- Wikidata identifier:
- Q102931568
- Also known as:
- Agricultural Museum, Brook
- Instance of:
- agricultural museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 417
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q102931568/
Collection-level records:
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Collection history (Collection development policy)
The collections were started in the 1930s by two scientists working at East Mailing Research Station in Kent. They were stored in a site owned by the Kent County Council during the second world war. Just after the war, when Wye College (University of London) re-opened as the School of Agriculture (it had previously been the South-Eastern Agricultural College) some staff and students of the College agreed with the KCC that the collected items should be moved to Wye College as the beginnings of a Museum of Agriculture in Kent. The collections were spread around buildings on the College farm until the mid-1950s when the College bought an adjacent property and land belonging to the retiring farmer of Court Lodge farm in Brook. The property included a late 14th century Manorial barn, an early 19th century oast house and some adjacent buildings and these became the base for the collections as the Wye College Agricultural Museum. In 1996 Wye College decided to sell the site and the Wye Rural Museum Trust was formed, raised the necessary funds and bought it. The College then donated all the collections to the Trust, which has run the Museum since then.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
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Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The current collections relate to the history of agriculture in Kent, and as far as possible all the items were either made in Kent, used in the county, or both. They cover mainly the period when the main power on the farm was provided by oxen, horses and manual staff, though there are a small number of exceptions – for example a small Ferguson tractor. The bulk of the collections are housed in the barn mentioned above, but the oast house contains many hop-related items and a large collection of hand tools and other small items. A large proportion of the collections is highly accessible and mostly able to be handled, though care is taken in relation to sharp or pointed items.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2023
Licence: CC BY-NC