Collection: Lowestoft Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Lowestoft Archaeological and Local History Society Museum was formed in 1966. Field walking began two years later and the results were so productive that it was decided to open a museum to house the finds. This was opened in 1972 at the old Laundry Premises in the Prairie. Loans and gifts to the museum included cobbler’s tools, pottery, items trawled from the North Sea and a picture postcard collection from Jack Rose. The Society and Museum were registered as a Charitable Trust in 1974.

  The museum was relocated to Broad House in 1985 and was opened by the Queen. A fine collection of Lowestoft porcelain and paintings belonging to the old Borough of Lowestoft was now able to be displayed and in recent years a large private collection of Lowestoft Porcelain was gifted to the museum. In 1990 the Museum was granted Registration status and Accreditation status in 2009. Over the years the collection has grown by occasional purchases, donations and loans. Purchases include an Anglo Saxon brooch and gold pendant and a Romano British gold ring. In 2022 the museum benefitted from grants awarded by the Beecroft Foundation and the V&A to purchase a unique pair of Lowestoft Porcelain standing pugs. Donations include a fine collection of model house boxes from the Fincham Estate. Loans include items from the Natural History Museum following the discovery of the flint flakes at Pakefield that set the early history of man back by 200,000 years, and a display of Anglo Saxon items from Carlton Colville from the Suffolk Archaeological Unit. The highlight for the Museum was a figurine from the site loaned by the British Museum in 2015 and subsquent loan (2022) of Somerleyton Hoard from the BM.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Our collection area includes Lowestoft and the area immediately around it within 10 miles. We also collect some items in order to set our collections in a broader context but the number of items in this category is intended to remain small.

  Our collection period covers the whole span of time, from prehistoric fossils to recent history.

  Our themes for collecting are determined by how Lowestoft and its immediate area has developed and includes :

  • Lowestoft Porcelain;
  • Geology of the area;
  • Archaeological finds from the area including early man discovered at Pakefield;
  • Local trade and industry;
  • Domestic history;
  • Local history and costume;
  • Fine arts;
  • Paintings, porcelain and civic regalia on long-term loan from Lowestoft Town Council (formerly Waveney District Council).

  Our collection of Lowestoft Porcelain is particularly noteworthy. Alongside collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and Norwich Castle Museum, it is the most comprehensive in the country, with both moulds and examples of all types of wares and decorations. We have one large room dedicated to the Porcelain and ensure it is always well displayed.

  The local archaeology displays, mainly found by amateurs, are very comprehensive and add much extra information on early life in the area.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC