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Social History Collection

The collection reflects the importance of Walsall as a centre for the manufacture of leather goods through its collection of locally produced leather goods such as saddles, bags, sports equipment, etc. The collection of artefacts and ephemera relating to working life in the leather industry, such as tools, workshop furnishings, long service awards, time clocks etc. is equally significant. The collection also contains material relating to company histories, including factory signboards, industrial prototypes, trade catalogues, medals etc. The collection reflects the importance of Walsall as a centre for the manufacture of leather goods through its collection of locally produced leather goods such as saddles, bags, sports equipment, etc.

Subjects

Social History; People

Oral History Collection

This is a collection mainly of the reminiscences of people working in the leather industry.

Subjects

Oral history

Costume and Textile Collection

The collection consists essentially of items of occupational clothing.

Subjects

Costume and Textile; Costume (workwear)

Decorative and Applied Art Collection

The collections support the broader displays on leatherworking.

Subjects

Decorative and Applied Arts

Photographic Collection

The collection is mainly of photographs of work in the industry, and of those engaged in it.

Subjects

Photographic equipment; Photography

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Local History Collection

Items connected with the mills and industries of the Wandle Valley, from the source to the confluence with the river Thames, and running through the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth. Items relate to the history of buildings and places, industrial activity, institutions, communications and administration, the lives and achievements of residents, the economy and social life. the collections include material on important people such as William Morris whose company manufactured furnishings at Merton Abbey and Arthur Liberty, of the West End store. There is an extensive collection of printing blocks and textiles.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Local and Social History

Collections include: Tradesmen’s tools Records and objects associated with local businesses, notably that of D Wickham Ltd, railcar manufacturers; Coronation souvenirs and ephemera; Civic material; Records and memorabilia reflecting the impact of the two World Wars on Ware; Records and objects associated with the important malting industry, for which Ware was nationally famous and with Ware’s historic buildings, particularly Caleb Hitch’s Patent Bricks Schooling; items associated with local organisations such as the Independent Order of Oddfellows; Records and objects associated with D Wickham Ltd, railcar manufacturers; Collection of original and copy images showing people, places, events and activities in Ware. The museum holds some records relating to local businesses and important local industries. Some archival material is deposited with the Hertfordshire Record Office.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Social History Collection

This collection is the principal theme of the museum and comprises pictures; maps and documents; local agricultural and industrial implements; and domestic bygones.

Subjects

Social History

Archaeology Collection

There are a few archaeological artefacts, plus information about Wareham’s important Saxon past, including the location of a mint here.

Subjects

Archaeology

Personalia Collection

There is a small collection of material relating to T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), who was stationed and died near Wareham. He is buried nearby in Moreton.

Subjects

Personalia

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Encouraged by the success of a Warrington exhibition of “Paintings and Works of Art, Models of Machinery and Manufactures, Philosophical Apparatus, Specimens of Natural History and Objects of Curiosity and Interest.” in 1840, the Warrington Natural History Society decided to establish a permanent museum in Warrington which opened in 1842. This initial museum featured local antiquities, fossils and an array of stuffed birds and animals. This was the precursor to the current museum and many items from this museum and the preceding exhibition can still be found in the collections of Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.

The town of Warrington was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, the same year that the lease on the Warrington Natural History Society museum premises ran out. The newly incorporated Borough Council used their powers under the Museum Act of 1845 to fund a “Museum of Science and Art for the instruction and amusement of the inhabitants.” which amalgamated the collections of Warrington Natural History Society and the Warrington Circulating Library. This new Warrington Museum and Library opened in temporary premises on November 1st 1848. The initial collections were still focused upon natural history and antiquities and little distinction was made between acquisitions of books and of artefacts.

By 1853-4 the museum had outgrown its original premises and the Borough Council commissioned a larger purpose-built museum building. The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1855 and the new museum opened in 1857. The additional space afforded by a purpose built museum led to accelerated collecting during the second half of the 19th century.

The museum was extended during the 1870s allowing the addition of an art gallery which led to greater emphasis on collecting fine art. The Museum and library collections were formally separated in 1878 and no more library acquisitions were recorded in the museum register from this point.

The influence of curator (later director of the Museum and Library) Charles Madeley led to a shift in the collecting emphasis during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Charles collected on the basis that the focus of the museum, and therefore the collection, should be education, and that the museum should therefore be a microcosm of the universe. Additions to the Museum collections were more systematic during this period and undertaken with the aim of providing a representative collection in multiple disciplines – for example acquiring artefacts from each continent for the ethnographic collection. These same principles were applied by Madeley’s successor Gavin Dunlop and were continued into the 1930s.

The rate of collecting decreased during the Second World War and only began to increase again during the 1960s. There was an increasing emphasis on collecting examples of Social History, Costume and Decorative Art from the 1960s onwards.

The town of Warrington became a borough within Cheshire County in 1974 and a unitary authority in 1998. As a result of these changes the Museum’s collecting policy was altered to focus almost exclusively on acquiring artefacts related to Warrington and the surrounding area and the Museum no longer sought to be representative. This effectively closed the Ethnographic collection and reduced collecting in other areas such as Natural History and Archaeology.

In 2012 responsibility for the Museum was transferred from Warrington Borough Council to the newly created Culture Warrington Charitable Trust (later simply Culture Warrington). Warrington Borough Council still retain ownership of the museum’s collections however.

Warrington Museum has historic collections that not only reflect changing curatorial philosophies and local priorities but are also significant in their own right. Visiting curators and academics have acknowledged the significance of early Victorian taxidermy specimens; important natural history collectors; important individual items from the ethnographic collections of ancient Peru; Africa; Asia and Australasia. The Fine art collection includes work by several prominent artists with a national importance whilst the photographic archive contains significant material from the infancy of the media. However, this legacy also provides interesting challenges. It is important to preserve and enhance these historic collections but also to ensure that they remain dynamic and engage with Warrington’s future citizens, reflecting local needs in a culturally diverse and global society.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Museum holds a substantial collection of approximately 170,000 – 200,000 objects representing a range of subject areas.

Natural History

• Vertebrate zoology – mounted bird, mammal, reptile and fish specimens. Spirit collections feature the Linnaeus Greening collection of reptiles, amphibians and snakes. Bird eggs and nests. Mammal and bird skins.
• Invertebrate zoology – mounted and dried arthropod specimens. Linnaeus Greening collection of British and foreign arachnids in spirit. Collection of conchology (mollusc shells) incorporating Col J A Edelsten collection.
• Geology and palaeontology – varied collection including the T G Rylands mineral collection and the G A Dunlop collection of fossil footprints on Triassic slabs
• Botany – varied collection of mostly local specimens including the William Wilson herbaria of British plants and mosses

Archaeology

• Stone Age and Bronze Age material from the old counties of Lancashire and Cheshire
• Roman collections, especially from the Wilderspool site and Thomas May reference collections
• Medieval collections from Warrington Friary and Bewsey Old Hall
• Armstrong collection of prehistoric stone tools
• Seaton-Carr collection of prehistoric stone tools
• Material from other excavations in Warrington centre and districts
• Archaeological excavation archive material (photographs, plans, reports)

Ethnology

• Objects from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Australasia and the Americas
• Ancient Egyptian material
• A small amount of European material

Social and Industrial history

• Costume collection, mainly 19th and 20th century
• Textiles i.e. samplers
• Material relating to local industries i.e. wire, glass manufacture
• Domestic, work and leisure related material
• Some military material
• Oral history recordings and documentation

Photography

• Local photographs often by local photographers e.g. Thomas Davies and Thomas Birtles

Fine Art

• Watercolours mainly 19th century, mostly by local artists
• Oils mainly 19th century, mostly by local artists
• Prints
• Sculpture, mainly marble statuary by John Warrington Wood

Decorative Art

• Ceramics, including Edelsten Bequest
• Glass, mainly 19th and 20th century locally made tableware
• Clocks including a number of long cased clocks
• Furniture including L J Gibson bequest

Numismatics

• Coins; Roman, British and foreign
• Badges
• Tokens, British Trade Tokens and 17th century Lancashire Trade Tokens
• Medals, including military

Firearms

• Collections comprise mainly pistols and revolvers from Europe and North America
• Some items by Warrington gunsmiths.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2021

Licence: CC BY-NC

Warrington Museum of Freemasonry was founded in 2010 by Vic Charlesworth and Ken Garner with support from the late Ian Boswell who was the Group Chair at the time and who later became an Assistant Provincial Grand Master.

It began as a small cupboard on a stairway with a variety of objects displayed in it. Advice was sort from Michelle Hill of Warrington Museum and Art Gallery and 2 desk types, and one glass cabinet were borrowed from them, this allowed improved display of the objects. Lodges were encouraged to donate items to the museum for display. In 2014 a Constitution was written a board of Trustees formed, and a business plan formulated. The museum had by now moved into a committee room which shortly thereafter became the main area for the Museum.

In January 2016, the Museum obtained charitable status from the Charities Commission. In late 2016 an application was made to the Arts Council for working towards accreditation status, which was granted in 2017. In 2021 we were allowed to extend the Museum further and have acquired further desk type cabinets allowing us to highlight more of our objects.

The Lodges and individual members of Warrington and the wider area continue to support the development of the Museum with the donation or loan of items. Through open days, our website and as part of Culture Warrington and the Museums of Cheshire Group The museum profile has been raised and members of the public are now contributing to the museum by bringing along their objects as donations or loans. In association with the Museum of Freemasonry in Great Queen Street, we now have a collection on Loan from one of the earliest Lodges in existence.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The current collection comprises of approximately

• 1700 masonic jewels (medals)
• 100 items of regalia, from various orders including Craft, Royal Arch and Mark, these are made of a variety of textiles including, leather, silk, and plastic
• Some 75 commemorative items made of ceramic and metal
• 10 noteworthy items of ceramics and glassware
• The Frank Starkey Collection of books regalia, jewels, and archive material
• 20 masonic items, gavels trowels, working tools, charity boxes
• 15 items of commemorative silverware
• 20 items of Masonic memorabilia from overseas
• We have digital images of all our objects, photographs, and some minute books

These items tell the story of the development of Freemasonry, not only in the local area but also nationally and internationally, which are key aims of the museum. We do have a collection of travelling regalia, which is not accessioned.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Arms and Armour Collection

The collections support the general theme of the museum, the history of the Regiment from 1794 to 1957.

Subjects

Weapons; Arms and Armour

Other

Subjects

Fine Art; Costume (uniform/regalia); Coins and Medals; Social History; People (military); Photography; Documents (historic); Archives

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Maritime Collection

This is the major collection in the museum and includes a diverse range of artefacts relating to Watchet and the sea. There are paintings, photographs, at least fourteen models and a set of shipwrights’ tools. The paintings include six pictures by Thomas Chidgey, one dating to before 1860. Among the many maritime objects are a figurehead of Coronella; a barometer salvaged from the schooner Josephine Marie which sank in Watchet harbour; a canvas sea anchor from a World War II airborne lifeboat; a sea chest; an engraved porthole from HMS Fox; the port and starboard navigation lights from Arron Monarch; and a brass casting of a ship. There are also sail making items.

Subjects

Maritime

Social History Collection

The collection includes the town crier’s bell; the trade plate of J Chidgey; the workhouse bell; information about the local paper mill; and photographs, public notices, documents and ephemera.

Subjects

Social History

Transport Collection

There is a plan of the Watchet section of the GWR railway; a painting of a railway engine; and a model of a railway incline.

Subjects

Transport

Archaeology Collection

There are some palaeolithic and Mesolithic implements and Romano-British artefacts.

Subjects

Archaeology

Geology Collection

There is a large fossil ichthyosaurus on loan from Somerset County Museum; a mammoth tooth; and a large fossil ammonite as well as a small number of other fossils.

Subjects

Geology

Numismatics Collection

The collection includes three rare Saxon pennies, a medieval penny and replicas of coins from the Saxon mint.

Subjects

Numismatics

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Science and Industry Collection

The collection includes machinery, equipment and instrumentation relating to the treatment and supply of water in Herefordshire since 1856. The exhibits are maintained in working order wherever possible.

Subjects

Industry and Commerce; Science and Industry; Civil engineering

Archives Collection

The archive includes documents, publications and drawings relating to Herefordshire water supplies since 1856. There is also material documenting the development of water treatment and supply elsewhere in th UK from Medieval times.

Subjects

Documents (historic); Archives

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Local and Social History

The collections date mainly from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries and as well as general everyday wear (including hats, boots, shoes and accessories) have items of industrial clothing, ceremonial, education, war related, social/sporting, welfare and celebrity clothing. The archive collection includes documents (1900-1980’s), plans, maps (1870’s -1930’s) and printed ephemera. Topics include local topography, trades and industries, transport, wartime Watford, social activities, welfare, religion, education, civic matters, commemorative material and local celebrities/famous people. The photographic collection includes both original and copy images of local scenes,people, activities and events in Watford from the late 19th century to the 1960’s. Watford had two principle industries from the late 19th to the mid 20th century – printing and brewing. The collections associated with the printing industry relate especially to the major firms of Odhams and the Sun Engraving Co. They include a number of early letter press machines and equipment, such as the Columbian Press used to print the first edition of the Watford Observer newspaper, and the Rupert Cannon collection of Photo-Gravure equipment, which was a technique developed in Watford. The brewing collections include material relating to the Watford Breweries and their associated pubs, including a good collection of local beer bottles and pub signs. There is a reconstruction of a typical local bar in the gallery made by Benskin’s craftsmen, using material from The Pennant pub, now known as The Flag. Social and Local history is one of the principle collections of the museum. It includes material relating to civic matters, education, local trades and industries, transport, welfare, social activities, wartime, religion and domestic life. Most recently the museum has established a small but growing collection of cultural material reflecting the ethnic make-up of the town’s population. Items of particular note include good local World War II and early 20th century domestic life collections. The museum has a collection of late 19th century to early 20th century medical items from Leavesden Hospital. Elton John’s Watford Football Club inspired stage costume. A good collection of late 19th – early 20th century christening dresses. Items of particular note include a good set of 1870’s Ordnance Survey maps of Watford; a substantial archive of Second World War Civil Defence documents and Watford Palace Theatre programmes; an extensive collection of photographs of Odhams Printworks, Watford, complementing the collection of artefacts and printed material from the same firm.

Fine Art

The nucleus of the collection came from the former Library Collection, and has been added to over the years by gifts, purchases and bequests, including the Burr Bequest of oil paintings, the Blackley Bequest; the Essex Bequest of portraits and the Thompson Bequest of sculpture, which includes some 20th century African pieces. The collection ranges in date from the 17th century to the present and includes works by internationally and nationally renowned artists such as J M W Turner, Sir Jacob Epstein, Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Hubert von Herkomer, Lucy Kemp-Welch and John Wootton. Locally significant artists represented in the collections include Emma Oliver and Louis Burleigh-Bruhl. ;The museum has an excellent and unique collection of paintings relating to Cassiobury House, Watford and to the Earls of Essex and their families who lived there. This includes a recently acquired View of Cassiobury Park by John Wootton, 1748, purchased in New York, and the following portraits: Lady Elizabeth Percy (1636-1717), wife of Arthur Capel, 1st Earl of Essex; Lady Elizabeth Russell (1704-1784) second wife of William, 3rd Earl of Essex, attributed to Andrea Soldi; George Capel Coningsby 5th Earl of Essex (1757-1839) by Sir Thomas Lawrence ; Lady Mary Bentinck (1670-1726), daughter of William Earl of Portland, wife of Algernon 2nd Earl of Essex, by the studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller; Algernon, 2nd Earl of Essex (1670-1710), by H. Brown; Lady Anne Capel (1674-1752), daughter of Arthur, 1st Earl of Essex. Wife of the Earl of Carlisle, by Enoch Seeman; Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex of the 6th Creation (born 1566 and beheaded 1601), from the studio of Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. The museum has a good collection of works by the Bushey artists Sir Hubert von Herkomer and Lucy Kemp-Welch. Works by Herkomer include: ‘Anton the weaver’; ‘Weary’, 1879; ‘Abendbrodt’ 1872; ‘Siegfried Herkomer at six months’ 1875; ‘The naughty boy’ 1888 and ‘The lady in grey’ 1904; an oil sketch ‘Cumberland Fell’ (1912) and a Herkomer print (1895) using his own printing process, the Herkomergravure. Works by Lucy Kemp-Welch include ‘Timber Hauling in the New Forest’

Archaeology

The collection is primarily from locations within the Borough boundary and includes both stray finds and excavated material. The excavated material includes sites excavated by Dr R Jacobi, South West Herts Archaeological Society and the Herts Archaeological Trust. The material dates mainly from the Prehistoric period and the 13th to 19th centuries and includes a good number of sites excavated in the High Street area and a significant Bronze Age hoard from the Holywell area of Watford.

Geology and Natural History

A small collection of local specimens, dating mainly from the Cretaceous period, and including a large ammonite fossil, a belemnite fossil partially replaced with pyrite and several good specimens of Hertfordshire Puddingstone. There is a small number of non-local specimens from

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine Art

The Watts Gallery houses the major part of the studio collection of George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817 – 1904), the Victorian artist and sculptor. This includes an impressive collection of drawings, oil paintings and sculpture, and ranges from his early pieces such as ‘The Wounded Heron’ (his first Royal Academy picture exhibited in 1837) to the self-portrait he was working on when he died. There are also works by his wife and other Victorian artists e.g. Albert Moore’s ‘Jasmine’. Further items including photographs have been acquired.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Agriculture

The principal collection held by the Museum consists of buildings dating from c.1400 to the late 19th century that have been dismantled and transferred to the Museum site. Currently the Museum has re-erected forty-five buildings, and has a further fifteen buildings in store awaiting re-erection. The exhibit buildings include a timber framed farmhouse from Kent, a market hall from Hampshire, a Victorian school, medieval shop, barns, a granary and a tread wheel from the South Downs. There is also a collection of parts of buildings that consist of furnishings such as hinges, latches, doors etc, as well as larger structural elements. The museum also collects material used in the construction and conservation of buildings in order to form a reference collection for the use of people concerned with the care of buildings outside the Museum. Items are also acquired that represent the construction of buildings and the manufacture of building materials. Furnishings and other items will in most cases come from the same region as the main building collection. From time to time items from outside this region will be accepted if they significantly contribute to the usefulness of the collections. Building materials will be collected including historic material, such as samples from buildings, as well as new material. Material used in the conservation of buildings will be collected, together with items related to the manufacture of building products and the building trade e.g. stone masons, plumbers, plasterers and other trades involved in the construction of buildings.

Social History

The rural life collections include agricultural material that is used to support and enhance the main collection of buildings and their interpretation.

Science and Industry

Items relating to trades and industries are collected to support the main buildings collection and include contents of carpenters, plumbers and brickmakers workshops.

Archives

A library of printed books, maps and other published materials relevant to the Museum’s collections will be maintained and catalogued, but will not form part of the Museum’s accessioned collections.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC