Explore collections

Musical Instrument Collection

The Royal College of Music’s Museum of Instruments houses an internationally renowned collection of over 800 instruments and accessories from about 1480 to the present (600 European, keyboard, stringed and wind; 100 Asian and African). Gifts since the foundation of the College in 1883 include important collections from the Rajah S.M. Tagore (1884), the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII (1886), Sir George Donaldson (1894), A.J. Hipkins (1911), E.A.K. Ridley (1968), Geoffrey Hartley (1985), Amaryllis Fleming (2002), Richard Walton (2003) and Crispian Steele-Perkins (2003).

Subjects

Musicians; Musical instruments

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Arms and Armour

Artefacts relating to the daily life, work and training of members of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Corp of Royal Sappers and Miners, other British colonial units of military engineers, their families, households and servants at home and abroad. Artefacts related to the social, political and military history of the Medway Towns and the surrounding area where these in some way reflect the presence of a military garrison in the towns. Weapons and equipment issued to, worn or used by members of the Corps of Royal Engineers the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners and other British and colonial units of military engineers. Items of British, colonial and foreign weapons, and equipment of related interest. Artefacts relating to military operations, civil and semi-civil projects and emergency operations, colonial and other policing and administrative duties and other activities in which units or members of the Corps of Royal Engineers the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, other British and colonial military engineers or the British Army in general have had involvement. Artefacts including models and actual equipment illustrating engineering and scientific techniques of relevance or interest to military engineers.

Costume/textiles

Items of uniform, issued to, worn or used by members of the Corps of Royal Engineers the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners and other British and colonial units of military engineers. Items of British, colonial and foreign uniforms, of related interest.

Medals

Medals, decorations issued to, worn or used by members of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners and other British and colonial units of military engineers. Items of British, colonial and foreign medals and decorations of related interest.

Social History

Artefacts relating to the daily life, work and training of members of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Corp of Royal Sappers and Miners, other British colonial units of military engineers, their families, households and servants at home and abroad. Artefacts related to the social, political and military history of the Medway Towns and the surrounding area where these in some way reflect the presence of a military garrison in the towns. Weapons and equipment issued to, worn or used by members of the Corps of Royal Engineers the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners and other British and colonial units of military engineers.

Biology

Artefacts or natural or scientific specimens used, made or collected by members of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, other British and colonial units of military engineers and, if of exceptional interest, other British, colonial and foreign service personnel at home and abroad.

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum holds 4 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: basketry/ropes; jewellery; tools/weapons. The Royal Engineers Library, Brompton Barracks, Chatham holds individuals’ photograph albums with some prints of Egyptological interest, especially sites from c. 1860 on. Objects are known to have come from the following location in Egypt: Tura.

Subjects

Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Egyptology

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The principal antecedent regiments of The Royal Green Jackets are:

• The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd)
• The King’s Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles)
• The Rifle Brigade (95th Rifles)

The collections of The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum (“the Museum”) originate from the 1920s, when, after the First World War, the antecedent regiments created museums to display the artefacts and other material, which, over the years, had accumulated in their possession. In 1966 the antecedent regiments merged to form The Royal Green Jackets. In 1989 the collections of The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and The Rifle Brigade were amalgamated and The Royal Green Jackets Museum established at Winchester. Part of The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Museum collection was included with the balance transferred to the ownership of The Royal Green Jackets Museum Trust in 2007, after which The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Museum at Oxford closed.

On 1 February 2007 The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, The Light Infantry and The Royal Green Jackets merged to form a new regiment, The Rifles. The forming regiments retain their own museums. In 2009 The Royal Green Jackets Museum was re-titled The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum to reflect inter alia the Museum’s link to the new regiment.

In December 2012 the Museum’s archive collection in Winchester was deposited with Hampshire Record Office for a minimum period of 20 years. The Museum Trust retains ownership of the collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

Existing collections cover the period 1741 when the 43rd Regiment was formed to 2007 when The Royal Green Jackets were merged into The Rifles. The collections include items from across the world reflecting the geographic areas in which battalions and members of The Royal Green Jackets and its antecedent regiments served.

The aggregation of the collections of the antecedent regiments has resulted in the Trust owning rich and varied collections primarily of weapons, uniforms, medals, portraits, pictures, photographs, models, books, documents, personal records, band instruments, silver, porcelain and artefacts of a military, historical nature. In total, there are over 55,000 accessioned items, including 13,000 objects, 6,600 medal groups, 25,000 photographs, 10,000 archival documents and a substantial library of books.

Almost all the Museum’s collections have been acquired through donation rather than purchase. A small number of items of particular significance to the Regiment are held on fixed-term renewable loan. Additionally, there are a small number of legacy items, which were loaned to the museums of the antecedent regiments before 1989, current ownership of which is uncertain or unproven, principally because the original owners have died or disappeared without trace.

The Museum collections are currently split with just over 80% at Winchester, known as the Winchester Collection, and just under 20% on fixed-term renewable loan to The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust in Oxfordshire, known as the Oxfordshire Collection.

The Winchester Collection is primarily housed in a MOD brick-built building in Peninsula Barracks. Exhibition and storage space is limited, with the majority of the artefacts on permanent display in the principal Museum building to which the public have access during opening hours. There is a small reserve collection which is divided between a long term storage facility at West Dean and a short term storage facility provided by an adapted ISO Container on MOD land adjacent to the Museum.

The Oxfordshire Collection is subject to the terms of a Management Agreement between the Trustees of The Royal Green Jackets Museum and the Trustees of The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) dated 27 June 2008. Following a review of the Oxfordshire Collection under the custodianship of SOFO those objects that they did not wish to retain were returned to The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum in September 2015 for disposal procedures: SPECTRUM Primary Procedures on disposal and the Museums Association (MA) Disposal Toolkit dated March 2014.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2022

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection of the Royal Hampshire Regiment has been maintained and displayed in Serle’s House almost as long as the building has been associated with the Regiment, since the late 18th Century. It was initially used as a training resource for the Regiment’s soldiers and officers, before becoming formally established as a museum and opened to the public in 1934. However, various items were bought by, or donated to the Regiment and therefore owned by the Regiment, and displayed in the battalions’ Messes and headquarters in disparate locations both in the UK and overseas. Formal museum records were started in the 1950s for a period, and then restarted in the 1970s, and so the catalogue is incomplete as to provenance of items, and which belonged to the Regiment rather than the museum. Many items are listed as being owned by the different battalions, but the Regiment was amalgamated in 1992 into the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, and so these battalions no longer exist in their original form and so the museum has assumed ownership of the artefacts.

The collection can be divided into 2 categories: that which is on display and the archive and storerooms. The whole of Serle’s House used to belong to the Regiment, then the War Office/Ministry of Defence. It was sold to Hampshire County Council, together with its Memorial Garden in 2002, and the museum now leases part of the ground floor and the Memorial Garden from Hampshire County Council. The display area cannot be increased because of the limited rooms available in the lease, and the use of the rest of the building, but the 2 exhibition galleries display artefacts covering the history of the Royal Hampshire Regiment in the following case groupings:

• 1702 to the turn of the 20th Century
• First World War
• The Inter-War period
• Second World War
• Conflicts and areas of operation post WW2 up to the amalgamation of the Regiment
• Conflicts involving the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (PWRR)

Almost all the Museum collection has been acquired through donation rather than purchase. A very small number of items of particular significance to the Regiment are held on loan, however this is being reduced, with arrangements being made to bring the items formally into the collection as donations. Some less important items on long loan were returned to the families in 2022 and 2023.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

In line with the Statement of Purpose, the Museum is interested in, and is concerned almost exclusively with, collecting material relating to the history and actions of the Regular, Service, Territorial, Volunteer and Militia battalions of The Royal Hampshire Regiment and its antecedent regiments, and those that served in or were associated with them. Due to the nature of the old regimental collections, there are some items for which the relevance and lack of provenance is problematic as we are unsure as to why and how these were collected. Many of these archives and artefacts are being sorted through with a view to potential disposal. The museum also has many duplicate items; again these are being rationalised.

The museum holds around 5000 medals, including campaign, gallantry and sports medals. It holds uniforms and equipment from the 1750s onwards which belonged to individual soldiers, as well as archive material for the same period.

The museum’s photographic collection is particularly large, with around 200 albums and around 3000 individual photographs dating back to 1860. These include both official war photographs, portraits, team and group photos from all periods, and a large number of personal photographs taken by soldiers from the late Victorian period onwards. The photographs are gradually being digitized, and catalogued, and further work will be completed on this in the future. They are a particularly good source of historical ethnographic material, as there are many images of local scenery and people from around the British Empire where the soldiers were stationed at the time.

Other items held include firearms, swords and other bladed weapons, silverware in the form of both trophies and mess centrepieces, paintings and prints, flags and colours, drums and other musical instruments, and ‘souvenir’ items brought back by soldiers from their service around the world, including items taken from prisoners in WW2 and Malaya, and items bought to take home.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Regimental Museum of the Royal Highland Fusiliers was formed by the amalgamation of the collections of The Royal Scots Fusiliers and The Highland Light Infantry, when those two regiments amalgamated to form The Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1959.

The Museum opened to the public in 1960 and underwent a major refurbishment in 1988.

Military museums and their associated collections originated from items donated to or collected by the Regimental Headquarters in a more or less ad hoc way until the arrangements became form formal and eventually, towards the middle of the twentieth century, were officially recognised by the Ministry of Defence.

The current collection is composed largely from donations, which explains the somewhat eclectic nature of the items; however, there have been some purchases, mainly of uniforms to fill gaps in the collection.

Historically, the curatorial duties of military museums have been the remit of the incumbent Regimental Secretary with the aid of their respective Trusts and Museum Committees. As noted above, The Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum collection has been mainly determined by donations, along with some minor purchases – it is, therefore, not really possible to single out any one person who has had a significant effect on the shape or content of the collection.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2016

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collections are made up of items relating to the history and development of the Regiment and associated personalities. The term ‘Regiment’ includes: The 21st of Foot, The Royal Scots Fusiliers; the 71st Highlanders, later the 1st Battalion The Highland Light Infantry; The 74th Highlanders, later the 2nd Battalion The Highland Light Infantry; The Royal Highland Fusiliers; The Volunteer and Territorial Battalions; The Militia, Service Battalions and their successors.

The Collections Include:

• Accessioned objects which comprise medals (1,500), textiles, uniforms, silver (1,200), paintings, prints and drawings (520), weapons (60), personalia and photographs (5,500).
• A documents archive which is not accessioned but listed under a separate numbering system.
• A library of books which is not accessioned.
• Items on loan to the Museum, which comprise approximately 1% of the collections. Loan agreements are in place.
• Items on loan from the Museum, which comprise approximately5% of the collections. A new Loans Policy was developed in 2012 to ensure closer management of these items.

The period of time to which the collection relates will be from the raising of the antecedent military units of the Regiment through to its present day successors.

The collecting area is not defined geographically, but may encompass all regions with which the Regiment has been associated throughout its history.

At present, there are no collections that will not be subject to further acquisition.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2016

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection includes the Victoria Crosses awarded to Private Robert Morrow and to Lieutenant Geoffrey Cather of the Royal Irish Fusiliers on the Western Front during the First World War. Other highlights include a model demonstrating how Ensign Edward Keogh and Sergeant Patrick Masterson of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot captured a French Imperial Eagle at the Battle of Barrosa in March 1811 during the Peninsular War. The Eagle itself has been lost but the staff on which it had been placed is still held by the museum.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum”, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Source: Wikipedia

Date: 2025

Licence: CC-BY-SA

Arms and Armour

The museum contains the collections of The Royal Logistic Corps (formed 1993) and its predecessors, including the Royal Corps of Transport, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Royal Pioneer Corps, the Army Catering Corps, the Postal and Courier Service (Royal Engineers) and such military corps, units or civilian organisations as are recognised as their predecessor or subordinates. The collection includes items relating to the training, work and off-duty lives of personnel, the equipment used by units and individuals, and the work and materials handled by the Corps mentioned above. The scientific and technical development of the equipment employed by the Corps is represented. Representative items which relate to other UK military formations with which the Corps have been employed are included along with items relating to British Imperial and foreign corps and units in the same role. Items collected by personnel and their families which demonstrate the political, operational and geographical content of units’ work and the nature of opposing forces are included. The collection also illustrates the ceremonial and sporting activities of the Corps and the relationship between it and its supporting community. Major exhibits include items from the Battle of Marston Moor (1644), Waterloo (1815), the Zulu and Boer Wars (including bread issued at Mafeking), World War I exhibits including a horse ambulance and World War II objects spanning from Dunkirk to campaigns in Burma and the Far East. There are also a number of objects relating to the formation of The RLC and operations since the formation in 1993.

Archives

There is a very large archive, of over 100,000 items, that holds important records.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Medical Collection

The Hospital was founded in 1740 and archives and artefacts are preserved from its long history. The collections are amongst the most complete and significant of their type in the UK, embracing the records and relics of 20 related hospitals. The objects relate primarily to the London (now Royal London) Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children and the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, and Nursing and Midwifery at the London. Objects include paintings, sculpture, ceramics, surgical instruments, nursing equipment, medals, decorations and trophies, uniforms and teaching material. The three sections covered by the displays give a good summary of the kinds of material in the collections: The Eighteenth Century section features the foundation of the voluntary hospital and its benefactors, medical education and health in the 18th century. Among the original material displayed are the Hospital charter of 1758, a drawing given by the artist William Hogarth in 1744 and the operation bell of 1792. The Nineteenth Century section covers surgery before antisepsis including instruments belonging to Hospital Surgeon Sir William Blizard, nursing and Florence Nightingale, hospital expansion, Hospital matron Eva L?1/4ckes, Dr Barnardo, Frederick Treves and the Elephant Man and Victorian doctors. Objects on show include a replica of a hat and veil worn by Joseph Merrick and documents relating to his residence at the Hospital, contemporary surgical instruments and medical equipment. The Twentieth century section features children and health, X-rays, the First and Second World Wars, Nurse Edith Cavell, Hospital Chairman Lord Knutsford, cardiology, blood transfusion, obstetrics and the National Heath Service. Visitors can see an X-ray machine from the 1930s and a carbon arc lamp used to give ultra violet light treatment to King George V in 1928. A series of recent photographs is also displayed. There are special sections on hospital uniform (usually four uniforms are on show), forensic medicine (including material on the Jack the Ripper murders) and dentistry (including a denture made for George Washington).

Subjects

People (medical); Forensic Medicine; Uniforms; Hospitals; Healthcare

British Orthodontics Society Collection

Museum and archive collections of the Society, including several hundred plaster dental and facial models together with orthodontic devices.

Subjects

Medical History

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Arms and Armour

The existing Collections include 285 items of uniform and 87 flags, 16719 medals, 229 badges, 223 items of equipment, 135 firearms, 134 edged/other weapons, 42 items of ammunition, 6 vehicles, 95 items of silver and 205 miscellaneous items, 23 archives, 294 books, 820 documents, 648 photographs and 60 pictures acquired by the Royal Military Police.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

An overview of current collections

The collection contains approximately 100,000 coins – some three-quarters of which reflect the Royal Mint’s extensive overseas work, particularly for Commonwealth countries, including an abundance of proofs, patterns and trial pieces. So far as coins are concerned, the Museum’s primary interest is in the milled, or machine-struck, pieces of the last 350 years but the collection contains coins dating back to the Medieval and Anglo-Saxon periods and also coins from the Ancient World.

The Library contains around 11500 volumes as well as a wealth of archival material and photographs.

In addition, the collection includes something in the order of 12,000 medals and seals along with thousands of drawings, plaster models and electrotypes, and an outstanding collection of trial plates dating back to the 15th century. Above all it incorporates roughly 34,000 master tools and dies from the 17th century onwards, a collection whose importance is unrivalled in the United Kingdom.
An estimate of the overall size of the collection arranged by type of material is set out below.

Coins – 100,000
Medals – 12,000
Seal counterparts and impressions – 2,110
Trial plates – 200
Banknotes and postage stamps – 300
Scientific, precision engineering and photographic equipment – 148
Master tools and dies – 34,000
Plaster models and Electrotypes – 18,510
Drawings – 30,000
Boxes of weights – 69
Individual weights – 513
Balances – 24
Minting equipment and machinery – 700
Books – 11,500
Journals and periodicals – 6,500
Sales catalogues – 3,150
Box-files of archival material – 416
Photographs and negatives – 8,618
Glass negatives – 4,916
Videos and cassettes – 250
Rolled documents – 174
Paintings and engravings – 100
Sculptures – 10

The acquisition of objects direct from the Royal Mint factory allows the Museum to acquire a full and accurate account of the work of the Royal Mint and includes a large number of trial coins and medals which do not exist anywhere else. This acquisition direct from the factory allows the Museum to remain true to its original 200 year-old purpose of maintaining a record of Royal Mint production.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

History of the collections

The Royal Mint Museum (RMM) has one of the finest numismatic collections in the world. It was established in 1816 by the Master of the Mint, William Wellesley Pole, to provide a permanent record of the work of the Royal Mint. The Museum also has a substantial numismatic library. The coin collection and library was considerably enhanced in 1818 by a generous donation by Sir Joseph Banks on behalf of his sister Sarah Sophia and included a number of rare and important coins and a collection of 16th and 17th century books and pamphlets on British and European coins and medals.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Military History

The collection includes Royal Observer Corp uniforms, equipment, memorabilia, objects, film, photographic and sound archives from 1925 divided into operational equipment and documents; training programmes, aircraft recognition, aids, manuals and exercises; uniforms including working, normal and social dress, insignia and badges; social memorabilia, summer camp, VIP visits, events awards and correspondence; Associated services and systems such as Civil Defence, RAF, ROC ancestors and beacon systems; miscellaneous pictures, cartoons, flags and trophies. In total there are 300 costume and textile items, 200 decorative arts, 100 fine art, 120 personalia, 300 transport, 1,920 science and industry, 60 social history, and 3,000 archives

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC