904
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q54851285/
- Collection level records:
- Not yet. If you represent this organisation and can provide collection-level information, please contact us.
Collection-level records
History
Some Accredited museums (or multi-site services covering a number of museums) have shared with MDS a brief history of the collections in their care. These collection histories mostly come from the museums’ collection development policies, though they are no longer a mandatory section of the policies required by the Museum Accreditation Scheme.
Collection Overview
Accredited museums (or multi-site services covering a number of museums) are required to have a collection development policy that includes a brief overview of the scope and strengths of the collections in their care. Collection overviews are an incredibly useful starting point for anyone who wants to navigate the nation’s museum holdings, and we are very grateful to all those museums that have shared their overviews with MDS. In some cases, we have included overviews from a legacy dataset called ‘Cornucopia’.
CloseObject records in MDS
This figure is the number of datasets currently in MDS, rather than the number of museums. This is because some datasets come from multi-site services. For example, Norfolk Museum Service has contributed a single dataset, but this includes records about items held in the service’s eleven branch museums. On our Object search landing page, you can see the number of Accredited museums represented in these datasets.
CloseMuseum/collection status
Accredited Museum
These museums meet the nationally-agreed standards of the UK Museum Accreditation Scheme run by Arts Council England, Museums Galleries Scotland, NI Museums Council and the Welsh Government. In the case of multi-site services, the individual branch museums are Accredited, but the overarching service is usually not. Eg Yorkshire Museums Trust is responsible for three Accredited museums, but is not itself Accredited.
Designated Collection
The Designation Scheme, run by Arts Council England, recognises cultural collections of outstanding importance held in non-national museums, libraries and archives across England. There are over 160 Designated collections, but only the museum ones are included in our database here.
Recognised Collection
The Museums Galleries Scotland Recognition Scheme includes more than fifty Recognised Collections of National Significance, some spread across more than one museum. Here we count the number of museums containing parts of those collections, which is why the figure displayed here is higher than that quoted on the MGS website. There is currently no equivalent scheme for Wales or Northern Ireland.
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