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The collection started in 1980 when a small number of exhibits came to the new museum site (formerly derelict land) which was acquired as a replacement location for exhibits that operated under the aegis of the Market Overton Industrial Railway Association located on former quarry land at Market Overton, Rutland.

During the early development of Rutland Railway Museum the surviving number of quarry and industrial railways was rapidly declining.

The closure of the ironstone quarries serving the giant steelworks at nearby Corby presented the opportunity for the museum to acquire a representative range of railway wagons that were formerly used on the area’s quarry railways. As the museum sought to show to visitors what a quarry train looked like, a number of similar wagons to form a rake was acquired, rather than individual examples. This approach was followed through in tracking down and collecting historic quarry wagons from other sources where the wagons still existed in industrial service. Because of this approach the museum has the only comprehensive collection of standard gauge quarry rail wagons in the UK being able to re-create authentic historic quarry trains.

To provide some covered accommodation for the expanding locomotive collection the museum acquired the former quarry locomotive shed at Woolsthorpe in the Vale of Belvoir. This was carefully taken down, transported and rebuilt at the museum by 1985 and used for restoration.

The use of railways in industry suffered further marked declines in the mid 1980’s and a significant number of privately owned industrial locomotives arrived at the museum as exhibits, reflecting this steady decline.

In 1986 the museum was able to secure as an exhibit the remaining driver’s cab of the giant SUNDEW quarry dragline which once worked in the County.

For operational reasons a railway coach was acquired to permit visitors the opportunity of travelling along the museum’s demonstration line.

The last quarry railway in the UK finally succumbed to modernisation in February 2005, bringing 200 years of industrial history to an end. The last locomotive in use and two wagons were donated to the museum by the quarry company.

By 2006, the locomotive collection had grown to an almost unmanageable level. Many of these were non-operational privately owned exhibits on loan. A radical review of the collecting policy was undertaken and it was agreed that the collecting policy be amended to more sharply concentrate on the industrial heritage of quarry railways in the region. This led to the cessation of loans and the departure to other museums and railway preservation sites of a significant number of privately owned locomotive exhibits which did not fit the revised collecting policy. Under this policy change a number of museum owned locomotives that did not fit the revised policy were also found new homes at other railway sites. At the same time the museum was also able to secure the donation of a local ironstone quarry steam locomotive to the collection.

In 2007 the museum site was expanded by acquiring adjacent land for a car park. This enabled the formation of a rail-connected mock ironstone quarry to be constructed to enable exhibits to be demonstrated to visitors. Some operational quarry machines obtained earlier were thus able to be put into a more authentic setting to better interpret quarry and quarry railway heritage.

Major earthworks and rationalisation of the centre sidings of the museum was undertaken which ultimately provided the space necessary to erect a three track exhibition building. Most of the locomotives at the museum are now kept undercover in a secure building with visitor access.

The museum’s Accession Register holds a total of 152 entries of which 41 ( 27 %) are items on loan to the museum. The vast majority of the on loan items are from the museum’s own members but two exhibits are on loan from the National Railway Museum, with individual exhibits also on loan from the National Coal Mining Museum for England, Bluebell Railway and Nene Valley Railway.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2019

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection is diverse in size and scale. Most of the primary collection comprises large physical exhibits, which are displayed and operated as part of the museum.

The museum has a number of Core Collections.

• Vehicles and large exhibits directly related to the primary theme.
• Documents, drawings, photographs and ephemera relating to the primary theme.
• A collection of railway locomotives reflecting our primary aim.
• A unique collection of railway freight wagons relating to the primary theme.
• A range of quarrying equipment often used in conjunction with ironstone and quarry railway operations.

The museum has two secondary but related themes. We are aware that some of our exhibits are complementary to our central theme but are worthy of consideration in their own right.

1. Exhibits that were used in other quarrying and industrial activity in the region or the close proximity of the museum.
2. A range of mechanical quarry plant exhibits built in Lincoln and reflecting the rich engineering heritage of that local City. In particular these exhibits are the products of Ruston & Hornsby as well as Ruston Bucyrus.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2019

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine Art Collection

The Royal Academy fine art collection includes a substantial group of portraits and self-portraits, mostly of Royal Academicians, dating from the mid-18th century to the present day. As well as portraits in oils, the collection also holds portrait busts, drawings, watercolours, photographs and prints. Highlights include self-portraits of Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds and Lord Leighton painted by G.F. Watts. Royal Academy of Arts

Subjects

Artists

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Music Collection

The collections include musical instruments, most of which are kept in playing order and are used by staff and students of the Academy. The string collection includes a fine group of classical Cremonese instruments from 1650 to 1740, with important examples by the Amati, Rugeri and Guameri families and by Antonio Stradivari. Pianos include instruments on loan from the Kenneth and Mary Mobbs collection, and demonstrate the technical development of the piano in England between 1790 and 1850. Percussion includes items used by James Blades. There are also personal items such as Sir Henry Wood’s tuning fork and stop watch, archives and collections of paintings and images, relating to the history of the Academy from the 1820s to the present. These include material from the working collections of Sir Henry Wood, Sir John Barbirolli, James Blades and Robert Spencer. In addition there is the McCann Collection of photographic materials, ephemera, recordings and programmes from the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the photographs have been autographed by the sitter, and a particular strength is the availability of rare biographical and iconographical material from Eastern Europe.

Portraiture Collection

Painted portraits of ‘An Audition at the Royal Academy of Music’ (Sir Thomas Armstrong, Percy Waller, Marcus Thomson and Ernest Read); HRH Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester, William Alwyn, the Hon. Cecilia Cavendish Anderson, HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Sir Thomas Armstrong, Sir Granville Bantock, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Arnold Bax, Ludwig van Beethoven (loan), Sir Julius Benedict, Joseph Bennett, William Sterndale Bennett, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Major-General Richard Bond, Rosina Buckman, Doreen Carwithen, Angelica Catalani, Harriet Cohen, Belle Cole, Sir Edmund Compton, Paul Corder, William Crotch, Henry Cummings, Gaetano Donizetti, Spencer Dyke Quartet, Lilian Elde, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Leslie England, Frederick the Great being taught to play the flute by Johann Joachim Quantz, Howard Ferguson, Herbert Fryer, Alfred Gibson, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Griller Quartet, Giulia Grisi, Stanley Hawley, John William Hobbs, Florence Hooton, Eric Hope, Ethel Kennedy Jacobs, Nathalie Janotha [Natalia Janotha], Sir Gilmour Jenkins, Frederick Jewson, Emanuel Quartet, Manuel Garcia junior, Otto Klemperer, (called) Henry Lawes, Sir Anthony Lewis, Franz Liszt, Kate Loder, John David Loder (or a member of the Loder family), Sir David Lumsden, Dame Moura Lympany, Maria Malibran, Sir George Macfarren, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Sir Stanley Marchant, Maude Melliar, Norman McCann, Sir John McEwen, Clara Angela Macirone, Jean Sterling MacKinlay, Tobias Matthay, Lord Menuhin [Yehudi Menuhin], Julia Neilson-Terry, Phyllis Neilson-Terry, Nicolo Paganini, Alfredo Piatti, Sir Curtis Price, Ebenezer Prout, Henry Purcell, Ernest Read, Charles Rube, Anton Rubinstein, Prosper Sainton, Esther Salaman (loan), Albert Schweitzer, Constance Shacklock, Peter Simon, Jennie Stanford, Denis Stevens, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Zara Nelsova, Sir Reginald Thatcher, Dame Eva Turner, Dame Genevieve Ward [Ginevra Guerrabella], Alfred Waley, Charles Wesley, Samuel Wesley, Maude Valrie White, the Earl of Westmorland [John Fane, Lord Burghersh], Sir Henry Wood plus others including an unidentified 18th-century gentleman by Charles Philips, 1737. Drawings include portraits of Thomas Arne, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Arnold Bax, Sir Julius Benedict, Alan Bush, Moir Carnegie, Harriet Cohen, William Crotch with Charles Burney and Benjamin Cooke, Sir Clifford Curzon, Maud Drinan, Sir Thomas Beecham, Milan Yovanovich Bratza, Dame Clara Butt, Douglas Cameron, Walter Willson Cobbett, Leslie England, Georges Enesco, Harry Farjeon, Arthur Fiedler, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Charles and Ethel Kennedy Jacobs, Sir Gilmour Jenkins, Lindsay Quartet, Norman McCann, Natalia Macfarren, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Maria Malibran Garcia, Jessie Henderson Matthay, Yehudi Menuhin [Lord Menuhin], Benno Moiseiwich, Nicolo Paganini, Max Pirani, Felix Pissarro,Ebenezer Prout, George Robey, Mstislav Rostropovich, Dame Ethel Smyth (called), Luisa Tetrazzini, Sir Reginald Thatcher, Alfred Waley,Sir William Walton, Adam Wright, Sir Henry Wood, Eugene Ysaye, Busts, life or death masks, hands, sculptural reliefs etc relating to Arago, Johann Sebastian Bach, Michael William Balfe, Sir John Barbirolli, Daria Bayan, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles-Auguste de Beriot, Francois-Adrien Boieldieu, Sir Warwick Braithwaite, Ole Bull, Frederic Chopin, Domenico Crivelli, Sir Clifford Curzon, Maud Drinan, the Earl of Dudley, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Edward German, Giulia Grisi, Georg Frideric Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn, Arthur Hervey, Henri Herz, Dame Myra Hess, Otto Klemperer, Ada Lewis (or ? Elena Gerhardt), Franz Liszt, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Tobias Matthay, George Macfarren, Sir Stanley Marchant, Felix Mendelssohn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ilya Musin, Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa, Henry Purcell, Franz Reizenstein, Alfredo Piatti, Philip Cipriani Potter, Patrick Savill, Cyril Scott, William Shakespeare, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sigismond Thalberg, Lionel Tertis (loan), Richard Wagner, the Earl of Westmorland (John Fane, Lord Burghersh), Sir Henry Wood, Edith Wynne Collection of mezzotints, engravings and etchings especially rich in portraits (Robert Spencer collection) of lutenists and guitarists, 17-18th century musical patrons, composers and performers, and royalty. Many other lithographs and prints (total c. 400 catalogued so far) relating to musical portraits including ensembles, caricatures etc. Large collection of music with lithographic portrait titles relating to the major singers and composers of the nineteenth century. Portraits of performers (early 20c postcards) relating to world music. Photographic archive.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

RAMM owes the wealth of its extraordinary collections to its origins in the 1860s. Its predecessor, the Devon & Exeter Albert Memorial, was created through public subscription in the wake of Prince Albert’s death. Civic leaders had been toying with the idea of a museum for several decades as there were important collections of artefacts and specimens in the city, such as those held by the Devon & Exeter Institution, gathered by people who had lived or worked abroad and retired to Devon.

These early donations helped to establish RAMM’s collection priorities when it opened in 1868 around four subject areas: Antiquities (Archaeology and Local History), Art, Ethnography (World Cultures) and Natural History. Since 1870 RAMM has been a service of Exeter City Council and increasingly collecting in these four areas has been refined and formalised through a policy periodically ratified by elected members.

Between 2011 and 2013 RAMM undertook a root-and-branch review of its collections by assessing information on provenance, significance and usage. The award-winning review identified collections strengths and weaknesses and informed the themes and priorities for future research, collecting and rationalisation. Full details of RAMM’s collections review methodology are available in a separate document.

While the core themes established at RAMM’s foundation remain the cornerstone of collecting, the museum’s acquisition policies have evolved in the subsequent years. For example the 2020-25 Collections Development Policy includes the selective acquisition of contemporary art and photographs. It also acknowledges the thorny issue of preserving and accessioning born-digital material, even though at the current time the museum sector does not have an agreed solution.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

RAMM houses a varied collection well in excess of a million items. The principal subject areas are classified under the headings of Antiquities, Costume and Textiles, Decorative Art, Ethnography, Fine Art, Natural Sciences and Social History.

Alongside (and sometimes within) the principal subject areas, RAMM’s holdings also incorporate inter-disciplinary material, such as Numismatics, Contemporary Art and Photography.

Antiquities

Approximately 58,000 accession records refer to the archaeology of Devon and Exeter, Britain, Egypt, the Mediterranean and Western Asia as well as fragments from local buildings. Many of these records refer to group accessions (one accession number may cover a box of many pot sherds for example) so the actual number of objects within the Antiquities collection is significantly higher – estimated at 1,065,000 (Jan 2020).

RAMM’s local archaeology and history collections represent the heritage of almost every community in Exeter, East Devon, Mid-Devon, Teignbridge and parts of the South Hams and Dartmoor. The collections cover most aspects of domestic, social, cultural, religious, economic and political life over the past 300,000 years.

For a small city, Exeter has been the subject of a huge amount of archaeological attention. The results of this work are deposited at RAMM. The archaeological holdings reflect the history of Exeter: from Roman military origins; a Roman civilian phase; post-Roman decline; Anglo-Saxon renewal; medieval growth; a Tudor and Stuart period of prosperity from trade and colonialism; to a less prominent but affluent Georgian and Victorian period.

Archaeological projects on the outskirts of Exeter have increased our knowledge of the prehistoric, Roman and medieval occupation of the area. For example, during excavations preceding the building of Cranbrook a late Neolithic/early Bronze Age beaker cremation burial was found with a remarkable archer’s bracer made of stone from Great Langdale and a series of clay weights (probably for tensioning the threads of a loom) were found in a middle Neolithic pit near Exeter airport.

The collection includes a significant number of prehistoric, Roman, medieval and later coins found by archaeological activity as well as hoards found by metal detectorists (e.g. the Roman hoard from Seaton Down). There are significant antiquarian coin find collections, particularly those of W.T.F. Shortt and the Norton collection. These two are of particular note as they contain eastern Mediterranean coins which may be genuine archaeological finds or more recently lost or planted. Coin finds from controlled excavations are of great importance in site dating and interpretation.

Historically, RAMM has collected archaeological material from the whole of Devon; however, since the 1990s, the Museum has only collected archaeological archives from the local authority areas of Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, Teignbridge, plus the eastern half of Dartmoor and the South Hams. RAMM holds the archives of field records, site plans, photographs, etc., relating to sites from both Exeter and Devon. RAMM does not collect digital archives from archaeological projects, these are archived with specialised digital repositories such as the Archaeology Data Service (ADS). RAMM levies a fee for the deposition of archaeological archives.

RAMM works actively with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and metal detecting communities to encourage detectorists to record their finds. The Museum has acquired finds through the Treasure Act 1996 as well as non-treasure items directly from landowners and detectorists.

Additionally, the antiquities collection includes important architectural fragments from buildings in Exeter and around Devon dating from around AD 950 to 1800. The best examples have regional and national importance as a record of building styles and methods, many of which have been lost during recent development. As with the archaeology collections, they form an important element in establishing a sense of place. Of particular note is a nationally important collection of late medieval ecclesiastical woodwork fragments from churches of the South West collected by Exeter-based Harry Hems.

RAMM has small holdings of foreign archaeology. The majority of the European, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Cypriot, Etruscan and Roman material was collected in the 19th and very early 20th centuries. The core of the collection is formed by the Cobham collection of Cypriot antiquities, the Corkill collection of Mesopotamian cylinder seals and the L.A.D. Montague collection. The latter is a good example of a ‘gentleman’s’ antiquities collection, mostly purchased from dealers and including a Greek hoplite helmet said to be from the Battle of Marathon. Individual objects of interest include: the mummy of Shep en-Mut, a late 18th-dynasty stone sculpture head, possibly Tutankhamun or Horemheb, and examples of Coptic textiles.

Contemporary art

Contemporary art and craft in RAMM’s collection has been acquired by purchase (with grant support) and donation in recent years and works are found across the collection areas. Sculpture has been a particular focus for collecting including works by Steffen Dam, Polly Morgan, Geoffrey Preston and Michael Shaw. The ethnographic collection includes artwork commissioned to celebrate the museum’s international links, such as by Rosanna Raymond and Suzuki Mutsumi.

Costume and Textiles

RAMM’s collections management database includes approximately 15,000 verified records relating to the costume and textiles collection. However, many of these refer to a group of items, so it is estimated that the actual number of objects in the collection is nearer 22,000.

The Costume and Textiles collection illustrates the types of clothes worn by local men, women and children from 1750 to the present day, with some much earlier examples of underwear, accessories and textiles. The collection is strongest in middle/upper class female clothing but is better balanced for more recent periods, including every day and occupational clothes worn by people of all classes in Exeter.

The collection of lace, some 2000 items including documentation and equipment, is particularly strong. It covers European and British laces (and allied techniques) from the 16th century to the present day. The Bury Palliser and Treadwin collections – both important 19th-century collections of English and continental lace samples – were among the first collections to be given to the museum in the 1860s. They are unique to RAMM.

The strength of the Costume and Textiles collection is the quantity of material with strong local connections, whilst the quality and quantity of items ranks it among the top ten costume collections in Britain. Many objects have been published.

Decorative Art

The Decorative Art collection covers a broad field. It comprises approximately 500 items of silver, 1300 ceramics and 400 glass objects, as well as smaller collections of civic regalia, furniture, horology, pewter and other metalwork.

RAMM’s collection of Devon silver is of international importance and dates from the medieval period to the present day. Most was acquired in the postwar years through the Veitch bequest and through the Reynolds Chard bequest. The Victoria & Albert Museum Purchase Grant in 1995 allowed the acquisition of the Corfield Spoon Collection. The museum also has some important early church silver on loan from churches within the diocese. The collections at the Guildhall are mostly of a later date and with Civic associations. The most recent acquisition was two Elizabethan silver mounted tigerware jugs from Exeter, c.1580-90, purchased in 2012 through the Reynolds Chard bequest and the V&A PG Fund and the Art Fund.

The ceramics collection is made up of English and continental material from the 17th century to the present day. Some is of a high quality and the collections of studio and local Devon potteries are of national importance. A recent acquisition was a piece of studio pottery made by the local ceramicist Bruce Chivers who donated a raku ware vessel in 2017.

The museum has a large and representative collection of glass dating from the early 18th century, based on the Clarke bequest of 1928. There are several pieces of special note such as the Joanna Southcott beakers and Charles II flute glass.

RAMM’s collection of horology embraces clocks, watches and clock and watch-making tools from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Most of the watch collection was bequeathed by C.R. Venn in 1928 and is one of the most important collections outside London, including several very rare time-pieces. Later acquisitions, including an 18th-century watch by Henry Gard of Exeter, acquired in 2011, have filled some of the gaps in RAMM’s collection.

Ethnography

RAMM’s ethnographic collection consists of some 12,000 items. In 1998 the whole collection was awarded Designated status in recognition of its significance and national importance. The collection includes items from many parts of the world and reflects acquisitions made during the time of British colonialism in the late 18th century through to the early 20th century.

The collection represents Africa, particularly Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and South Africa; the Americas, with strengths in Arctic, N.W. Coast and Plains region of the USA, and Amazonia; the Arab world, particularly Oman; Asia – India, Myanmar; and the Pacific, notably Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Australia, Polynesia.

Many of the items were collected by local residents. The majority being brought back as gifts, souvenirs and occasionally as trophies of conflict. They represent connections made between local people and source communities in other parts of the world over the past 250 years.

After the Museum opened in 1868, a number of significant donations followed:

The Devon and Exeter Institution transferred items to RAMM, including rare items from Tahiti collected by Francis Godolphin Bond (HMS Providence) on the 2nd breadfruit voyage under Bligh in 1792. There are also Inuit items acquired by Captain Sabine who served under Captain Sir Edward Parry on the 1819-23 voyage to Lancaster Sound.

The Reverend Henry Townsend was an Exeter-born missionary based in Nigeria who set up a mission in the new Egba city of Abeokuta in 1846. Some of the prestigious items he received went on display in the Great Exhibition of 1851 and were later donated to RAMM.

In 1868 art collector Henry Vaughan donated a collection of items from Captain Cook’s second and third voyages. These items had been purchased by Vaughan’s father and uncle at the 1806 Leverian auction.

Crew members acquired artefacts on the voyages of the HMS Discovery (Vancouver 1790-95) and HMS Blossom (Beechey 1825-28) to the Pacific, Arctic and North West coast of America. In 1865 botanist John Gould Veitch participated in a collecting voyage on the HMS Curaçoa. Artefacts from all of these voyages are found in RAMM’s collections.

F.W.L. Ross, whose journal records a visit to the Marquesas Islands whilst serving on the HMS Tagus in 1813, built his own museum in Topsham. With the help of his naval contacts, he received some rare American and Polynesian items which are now in RAMM’s collection.

Ivory and rubber trader Richard E Dennett, acquired a collection of artefacts from the Congo in the 1870s which came to the Museum. These iconic items were possibly acquired by him as a member of the Lemba trading guild.

Items relating to James Bandinel of the anti-slave department at the Foreign Office (1824-49) were presented to the Museum by his son Rev. James Bandinel in 1889. The artefacts are evidence that Royal Navy ships had lawfully seized slaving vessels.

Acquisitions to enhance RAMM’s ethnography collection have continued to the present. Priority has been given to items which improve the quality and range of existing collections. Donations, which include Jevan Berrangé’s donation of items from the Amazon region of Guyana and Brazil and Leslie Read’s 1980s Chhau masks from India, have filled gaps in terms of style and quality.

Similarly, Jenny Balfour-Paul’s donation of barkcloth, the Elizabeth Norris donation of Asian embroidery and the Stephanie Odam donation of clothing from Oaxaca, Mexico, have considerably enhanced existing material. Conall Macfarlane’s gift (via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme) enabled the Museum to acquire a Maori mere pounamu (greenstone weapon) to replace a badly fragmented example.

Consideration is also given to selective acquisition of items for use in developing understanding between users of the museum and communities represented by the ethnographic collections. The commissioning of new artwork, such as Rosanna Raymond’s Genealogy in 2007 which reflects the significance of bark cloth to Polynesian identity in the modern world. Sheila Unwin’s significant donation of East African beadwork illustrates adornment as currency, social indicator and fashion, in contrast to existing examples from the 19th century. RAMM’s acquisition of Suzuki Mutsumi’s Golden Field of Rice (2009) through the Art Fund Collect scheme in 2010 reflects ancient technique with modern aesthetics.

Recent policy has enabled RAMM to acquire well-documented items by donation, bequest and exceptionally by purchase, where these items were originally made and used by peoples in the indigenous communities of Africa, the Americas, the Pacific Islands and Asia, and have been collected by people residing or having a significant connection to Devon and Exeter.

Fine Art

The collection includes material from the 16th century to the present. It comprises approximately 500 paintings, 3000 drawings and watercolours, 3500 prints and a small collection of sculpture.

The Fine Art collections are strong in 18th and 19th-century local artists – in particular Francis Towne, John White Abbott and John Gendall, representing Exeter and Devon topographical scenes. Since 2005, significant Devon artists of this period (pre-dating the 20th century), such as Francis Hayman, Benjamin Robert Haydon and Richard Cosway have been acquired via grant aid in order to extend and consolidate this already significant collection. These artists are either native to or have a tradition of working in Devon.

Artists (of excellence and significance) beyond the above remit, including a John Opie portrait of Micaiah Towgood, have been acquired only via donation or bequest.

The representative collection of 20th-century paintings, prints and drawings has been developed, with the addition of works linking to artists already featured in the collections (e.g. Duncan Grant, Walter Sickert) and the groups and schools with which they were associated (e.g. Bloomsbury, Camden Town, Euston Road). Recent acquisitions here included a David Bomberg landscape. Works by war artists have lately been consolidated by the acquisition of Leighton Hall Woollatt’s Blitz scenes, among others.

The acquisition of local works, for example landscapes and portraits, can be of more importance for their topographical or historical significance than their artistic merit. RAMM has continued to acquire selected additions of work related to the region, such as Exeter and Devon landscapes; work with a connection to the region through ownership or provenance; and work by established professional artists born, trained or resident in the region, including artists-in-residence. Important recent acquisitions to this part of the collection include works by John White Abbot and Leighton Hall Woollatt.

Works in RAMM’s sculpture collection range from the medieval period onwards. The acquisition of sculpture is limited by size, storage and conservation factors. However important 20th century small-scale works include Zennor by Barbara Hepworth, Carapace by Michael Ayrton and Triple Loop by Bill Pye.

Natural Sciences

RAMM’s Natural Sciences collections are wide in scope covering zoology, botany and geology. They contain British and foreign material of high quality and scientific importance. Approximately 121,000 accession records relate to Natural Sciences objects. Many of these records refer to group accessions (for example, one accession number may cover an entire cabinet of entomology specimens) so the actual number of objects within Natural Sciences is estimated in excess of 500,000.

The molluscs number approximately 70,000 individual specimens with good global and taxonomic coverage. In January 2020 George Montagu’s collection of shells received Designated status from Arts Council England. It includes 120 lots with type status and attracts international research interest. It is the most intact and taxonomically important collection of British shells of the early 19th century to be found anywhere in the UK. Juliana Linter’s collection of approximately 14,000 exotic land snail shells is also noteworthy for it includes many rare or extinct species as well as some type material.

Percy Sladen’s echinoderm collection comprises several thousand microscope slides and fossils from the collection of W.B. and P.H. Carpenter and over 2,500 dry and wet-preserved echinoderms. Some of these echinoderms were collected on the expeditions of HMS Challenger (1872-76) and HMS Lightning (1868). This is one of the best echinoderm collections in the UK outside of national museums.

RAMM has excellent British and exotic butterfly collections numbering in the region of 100,000 specimens, many of which have been consolidated (organised taxonomically rather than by collector). RAMM also has excellent holdings of British beetles and spiders.

Birds are a particular area of strength within the vertebrate collection with more than 12,500 study skins, eggs, bones and mounts. The specimens are of native and exotic species with good global coverage and include those now extinct or exceedingly rare such as the kakapo, huia, moa, ivory-billed woodpecker and passenger pigeon. Some of RAMM’s most iconic objects are mammals. Of the 1,400 mammal specimens around 60 were collected by big game hunter Charles Victor Alexander Peel including the giraffe as well as a polar bear and an African elephant. Reptiles, fish and amphibians are less well represented.

The botany collection is a good reflection of the activities of collectors from Victorian times up to the mid-20th century. Specimens from early collectors such as D’Urban and Hiern are particularly data-rich. Both collections include local and national material. Some of Hiern’s specimens have been published in Flora of Devon (1939) by Keble Martin and Fraser. Also of note are approximately 2,000 seaweed specimens, many collected by female collectors including Amelia Griffiths, Mary Wyatt, Catherine Cutler, Fanny Hindon and Ellen Hutchins.

The geology collections are strong in specimens from Devon and the South West of England, together with intermittent worldwide coverage. The palaeontology collections are particularly extensive, with important material from the local Cretaceous, Pleistocene and Triassic systems including the holotype of Fodonyx spenceri.

Numismatics

The numismatics collection comprises coins, tokens, medals and bank notes issued in Devon. Archaeological coins and coin hoards are held within the Antiquities collection (see 3.2). The most important elements here are the very fine systematic collection of the silver pennies struck at Devon’s four Saxon and Norman mints (Exeter, Barnstaple, Totnes and Lydford), which includes some great rarities, and the sequence of Exeter’s Civil War coinage. There are also good collections of Devon tradesmen’s tokens of the 17th and 18th centuries, local medals, pub checks and badges, and a small collection of local banknotes. The museum also holds a representative selection of typical British coins of Saxon to modern date and a small collection of Classical coins.

Photography

An assessment of RAMM’s photographic holdings undertaken by a V&A Museum curatorial post identified photographic material in all of RAMM’s principle collection areas, as well as in the archive. It includes early daguerreotype and ambrotype material from the 1850s to present day prints. It is estimated that there are 600 photographic prints (including unique photographs, original and reproductive prints); 250 negatives and transparencies; 4,700 lantern slides; a small collection of photographic albums and books containing photographs; and a collection related to photographic technology, including photographic equipment and raw materials.

The collection is strong in late 19th and early 20th century material by local, professional photographers with a particular focus on studio portraiture (cartes de visite, cabinet cards, loose and in photographic albums), such as by Owen Angel, James Frederick Long and Heath & Bradnee Ltd.

Highlights of the collection include:

• Four photographic portraits of the Royal family (reproductive prints) by Baron (Stirling Henry Nahum), Alice Hughes, and W. & D. Downey.
• A tri-colour carbro print, A Domestic Affair, c. 1925, an outstanding example of early colour photography by Exeter-based photographer Frederick Gordon Tutton (1888-1930).
• Book with albumen prints of fungi (c. 1870s-80s), some hand-coloured, by early female photographer Miss M.M. Clarke
• Book Hortus Veitchii, 1906 with approx. 50 photogravure illustrations possibly by E.J. Wallis.
• Group of 44 photographs of tree specimens collected by JR Jackson (including albumen prints by Samuel Bourne, Bourne & Shepherd, Charles Thomas Scowen, Nicholas & Curth and GR Lambert and Co.)
• A unique photographic album (platinum prints) of Reminiscences of Mysore by Barton & Son, Bangalore from c. 1906.
• Three crystoleum photographs by Exeter-based photographer Owen Angel, c. 1870s-80s.
• Daguerreotype of an unknown girl by Charles Henry Williamson (1826-1874), c. mid-1850s.
• Photographic portraits (originals and reproductive prints in the form of cartes de visite, cabinet cards, gelatin silver prints, as part of photographic albums) by local and national photographers and photographic studios, such as Bertram Park, Houston Rogers, Joseph Parkin Mayall, Maull and Fox, J Russell & Sons.
• Two boxes of microphotographs, some made by the pioneer of microphotography John Benjamin Dancer

Recent acquisitions include:

• Photomontages by Joanna Brown (2014-15).
• A photobook, Seeing believing (2017), by Garry Fabian Miller including a small limited edition print The White Cloud, looking towards Ravens Tor, Winter 2014.

Social History

The Social history collection at RAMM is currently estimated at 9,955 records and 16,945 objects. Social history has recently been identified as a discreet group within RAMM’s collections and we are currently assessing our holdings for significance.

These objects reflect the history of Exeter and its region from the 17th century onwards. They include artefacts relating to the city’s institutions (the defences, religious institutions, the Guildhall, public health and the water supply for example), its foreign and regional trade (with highly important material from the operation of the custom port of Exeter), its industries, domestic life and topography (the last including a series of city models ranging in date from c.1820 to the 1970s). There has been little organised collecting in the past, and this is an area the museum is looking to develop in the future.

RAMM holds a small collection of musical instruments including important keyboard instruments as well as some woodwind and string instruments dating from the late 18th century. The 17th-century virginals by Charles Rewalyn of Exeter and the Italian harpsichord 1782 are outstanding pieces.

The small collection of armour and swords is based on local 17th and 18thcentury material. A medium sized collection of firearms has as its core the high quality products of the local firm of W.J. Harvey and other innovative 19th-century firearms collected by W.J. Harvey.

The small technology collection numbering some 296 objects was mainly collected between the 1970s and 1980s, with a few existing older acquisitions being included. A number of objects in this collection were identified as potential candidates for disposal following a rationalisation exercise.

RAMM has a significant collection of objects relating to fire insurance and firefighting, with some of the earliest examples dating from the 18th century. These objects include fire buckets, fire insurance marks, uniform and equipment, and a fire engine used by Exeter Cathedral.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Royal Anglian Regiment Museum collects and preserves material relating to the history of the East Anglian Regiments and The Royal Anglian Regiment, including Territorial Forces, Cadets, Schools, Affiliations and Alliances associated with the Regiment.

The Collection comprises items that cover its link with the Former Regiments, the role and organisation of the current Regiment, its traditions, customs and dress, worldwide operational deployments, honours and awards and the Roll of Honour. Items include uniforms, badges, accoutrements, weapons, archives, photographs and memorabilia.

The period of time to which the Collection relates is from the amalgamations of the Former Regiments that created the East Anglian Regiments in the period 1958-1960, up to the present day.

The geographical area is constrained only by the stipulation that units, sub-units, detachments or individual members of the Regiments must have served in the areas represented in the Collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum is a unique museum telling the story of Army Chaplains and Faith in the Forces. There is no other museum which covers these areas. Despite its long history beginning in 1796, the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department did not possess its own home until December 1946 when HM King George VI offered Bagshot Park to the Chaplain-General. It was then possible to centralise the archives and historical relics of the Department in one place. Successive Wardens and Deputy Wardens carried out a great deal of work between 1946 and 1966 to produce a worthwhile Museum display. In 1967 approval was given by the Ministry of Defence for the Museum to be established as an official Class A Museum.

The Museum was opened by HM the Queen on 7^th April 1968. In order to safeguard the historical material held by the Department the RAChD Museum Trust was established in 1969. In 1979 The RAChD Museum Trust was registered with the Charity Commission under the Charity No 276924. The lease on the Bagshot Park ran out in 1996 and the Museum collection had to go into storage, until a new home for the Museum was ready at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre at Amport House in Hampshire. The Museum opened under the new working name of ‘Museum of Army Chaplaincy’ on 10 September 2001. In April 2003, the first full time curator was appointed. In 2016, the disposal of Amport House was announced by the Secretary of State for Defence. Project Jordan saw the reprovisioning of the Museum on a new site adjacent to the Defence Academy of the UK. In April 2020 a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation foundation was set up under the name of the Museum of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department. The opportunity was taken by the trustees to refine and widen the objectives of the Museum. The old charity was wound up its assets transferred to the new CIO; which is registered with the Charity Commission under No. 1189072.

The new Museum was opened on 18 May 2022 with the new title of ‘Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum : Faith in the Forces’.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: Not known

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection consists of medals, uniforms, equipment, furniture, church silver, paintings, photographs, models, books and documents. The archive consists of both personal and Departmental papers. Items have been acquired via the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department since the inception of the Museum and by donation by individuals or organisations to the Museum Trust.

The collection has global connections as British Army chaplains have served in every corner of the World. The collection contains very rare examples of Army chaplains uniforms from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The Museum holds a wide-ranging collection of gallantry awards to chaplains. The stories behind the men who won these awards are contained in the important collection of archive material held by the Museum. The archives contain unique documents from the First and Second War Wars. The Museum holds a unique collection of oral history recordings of chaplains who served in Afghanistan, in digital format. These recordings are currently in the process of being transcribed and indexed.

Source: Collection development policy

Date:

Licence: CC BY-NC

The RAPTC Museum was founded at the Army School of Physical Training (ASPT) in Aldershot in 1953. It has since moved to several different locations within the ASPT. The collection has grown as a result of purchases, gifts, loans and bequests from the ASPT, the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC), RAPTC Association and private donors.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Museum’s collection at present comprises over 10,000 accessioned items, including: uniforms, sports clothing, sports equipment, medals, photographs, pictures, prints, books, flags, trophies, posters and documents.

The collection depicts the connection between physical training and sports and the Army since the founding of the Army Gymnastic Staff (AGS) in 1860 to the present day. It covers the geographical area of Aldershot, Hampshire, home of the RAPTC, as well as any other geographical locations where RAPTC personnel have been posted in the course of their duties or have competed in sporting events.

The Collection is held in two areas, both of which hold a selection of the objects described above: the public viewing gallery and the reserve collection and library, the latter of which is not accessible to the public. A small number of other items are displayed in other areas around the ASPT.

For the purposes of this policy the collection shall be itemised in two clearly defined areas:

• The Core Collection: Exhibits, artefacts and archives considered essential to the history of the RAPTC.
• Non-Core Collection: Those artefacts and archives not essential to the history of the RAPTC.

Non-core items may well be duplicated within the collection or will not fall within the objectives of the Museum or there will be other reasons relating to a particular item which renders it unsuitable for inclusion in the core collection as defined by the Council of Trustees. These items could be made available to other like museums for loans, exchange, as gifts or offered for disposal as clearly defined under this Policy.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

Military Collection

Firepower! holds two museum collections, a major collection of artillery and a regimental collection relating to the Royal Artillery Regiment. The collection comprises nearly 900 guns, 450+ small arms and 2,500 pieces of ammunition, large collections of bayonets, communications equipment, instruments and other equipment ranging from flags to vehicles, plus numerous personal items such as over 2,400 uniforms and swords as well as badges, medals, awards and personal equipment, and an art collection comprising pictures, sculpture.

Subjects

Arms and Armour; Uniforms; Medals

James Clavell Library of the Royal Artillery Institution

The library consists of books, periodicals and other published works from the 16th century to the present day, covering artillery from the 13th century onwards. The archives, also stored at the Library, consist of pamphlets, manuals, personal and technical papers, photographs, documents, together with unit records from the 18th century to the present day. The archives contain over 5,000 individual collections. Material is received from a wide variety of sources, including RA units and establishments, members and ex-members of the Regiment, the Ministry of Defence and the general public.

Subjects

Tactics; Artillery

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC