Collection: St Agnes Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Needless dumping and burning of documents and the careless dispersal of a collection of minerals and artefacts once held at a local institution provided impetus to the formation of St. Agnes (Parish) Museum. As a means of stopping further losses and providing a home for unwanted items of local historical significance, the museum first promoted its ideals through temporary exhibitions. The first exhibitions were in 1983 in the Parish Rooms as part of the Victorian Fayre and in 1984 in the Chapel as part of a Wesleyan celebration. The current collections therefore stem from a stream of loans and donations initially for temporary exhibitions but later more formally as part of the first museum in Peterville in 1986. Loans were later either returned or converted to donations as a more structured collection policy was established which led to a number of targeted acquisitions purchased to illustrate specific aspects of local history e.g. the figurehead of the local schooner Lady Agnes which was purchased in 2001. The Museum became fully registered under the Museums and Galleries Commission scheme in 2002.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Museum has collections of specimens, objects, books, documents, photographs, film/video, and pictures, illustrating the character of the parish of St. Agnes under the following categories: Geology, Mineralogy, Natural History, Archaeology, Mining, Maritime History, Life-Saving, Wartime, Religion, Folklore, Local Worthies, Constabulary and General Social History.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC