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Locomotives

Only preserved locomotives are listed below. There are also various locomotives either stored or under repair that are not listed here, which are owned by commercial entities on site.

Steam locomotives

• GER Class G58 (LNER Class J17) 0-6-0 no. 8217. Built in 1905. On loan from the National Railway Museum. On static display.
• GCR Class 11F (LNER Class D11) 4-4-0 no. 506 Butler Henderson. Built in 1919. On loan from the National Railway Museum. On static display.
• MR 156 Class 2-4-0 no. 158A. Built in 1866. On loan from the National Railway Museum. On static display.
• MR 1000 Compound Class 4-4-0 no. 1000. Built in 1902. On loan from the National Railway Museum. On static display.
• MR 1F “Half-cab” 1377 Class 0-6-0T No 41708. Built in 1878. under overhaul.
• GWR 5101 Class 2-6-2T no. 5164. Built in 1930. On loan from the Severn Valley Railway. On static display.
• Hunslet Engine Company “Austerity” 0-6-0ST Works no. 3192, Running no. 68006. Built in 1955. Under overhaul.
• Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST no. 2491 Henry. Built in 1901. On static display.
• Vulcan Foundry 0-4-0ST no. 3272 Vulcan. Built in 1918. Operational.

Diesel locomotives

• Drewry Car Co. 0-4-0 no. 2589 Harry. Built in 1956. Operational.
• BR 0-4-0DH Class 02 no. 02 003 (D2853) in BR Green. Built in 1960. Operational.
• BR 0-4-0DH Class 02 no. D2868 in BR Green. Built in 1960. Operational.
• BR 0-6-0DM Class 03 no. 03 066 (D2066) in BR Blue. Built in 1959. Operational.
• BR 0-6-0DE Class 07 no. 07 012 (D2996) in BR Blue. Built in 1962. On display.
• BR 0-6-0DHClass 10 no. D4092 in BR Green. Built in 1962. On display.
• BR Bo-Bo Class 23 “Baby Deltic” no. D5910. New-build, launched in September 2010, re-creating an example of a long-lost class using body components from Class 37 no. 37 372.
• BR Bo-Bo Class 26 no. 26 007 (D5300) in Railfreight Red Stripe. Built in 1958. Operational.
• BR Bo-Bo Class 27 no. 27 066 (D5386/27 103) in BR Blue. Built in 1962. Stored.
• BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45 060 (D100) Sherwood Forester in BR Blue. Built in 1961. (Owned by Pioneer Diesel Locomotive Group). Operational.
• BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45 105 (D86) in BR Blue. Built in 1961. (Owned by Pioneer Diesel Locomotive Group). Undergoing restoration.
• BR Co-Co Class 55 no. D9009 (55 009) Alycidon in BR Blue. Built in 1961. (Owned by Deltic Preservation Society). Operational.
• BR Co-Co Class 55 no. D9015 (55 015) Tulyar in BR Green. Built in 1961. (Owned by Deltic Preservation Society). Undergoing overhaul.
• BR Co-Co Class 55 no. 55 019 (D9019) Royal Highland Fusilier in BR Blue. Built in 1961. (Owned by Deltic Preservation Society). Operational.

Electric locomotives

• BR Bo-Bo Class 81 no. 81 002 BR Blue. Built in 1960. (AC Locomotive Group)
• BR Bo-Bo Class 82 no. 82 008. Intercity Executive. Built in 1961. (AC Locomotive Group)
• BR Bo-Bo Class 83 no. E3035 (83 012). Electric Blue. Built in 1961 (AC Locomotive Group)
• BR Bo-Bo Class 85 no. 85 006 Built in 1961. (AC Locomotive Group)
• BR Co-Co Class 89 no. 89 001. Built in 1986. Intercity Executive. (AC Locomotive Group)

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

Source: Wikipedia

Date: 2025

Licence: CC-BY-SA

Bassetlaw Museum was formally set up by the District Council in 1983 in Amcott House, Grove Street, Retford and a full-time post of curator was established. His duties were to develop and administer a museum service for Bassetlaw District which covers 300 square miles and forms the northern one-third of Nottinghamshire. The Council already possessed collections of museum material inherited on its inception in 1974 from other sources. They have since been substantially increased by donations and purchases.

Bassetlaw District Council assumed responsibility for material from three sources which together formed the nucleus of the original collections in 1983.

1. Worksop Museum was founded in 1929 as an adjunct of the Worksop Borough Council Library Service. In 1938 a purpose-built library and museum was provided by the Carnegie Trust and flourished until wartime closure when contents were put into store. In the mid 1960s, following a report from the Midland Area Museum Service, Worksop Borough Council transferred the natural history and geology collections to Doncaster Museum and Worksop Museum was confined to local and social history items related to Worksop and its vicinity. In 1974 the Library Service, within which the museum was administered, was taken over by Nottinghamshire County Council. Archival material was given to the County Record Office and printed matter to the County Library Service. Some local and social history items were consigned to the County Education Service for circulation to schools in handling boxes. The remaining material stayed at Worksop Library, becoming the property of Bassetlaw District Council who owned the premises. This material was transferred to Bassetlaw Museum in 1983.
2. The Wyse Bequest was given to Retford Borough Council in 1955 by local business man Lewis Wyse. It comprised pottery, porcelain, glass, furniture, early bicycles and other antique items. It was given as the intended basis for a future Retford museum. In 1974 it passed to Bassetlaw District Council.
3. Retford and District Archaeological and Historical Society collected material in the 1970s which was exhibited and stored in Bassetlaw District Council premises. In 1983 the material passed to Bassetlaw District Council under a covenant allowing it to be incorporated into a museum service, with reversion rights to the District Council should the Society cease to exist and reversion to the Society if the council were ever to discontinue its museum service.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2018

Licence: CC BY-NC

Archaeology

The present collection incorporates material from the Retford and District Archaeological and Historical Society comprising local archaeological material. This has subsequently been added to by the results of fieldwork including excavations of local sites. The collection includes:

• Prehistoric material in the form of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age flint and stone artefacts; prehistoric pottery comprising three Early Bronze Age Beakers and Iron Age pottery, Bronze Age metalwork and Iron Age coins.
• Roman pottery; personal items and dress accessories including writing material, brooches, jewellery, hairpins and cosmetic equipment; building materials including tesserae and painted wall plaster; coins, items of a religious nature including a miniature votive axe from the Roman fort at Littleborough on Trent and other local sites.
• Burial material including a Roman lead coffin section and late Roman burial assemblage both from Worksop.
• Late Roman or Anglo-Saxon dug-out boat. This is extremely rare and of national importance.
• Anglo-Saxon metalwork, pottery sherds and Viking artefacts
• Medieval material including personal items such as brooches, belt fittings and rings; seal matrices including silver examples; spindle-whorls; horse harness pendants; pilgrim flasks, decorative mounts from religious items; pottery; coins.
• Post medieval items including pottery, metalwork and coins.
• River Idle dredging material. There is an eclectic group of material recovered from dredging the River Idle which includes material spanning the Roman to Victorian periods.

Bassetlaw Museum will continue to collect archaeological material of all periods from within the Bassetlaw District. Material will be accepted from fieldwork, metal detecting and as casual finds. Excavated artefacts will be accompanied by the paper site archive unless unusual circumstances require special provision. Exceptional finds may be purchased, particularly through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Funds will be raised from donations and grant application.

Bassetlaw contains part of the nationally important Palaeolithic site of Creswell Crags. Should Bassetlaw Museum be offered finds from the site we will confer with Creswell Crags Visitor Centre to decide which repository is most appropriate.

No finds will be acquired unless the donor or vendor can show provenance and prove legal title.

Local History

The basis of the collection was provided by the Retford and District Archaeological and Historical Society and Worksop Museum. It has subsequently been enlarged by donations from members of the public. It comprises:

Artefacts, ephemera and products relating to Bassetlaw, including

• Trades and Industry
• Rural Crafts
• Agriculture
• Education
• Railway, river and canal transport
• War
• Religion
• and other aspects of local community life.

The Museum will continue to collect items relating to the specific history of Bassetlaw District.

Bassetlaw is strongly connected to the Mayflower Pilgrims (Pilgrim Fathers). At present the museum has little to illustrate this story. Should any relevant material become available, the Museum would consider acquiring it but only through consultation with any other museums or public organisations who might also wish to make such an acquisition.

Social History

This incorporates material from Retford and District Archaeological and Historical Society and Worksop Museum. It has subsequently been enlarged by donations from members of the public. It comprises items related to

• Domestic social history including food and drink and household items
• Entertainment and leisure including sports, games and toys, radio, television, hobbies and needlework
• Personal accessories

The museum will continue to collect material of this nature but with the emphasis on filling gaps in the collection. Items such as radios and mangles will only be accepted if they are either not of a type already represented in the collection or have a specific association with Bassetlaw, such as a local maker.

Photographic Collection

This comprises:

• Cameras, photographic equipment and projectors
• Stereoscopes and stereoscopic photographs
• Albums, prints and negatives
• The Welchman Collection of 20, 000 negatives, including glass plate, nitrate and safety film.
• The Pegler Collection of images, particularly significant as Pegler owned Amcott House and many photographs show either its interior or exterior or other members of his family who lived here. The collection is also particularly strong in autochromes, very early colour photographs.

This is an area worthy for particular development. Any as yet un-represented images taken by Welchman, Pegler will be prioritised. Acquiring material by other local photographers of the area is highly desirable, particularly any representing the Worksop side of the district. Not only is the present collection important in its own right but it is highly beneficial to the museum because it portrays many local people whose families still live here. It has provided a real bond and sense of ownership between the local population and the Museum.

Costume and Textiles

The collection consists of 4000 items of costume and includes the Alec Daykin Collection. The collection includes

• Women’s, children’s and men’s wear from 1740
• Hats, shoes and other accessories
• Uniforms including military and civil
• Domestic textiles
• Samplers
• Lace and lace-making equipment

The Museum will continue to collect costume and textiles to supplement its present collection. However, it will actively seek male costume, which is significantly under represented.

Art

The majority of the art collection was acquired from Worksop Museum which was given twenty five works by The Contemporary Art Society during the 1950s. The remaining items in the collection are mostly by amateur local artists except for

• 24 pictures by Worksop professional artist James Walsham Baldock (1822-1898)
• Local prints and engravings

The art collection requires planned development. Bassetlaw Museum will build on its existing art collection as and when sufficient funds can be found. This is in order to be able to mount exhibitions from within the collection from time to time rather than being reliant on loaned exhibitions. The collection will also reflect and record aspects of the artistic life of Bassetlaw District. As works are likely to be purchased from the donations fund, it is unlikely that the finances available will be substantial. Acquisition must conform to at least one of the following:

• Works by a local, preferably Bassetlaw artist such as James Walsham Baldock, or Charles H. Marshall
• Works exhibited in Bassetlaw Museum
• Works of a Bassetlaw subject, either place, person or something originating from the district
• Work felt to be essential to compare or contrast with an important work already in the collection.

Decorative Art

Much of the decorative art was acquired via the Wyse bequest. It is composed of eighteenth and nineteenth century

• Glass-ware
• Chinese porcelain
• English porcelain and pottery

Due to the limited space for display and the relative cost of acquiring this material it is not envisaged that the museum will collect extensively in this area. Decorative art material from Bassetlaw and English ceramics of local or regional interest and items filling gaps in the collection will be considered.

Numismatics

These items tend to be dispersed through other parts of the collection but include:

• Coins of antiquity
• Local tokens, checks and tallies
• Medals awarded to Bassetlaw people.

Items will be added only on the basis of local provenance.

Archives

Bassetlaw Museum has archive material generated by the former local authorities absorbed into Bassetlaw District Council in 1974. Main elements of the archive are:

• Retford Borough Council Civic Plate
• Retford Borough Charters dating back to the medieval period.
• Council documents including minute books, account ledgers, burial records, plans etc
• Valuation property books compiled by local estate agents Henry Spencer and Joshua Walker
• Parish Council minutes
• Local newspapers
• Maps of the Bassetlaw area
• Village history archives produced by local groups
• House deeds, wills and personal papers

The Museum will continue to collect the records of Bassetlaw District Council and predecessor authorities and ephemera relating to Bassetlaw District. The Museum will liaise with Nottinghamshire Archives over acquisition to ensure that the most appropriate repository secures the material for public benefit.

Handling Collection

Bassetlaw Museum is currently developing a more active approach to education, life-long learning and exhibition. Therefore, handling material is required. This is at greater risk of loss, theft or damage. Aspects of the handling collection will either be drawn from duplicates or poor examples from the permanent collections or specifically acquired for this purpose. If material is offered for donation and it is not suitable for the permanent collection, it may be useful for handling. The Museum staff will explain this to donors and seek their express permission, which will be recorded on the entry form.

Handling material will be uniquely marked so that its source can be identified. Reviews will take place regularly and there may be occasions when material is moved from the handling collection to the permanent collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2018

Licence: CC BY-NC

Musical instruments

In 1963 Philip Bate donated a systematic collection of European orchestral woodwind instruments with the unusual condition that students should be able to play the instruments. Reginald Morley-Pegge donated and loaned instruments and after his death in 1972, his son William Morley-Pegge gave his library with rare French material, an unrivalled collection of early instrumental tutors and his remaining instruments. The Collection has on loan 6 surviving instruments portrayed in the painting of The Sharp Family by Zoffany, the Anthony Baines Collection including the famous cornetts from the Galpin Collection, instruments from Jeremy Montagu, several keyboard instruments with 3 from the Roger Warner Collection and 3 from the Taphouse Collection. Recent acquisitions are instruments from the Michael Thomas Collection. Other notable additions include a bequest by Audrey Blackman of the William Smith harpsichord, Michael Morrow’s renaissance basset recorder, a rare Grenser bassoon and Hendrik Richters’ oboe, the first clavichord that Arnold Dolmetsch made, 2 graphite fibre bows by Von Bennigsen, the Edgar Hunt Accession of over 60 instruments, including the Bressan treble recorder, the basis of modern copies, the Javanese Gamelan Kyai Madu Laras a complete slendro and pelog gamelan presented in 1985 and played regularly. The Retford Memorial Collection of Bows, in memory of William Retford, who died in 1970, was created by his colleagues Mr. Porter and Mr. Yeoman and Arthur Bultitude; it includes a complete bow workshop. Collectors include: Philip Bate, Anthony Baines, Patricia Baines, Christopher Baines, The Friends of the Bate Collection, May Halfpenny, Edgar Hunt, Katharine Jeans, Jeremy Montagu, Reginald Morley-Pegge and Michael Thomas.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Portraits

Portrait of Thomas Moore Musgrave in pastels Copy of a portrait of John Palmer Copy of a portrait of Ralph Allen; Bath Postal Museum.

Costume and Textile Collection

This collection comprises postal uniforms.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Photographic Collection

There are photographs supporting all aspects of the collection.

Subjects

Photographic equipment

Personalia Collection

There is material relating to Ralph Allen and John Palmer, both of Bath, who implemented far reaching changes in the carriage of mail; and Thomas Moore Musgrave, postmaster of Bath 1832-1854.

Subjects

Personalia

Social History Collection

There are three clay tablets bearing messages, dating from 2000BC; a model of a John Palmer coach; a model of a mail coach; an 18th century carved model of a postboy; writing artefacts such as stamp boxes, postal balances, quill cutters, inkwells, etc; a model of Ralph Allen’s house and of the museum building; newspapers; and postal ephemera.

Subjects

Social History

Archives Collection

This collection includes the stamps which form the theme of the museum. There are early and rare stamps, and stamps covering the period from 1840 to the present; also included are receipts for mail; Victorian illustrated covers; early postal parliamentary documents; a piece of early Egyptian letter written on papyrus; airmail letters; valentines cards; shipwreck mail; envelopes; and a 1727 document signed by Ralph Allen.

Subjects

Archives

Fine Art Collection

There are paintings and prints of mail coaches; mint illustrations of stamp designs; and ten oil paintings specially commissioned of airmail events.

Subjects

Fine Art

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum owns at least 92 ancient Egyptian objects which are part of the Archaeology collection. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: canopic jars; coffins; coins; flints; funerary cones; jewellery; metal figures; human remains (mummies); pottery; relief sculpture; scarabs; shabtis; soul houses; stone figures; stone vessels; tomb models; tools/weapons; wooden figures. The castle also possesses moulds of scarabs; casts of stelae. 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): Gizeh; Naucratis; Saqqara; Defenneh (Petrie and Griffith – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1886); Nebesheh (Petrie and Griffith – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1886); Tell el-Yahudiyeh (Naville and Griffith – Egypt Exploration Fund, 1888); Thebes.

Subjects

Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Archaeological sites; Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC); Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Archaeological excavations

Archaeology Collection

There is a small collection of archaeological material, chiefly pottery, from Europe and the Mediterranean.

Subjects

Ceramics; Archaeology

Biology Collection

The natural history collection is sadly depleted by loss, decay and destruction. The 19th century collection was extensive and important. However, the remaining collection still have much of great interest including the herbaria of Rev L Jenyns and C E Broome, mainly collected between 1820 and 1880 and amounting to about 8,500 herbarium sheets. There are more than 17,000 shells consisting of marine, freshwater and land molluscs. The Jenyns collection contains a world-wide collection of marine shells including some rare and scientifically important specimens. The entomological collections comprise some 12,000 insects including coleoptera; lepidoptera; arachnids and hymenoptera. There is a reasonable reference collection of beetles. Mounted birds and mammals are represented by about 80 specimens and include an extinct Passenger pigeon and a wild cat. The rest of the collection comprises about 700 birds eggs; a number of prepared small animal bones and skulls; a quantity of horn and ivory; and corals from the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

Subjects

Mammals; Natural Sciences; Plants; Fish; Birds; Insects; Biology

Archives Collection

The museum holds some very important scientific archives. Those pertaining to the geological collection are listed with the description of the geology collection. The Rev Leonard Jenyns (1800-1893) library includes four volumes of letters sent to him by ‘men of science’. These hundreds of letters include many from Charles Darwin, Sir Joseph Hooker and Professor Henslow. The library contains some 5,500 volumes and includes 19th century history; topography; theology; some biographies; some natural history; a run of State Trials; and a set of Didecot’s Encyclopedia (1751-1780). However, the material which gave this library its distinction, the mass of 19th century literature and long runs of learned periodicals and many 18th century books were lost in 1960 when an estimated 9650 volumes were sold. The valuable natural history library of Jenyns survived and within it are represented most of the important writers of the 19th century and before. There are also transactions of such societies as the Anthropological, Geological, Linnean, Ray and Zoological Society. There is also the C E Broome (1812-1886) library of botanical books, particularly strong on mycology (fungi); and the Parliamentary collection of runs of House of Commons and House of Lords journals and special parliamentary reports.

Subjects

Documents (historic); Archives; Documents (Government)

Geology Collection

The reputation of the BRLSI is founded on its rich geological collections and represent a strength of the museum. The 32 Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs on loan to the National Museum of Wales were collected by Charles Moore (1814-1881), together with the 2700 other large specimens. Amongst these are an exceptional collection of well preserved Pelagiosaurs, fish, crustaceans and a good collection Tertiary fossils. In addition, there are about a million small fossils (micro-vertebrates) comprising a scientific resource of great significance. Other collections contain at least 6,000 fossils and include: the Lonsdale collection assembled before 1829; over 200 cave fauna specimens from Kent’s Cavern, Torquay, excavated and given by William Pengelly; and other excavated fossils from Mentone, France and Banwell Cave and Wookey Hole. These latter include teeth and bones of hyena, bear, rhinoceros, elephant, horse, cave lion, ox, reindeer, hog and wolf. The mineral collection contains all the common minerals and many rare ones. They come from world-wide locations, though the collection is strongest on specimens from the south west of England. The number of specimens exceeds 4000 and was mainly assembled in the 19th century, with some 20th century additions, notably the Somerset mineral and ore-bearing rock sequence from Merehead Quarry donated by Charles Alabaster in the early 1980’s. The collection is supported by important archive material such as the geological notebook (1861-72) of the amateur geologist E C Davey; William Lonsdale’s manuscript summary of the geology of the local area; and William Smith’s 1815 printed geological map of England and Wales. There are also some large scale drawings used by Charles Moore in his lectures; early catalogues of donated specimens; and drawings and photographs of quarry sections.

Subjects

Natural Sciences; Fossils; Geology; Minerals

Ethnography Collection

Well represented in this significant collection is material from America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Melanesia and India. The collection represents one of the strengths of the museum. The larger collections comprise: Dr Parry’s Eskimo items (1845); Rev G R Mullins’ South American material (1861); Captain W H Breton’s New Zealand artefacts (1862); Mrs Landon’s Canadian material (1863); items given by Rev Francis Lockey (1796-1869) from China, India, Australia, Fiji, Persia, North America, Canada and New Zealand; and Major Inglefield’s African collection made between 1885-95 and presented in 1936. The Inglefield collection includes material from the cultures of the Ashanti, Fanti, Edo, Yoruba, Mambundau, Chana and Zulu; and consists of a wide range of items from drums, carved figures and baskets to beadwork. During the 20th century other collections were added such as Mexican pottery from Adela Breton; an important collection from the Oceanic Islands donated by Mrs Mouncey and including an important painted shield and some interesting gun-stock clubs; African material given by Mrs Jeffrey Johnson in 1936 and by the Rev D L Pitcairn in 1937; and Indian material donated by Col Cartwright in 1924 and by H K Kestell-Cornish in 1936.

Subjects

North American; African; Australasian; South Asian; Southern and Central America; Ethnography; World Cultures; Southeast Asian

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum has its origin in an exhibition of local history by the then newly formed Battle & District Historical Society as part of the town’s Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951. In 1967 a separate charity was set up to run the museum, which was moved to a room in the Battle Memorial Hall. The collection has grown piecemeal and includes items of local relevance loaned by Hastings Museum and objects from local archaeological excavations sponsored by the Historical Society and others. When the lease expired in 2002 the museum was put into temporary storage whilst an HLF grant was sought to move to a new premises. The grant application was successful and the museum re-opened in 2003 in a building on the Almonry site leased by the Trustees from the Town Council.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC

The museum’s collection from Battle and its environs spans some 125 million years from the early cretaceous to the present day but with some lacunae. This prevents a chronological display and so the objects are displayed thematically. The earliest material is fossilised dinosaur bones and plants. There is then a considerable chronological gap until the late Stone Age represented by stone tools. There is another gap until the Roman period, which is represented by material from the military bathhouse at Beauport Park and from related sites in the surrounding area including Sedlescombe and Bodiam. A few items represent the period of the Norman Conquest, most notably the battle-axe head found on the site of the 1066 battle. The display of this is supplemented by: a replica of the axe, interpretative films and explanatory panels. This significant event in the town’s story is also represented by a diorama featuring model soldiers, a replica of the Alderney “Finale” of the Bayeux Tapestry, and copies of scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry including a complete set of the 1819 Stothard prints of the Tapestry. There are some items relating to the Abbey and the very early town but the main bulk of the collection is from the more recent period (late Georgian onward) Items are displayed in themes such as; domestic, rural life, Gunpowder – a local industry, the 2 World Wars etc. The “reserve” collection covers the same range of periods/topics.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC