Collection: South Somerset Heritage Collection

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The original inspiration of the museum came from Alderman W.R.E. Mitchelmore, Mayor of Yeovil 1918-1921, who was interested in local antiquities and in particular the Roman site at Westland, discovered in 1923.

  Dr C.A. Ralegh Radford’s excavations there in 1927 produced valuable Romano-British archaeological material. An important collection of fire arms was presented by Alderman Henry Stiby, another Mayor (1904-05) and an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Yeovil. The photographic collection includes Henry Stiby’s original glass plate negatives; a 1961 aerial survey of Yeovil and a recent addition of Estate Agent Peall & Co’s A-Z drawers detailing properties sold across the south west of England.

  Other gifts included the Pinney collection of glassware, Bailward Costume Collection and Roman finds from Lufton and Ilchester, excavated under the direction of Mr L.C. Hayward, together with many other gifts, loans and purchases of interest to the local area.

  The Museum collections were housed in the former coach house to Hendford Manor as the Museum of South Somerset. In 2004, Heritage Lottery Fund and South Somerset District Council grants created the Community Heritage Access Centre, (CHAC) an off-site environmentally controlled store on Lufton Depot, near Yeovil. This was to care for the collections in store at the Museum of South Somerset and kept in industrial sites around Yeovil.

  The Museum of South Somerset closed in March 2011. CHAC achieved Accreditation Status in 2014 and is now the main contact for physical artefacts and photographs related to Yeovil and South Somerset.

  The Community Heritage Access Centre (CHAC) was renamed and rebranded as the South Somerset Heritage Collection (SSHC) from July 2021 to August 2022.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Archaeology:

  Material ranges from the Palaeolithic up to the twentieth century. The collection comprises groupings of small finds (i.e. artefacts of metal, bone, glass, stone etc.) along with an amount of pottery and animal and human bone both worked and un-worked. The major strengths of the collection lie in the following excavation archives:

  • Ilchester Mead Roman
  • Lufton Villa Roman
  • Westland Roman Villa

  Costume and Textiles:

  The costume and textile collection consists mainly of:

  • Women’s garments, most of which date from the 18th and 19th centuries (especially wedding dresses)
  • Gloves
  • 19th century infant wear
  • Men’s waistcoats, most of which date from the 18th and 19th centuries

  There are a number of earlier items and a growing collection of 20th century material. A small portion of the collection is made up of male daywear and children’s clothing i.e. waistcoats and christening robes. There is also a large collection of fashion accessories, i.e. fans, scent bottles, jewellery and items used in the production of textiles, i.e. lace bobbins. There is a collection of military uniforms from WWII and some items of ceremonial regalia. There are also two personal costume archives: the Bailward collection of 18th-19th century costume and the Tacchi-Morris collection of 20th century costume.

  The strength of SSHCs costume collection is the Bailward costume collection. This collection includes men’s and woman’s costumes covering periods between 18th century – 19th century, it is especially valuable as a snapshot of body adornment of one particular family and class, over many generations. In 1997 this collection, which had been on loan to the South Somerset Heritage Collection since c1955, was generously donated by the descendants of the Bailward family and original lenders.

  Decorative Arts:

  British ceramics
  The reference collection of ceramics is small, consisting of:

  • Pottery made in South Somerset, particularly Donyatt ware
  • Roman pottery from excavations at Lufton, Ilchester Mead, and Westland sites
  • Post-medieval decorative ceramics in the Pinney Glass collection
  • Some examples of rare Tintagel – B class sherds from excavations at South Cadbury
  • Robertson collection of Yeoviliana.
  • Five riot jugs, unique to Yeovil’s history

  Glass
  Pinney collection of glassware dating to 18^th

  Metalwork – Silver
  The strengths of the existing collection lie in a few commemorative plaques, ewer and a commemorative tray.

  Furniture
  There are only a few pieces of furniture in the collection; most of these pieces have a South Somerset association based on use (i.e. the former mayor’s chair, the bureau designed for the original Borough Museum). There is a significant 18^th century table in the collection.

  Other:

  • Pinney collection of gemstones
  • Marble statue created by Westmacott.
  • Angel Inn panel dating from 1603.
  • Cromwellian clock, one of only six known to exist.

  Fine Arts, Painting, drawing and prints:

  With the exception of a few very fine oil and watercolour paintings, SSHC’s collection is almost exclusively confined to two-dimensional graphic art (i.e. drawings and prints). These mainly comprise illustrations of Somerset scenes and portraits of people associated with South Somerset, together with works by artists connected with the district by birth or residence. Its main strength is as a visual reference collection of places and architecture in South Somerset.

  Of particular note are a group of portraits depicting the members of prominent glover’s families. These include Thomas Dampier and his wife Elizabeth Dampier who was also the daughter of William Bide, another local glover. Portraits of Thomas William Dampier-Bide and Elizabeth Dampier-Bide continue the tradition.

  Documents & Printed Ephemera:

  A small collection of printed ephemera has been acquired since 1928 and has been expanded since 1991 to complement the social history and Education and Outreach collections:

  • Legal documents concerning Yeovil dating back to 14^th century
  • Poor Law Rate Books dating back to 1664.
  • Social history flatwork, such as bills, proclamations and public apologies
  • Maps, archaeological illustrations and certificates
  • Photographs in frames

  Batten collection of maps and documents dating back to 16^th Century.

  Geology:

  • Local Fossils
  • Local Sedimentology

  Photographic:

  The photographic collection – consisting of c.5000 negatives, original prints, lantern slides and glass plates – is an important visual record much used by researchers. Strengths include:

  • Yeovil and district
  • Gloving industry
  • Glass slides, – Victorian & Edwardian (including Stiby collection dating from 1880’s.)
  • 1993 survey of Yeovil
  • Social History
  • Local estate agent collection of A-Z property index cards 1960s to 2000.

  Few of these photographs are of intrinsic significance as artefacts, for example, to the technological development of photography, but are important because of the images they record. To ensure that every care can be taken to prolong the life of the original medium for as long as possible and to ensure the preservation and use of the image, many of the images are copied using modern photographic techniques which produce a negative and paper print and increasingly digital form.

  Social History:

  The main material is connected with the history of the people, work and leisure of South Somerset, including material related to trades and crafts, in particular Petter’s and Westland’s. The collections derive from early efforts to record the ethnography of the district and tend to form typological groups of artefacts such as Friendly Society Brasses, the gloving industry and the development of Petter / Westland as a manufacturing base in the District.

  Whilst recognising the physical limitations of storage, the need to actively collect selected material reflecting the development of the landscape, industry and human life of South Somerset and thereby to maintain the relevance of SSHC’s collections is understood.

  Gloving was one of Yeovil and South Somerset’s main industries up until the early twentieth century. Together with the portraits of prominent glovers, the gloving collections include hand tools, machinery, patterns, archives, photographs and the gloves themselves, which record the heritage of the gloving industry or ‘Great Trade’ as it has been described locally.

  Numismatics:

  The coins and medals date from ancient Greek and China to the 20th century. The particular strengths in the collection are Roman Imperial coins, and Somerset trade tokens, notably the 18th century tokens. The collection also includes bank notes, some local and general medallions and English regal coinage from Saxon times to the present.

  An important collection of medals is the Pearson collection belonging to Charles Pearson, naval commander present at the battle of Trafalgar and his son Sir Charles Knight Pearson veteran of the Crimean and Boer wars, mentioned in despatches eleven times. A sword, painting and naval dirk also make up part of this collection.

  The coin collection has grown up through donations of single coins and collections. There has always been a marked concentration on acquiring specimens with a Somerset provenance; specimens made in, or for specific use in, the district. This includes chance finds, material from excavations and hoards.

  Toys, Dolls and Games:

  The collection contains a small number of dolls, and assorted toys and games from the 18th – 20th centuries.

  Firearms and Weapons:

  One of SSHC’s strengths is its firearms collection, consisting of c.85 weapons collected privately by former mayor and businessman Henry Stiby of Yeovil. The collection was presented in 1926 to the town of Yeovil for inclusion in the Yeovil Borough Museum. This collection is noted for its well-chosen examples illustrating the development of the firing mechanism, and includes journals kept by Henry Stiby describing these mechanisms.

  Medicine Collection

  The medicine collection derives mainly from Newtons Chemist which was in Hendford, Yeovil.  A collection from a chemist in South Petherton is also held and one or two medical items have been donated individually.  Newtons Chemist collection dates from the 19^th century to the early 20^th century.  The South Petherton collection dates from the mid-20^th century.

   

  In all disciplines, the collecting area will be confined to the area of post-1974 South Somerset unless otherwise stated.

  The majority of the collections derive from the area of the post-April 1974 boundaries of the district, but inevitably there are parts of the collections, which derive from other areas.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC