Collection: Desborough Heritage Centre

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The existing collections relate to the human history of the town of Desborough with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. The collections include artefacts, photographs, ephemera, documents, oral history and clothing.

  The collections are predominantly local. The centre houses a permanent Boot and Shoe making exhibition reflecting the importance of boot and shoe manufacture in the town and local areas. Also on display, and of significant regional importance, is a corsetry collection relating specifically to Symingtons and the Desborough Independent Co-op (‘Desbeau’).

  Themes:

  The collections cover the social history of the following areas:

  • Trades
  • Schools
  • Churches, Chapels and Sports
  • Pubs and Clubs
  • Festivals and entertainment
  • Temperance movements
  • WW11 and Desborough Airfield and Airmen
  • WW1
  • Civic life
  • Lace-making
  • Cardboard box manufacturing
  • Agriculture
  • Industry (including silk and silk plush manufacture, ironstone, brickworks)
  • Retail including the Desborough Independent Co-op (1863-2006)

  The centre holds some archaeology including:

  • A replica of a 1st Century BC bronze mirror (‘The Desborough Mirror’) the original of which is in the British Museum)
  • A replica of the Anglo Saxon ‘Desborough Necklace’ (the original of which is in the British Museum)
  • Roman material on loan from Rushton

  Key collections include:

  • Aerial photograph collection from 1947-52
  • Funeral Bier (1898)
  • Clem Marlow collection of reconstruction drawings of the streets (17th to 19th century) of the town which were demolished in the l970s.
  • A record of Desborough’s WW1 Soldiers, including albums showing pictures of each soldier with a brief wartime life and date of birth and death.

  The collections relate to the following key individuals:

  • Benjamin Riley (Shoe factory owner)
  • Joseph Cheaney (Shoe factory owner)
  • Larry Gains (Boxer)
  • Ben Ford ( Boxer)
  • Cecil Tailby (farmer and butcher)
  • William Kilborn (Desborough jeweller)

  Geographical area of the current collections:

  Current collections relate to the town of Desborough with Roman material from Rushton.

  Time Period:

  Current collections focus on the 19th and 20th century. The centre also holds some collections relating to the18th century.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2021

  Licence: CC BY-NC