Collection: Sevenoaks Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Sevenoaks Museum came into being in the 1920s as a collection of local history items displayed in the Sevenoaks Public Library which opened in 1905. The Chief Librarian George Bennett with local GP and antiquarian Gordon Ward encouraged donations and gradually built up a local collection. The collection was later moved to a dedicated upstairs room, unlocked on request.  When Ward and Bennett died in the 1960s, the museum was closed and the objects dispersed around Kent museums or put into storage. In the 1980s a new library was built. Museum objects were retrieved and displayed. In 2006 the Kaleidoscope was developed, and the museum store was upgraded. However, display space was reduced at the same time.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Sevenoaks Museum collection is comprised of about 4000 objects, predominantly social history with a connection to Sevenoaks District or nearby areas of West Kent.

  The social history objects are mostly C19th/ early C20th, but over the past decade the museum has improved its collection of post 1945 material by active collecting, for example, objects connected with local retailers, the M25 and the 2012 Olympics.

  There is a small amount of palaeontology and natural history, some local archaeology, and some fine and decorative art objects.

  Important objects/ collections

  • Art:
    • Paintings by John Downton C20th and John William Buxton Knight C18th,
    • magic lantern and hand painted slides by William Knight C18th,
    • collection of early C20th drawings and prints by local artist Vincent New and his printing press.
  • An C18th early William Pett cricket bat (on loan from Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club since the 1980s – ownership to be established).
  • The C18th ‘Amherst’ patchwork quilt made by soldiers
  • Embroidery made by WW2 evacuees
  • C17th leather document case from Wickhurst Manor
  • Collection of early C20th portrait and social history photographs by William H. House.
  • Fossils found in local brick pits:
    • prehistoric elephant molar tooth,
    • Ice Age reindeer antler shed base,
    • two ichthyosaur vertebrae.
  • Archaeology:
    • Bronze Age axe head,
    • Roman gold serpent ring,
    • two silver Medieval annular brooches,
    • an engraved silver clothing tag,
    • floor tiles from the Archbishop’s Palace in Otford.
  • The Hardinge family collection of about 70 decorative arts and textile items connected with the court and civil service (on loan since the 1980s – ownership or return needs to be established).

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC