Collection: Port Sunlight Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Port Sunlight Museum’s collections chiefly focus on the social history of the village and Lever Brothers factory. A collection began in 1999 with the creation of Port Sunlight Village Trust, based around items in an existing heritage centre. Following the opening of a new museum in 2006, more active collecting began, through encouraging donations and occasional purchases. Collecting has broadly followed special exhibitions or projects, resulting in some themes developing, such as the Great War, village societies, and Edwardian domestic items.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2018

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The museum currently has over 2,100 items accessioned into the collection, of which around 80% are photographs, prints and documents, 10% are small social history items such as medals, watches and trophies, 5% are Lever Brothers soaps and packaging and 5% larger objects such as signs, furniture and architectural pieces.

  Port Sunlight Museum holds material which is archival in nature, such as personal documents from families who lived in the village, conveyances relating to the purchase of land on which Port Sunlight was built, and records of work undertaken on the properties in the village. This is used to understand and interpret the story of the village, adds to the significance of objects in the collections and is made available to researchers on request. While archival material is not a priority for active collecting, we will continue to acquire such material when offered for donation provided it meets our approach described.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2018

  Licence: CC BY-NC