Collection: The Beacon Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Social History Collection

  This is one of the largest groups of material held by the museum and comprises a range of items related to the community, domestic and social life of the people of Copeland.

  Subjects

  Social History

  Archaeology Collection

  St Bees shroud c.1300, the d’Irton tomb slab, a series of quern stones and a glass bottle from Hardknott Roman are the most significant items in this small collection of local material which also includes some bulk archaeology and two recent excavation archives.

  Subjects

  Archaeology

  Fine Art Collection

  The collection of paintings, watercolours and drawings all have local associations, either because they are produced by local artists or depict local views and personalities. Significant groups are the Copeland Collection (mainly paintings) and a good collection of maritime paintings by nationally known artists including Robert Salmon. There are also oil paintings by Mathias Read and a small collection of engravings, etchings and lithographs of local places and people.

  Subjects

  Fine Art; Decorative and Applied Art Collection; The museum holds a large collection of Whitehaven pottery of the 19th century and other souvenir ware associated with the area. An important item is the ‘slave trade’ enamelled glass goblet made by William Beilby c.1763.

  Subjects

  Decorative and Applied Arts

  Medals Collection

  Military medals.

  Subjects

  Medals

  Numismatics Collection

  Some coins and local tokens.

  Subjects

  Numismatics

  Arms and Armour Collection

  Items include firearms, swords and gas masks and other items associated with the general military and wartime history of the area.

  Subjects

  Arms and Armour

  Biology Collection

  A small collection of birds and mammals, herbarium and birds’ eggs (the latter unprovenanced).

  Subjects

  Biology

  Costume and Textile Collection

  A large collection of costume with aims to acquire more items of local provenance.

  Subjects

  Costume and Textile

  Geology Collection

  A large geology collection including local examples of rocks, minerals and fossils.

  Subjects

  Geology

  Maritime Collection

  Maritime history collections include models, navigational instruments, photographs, documents and charts.

  Subjects

  Maritime

  Science and Industry Collection

  Industries covered include coal and iron mining (including objects such as lamps, tokens, instruments, photographs, documents and plans), the chemical industry and the nuclear industry.

  Subjects

  Science and Industry

  Photographic Collection

  The museum has amassed over 5000 local images (B/W negatives) through active collecting and copying of original material and in addition has a collection of 3550 photographic prints, postcards, glass negatives and magic lantern slides.

  Subjects

  Photography

  Archives Collection

  Archival material includes maps and a library of over 2000 books mainly relating to collection themes and local history. There are also bound copies of local newspapers.

  Subjects

  Archives

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC