- Wikidata identifier:
- Q113369790
- Also known as:
- Battle Museum
- Instance of:
- museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 1054
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q113369790/
Collection-level records:
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Collection history (Collection development policy)
The museum has its origin in an exhibition of local history by the then newly formed Battle & District Historical Society as part of the town’s Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951. In 1967 a separate charity was set up to run the museum, which was moved to a room in the Battle Memorial Hall. The collection has grown piecemeal and includes items of local relevance loaned by Hastings Museum and objects from local archaeological excavations sponsored by the Historical Society and others. When the lease expired in 2002 the museum was put into temporary storage whilst an HLF grant was sought to move to a new premises. The grant application was successful and the museum re-opened in 2003 in a building on the Almonry site leased by the Trustees from the Town Council.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2017
Licence: CC BY-NC
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Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The museum’s collection from Battle and its environs spans some 125 million years from the early cretaceous to the present day but with some lacunae. This prevents a chronological display and so the objects are displayed thematically. The earliest material is fossilised dinosaur bones and plants. There is then a considerable chronological gap until the late Stone Age represented by stone tools. There is another gap until the Roman period, which is represented by material from the military bathhouse at Beauport Park and from related sites in the surrounding area including Sedlescombe and Bodiam. A few items represent the period of the Norman Conquest, most notably the battle-axe head found on the site of the 1066 battle. The display of this is supplemented by: a replica of the axe, interpretative films and explanatory panels. This significant event in the town’s story is also represented by a diorama featuring model soldiers, a replica of the Alderney “Finale” of the Bayeux Tapestry, and copies of scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry including a complete set of the 1819 Stothard prints of the Tapestry. There are some items relating to the Abbey and the very early town but the main bulk of the collection is from the more recent period (late Georgian onward) Items are displayed in themes such as; domestic, rural life, Gunpowder – a local industry, the 2 World Wars etc. The “reserve” collection covers the same range of periods/topics.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2017
Licence: CC BY-NC