Collection: The Culture Trust Luton

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Luton Museum Service was established in 1927 by Luton Borough Council, led by Thomas Wyatt Bagshawe, the Museum’s first Curator and later Director. Housed in Luton’s Carnegie Library the collection, primarily comprising donations from local benefactors, quickly outgrew its surroundings and in 1931 Luton Museum and Art Gallery was transferred to Wardown House, Wardown Park, Luton. Development of the house took eight years, with a suspension during the Second World War.

  Throughout the 20^th century the Museum Service and collection continued to grow. Collecting covered a breadth of topics relevant to local life and history including archaeology and natural history; art and design; industry and commerce; and the household. Both Thomas Bagshawe and Charles Freeman, who succeeded Bagshawe as Curator in 1936, were impacted by the Scandinavian tradition of folk life museums and sought to replicate this in their approaches to collecting and display.

  One important outcome was the development of collections relating to straw plait and straw and felt hat manufacturing in Bedfordshire, as well as objects representing the industry. This collection continued to grow throughout the 20^th century, with a Museum gallery dedicated to its display. Significant collections from Hannah Freeman, the last straw plaiter in Essex; the Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; lace manufacturing; and material manufacturers based in Wohlen, Switzerland were added, as well as objects and oral histories collected as the trade in Luton declined, and UK theatrical millinery developed.

  Stockwood Park Museum opened in 1986 – later known as Stockwood Craft Museum – and showcased, amongst other galleries, the Bagshawe rural life collection. In 1991 the Mossman Carriage Collection, the largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles in the UK was donated to the Service, adding considerably to displays at Stockwood Museum.

  Since its inception the Museum has been supported by an active Friends committee, whose backing has enabled some of the most significant acquisitions into the collection. This includes the purchase, in 1946, of the unique illuminated Register of the medieval Fraternity of St John the Baptist at Dunstable and, in 2005, the Wenlock Jug. The latter, subject to an export bar before successful purchase by the Museum Service, was also facilitated by substantial support from individuals and funders including the Art Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Headley Trust, the Pilgrim Trust and the Worshipful Company of Founders.

  The Museum Service became one of four “Hub” Museums for the East of England under the “Renaissance” initiative set up in 2002 and funded through the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). This scheme ended in March 2012.

  In March 2008 the Service became part of Luton Cultural Services Trust (LCST) – The Culture Trust, Luton – a registered charity. Both Museums were redeveloped and relaunched in the following decade; Stockwood Discovery Centre reopened in 2008, and Wardown House, Museum and Art Gallery in 2017.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Current collections comprise two strands:

  Significant Collections: Hats and Headwear; and Horse-Drawn Vehicles and Transport.

  Museum Collections: Archaeology and Natural Sciences; Art; Industry and Commerce; Oral History; The Household.

  There are 99,137 objects within the collections, with items and parts bringing the total to over 1.5 million, of mixed media reflective of the various subject matters covered. Textiles, art, large objects, wood and metalwork, and archaeological archives comprise a significant proportion of media encountered. Archival holdings are few, and relating to Significant Collections, as the majority have been transferred to Bedfordshire Archives. Our archaeological archives include information, objects and site assemblages.

  Reflective of its development, the collection is a rich and varied source of local history, for Luton and Bedfordshire. It covers a wide time-period, from pre-history to the present day and, as with many local history collections, its strengths are often reflective of the interests and enthusiasms of previous Curators.

  More recent contemporary collecting, including oral histories and work with the UK theatrical millinery industry, has sought to better-reflect Luton’s communities today. Work on decolonising and participatory curatorial practices has begun and will be expanded and embedded throughout the period of this Policy.

  Our Significant Collections are unique in the UK, and we will be making an application for Designation for the Hats and Headwear collection during this Policy. The collection consists of over 5,500 individual items, including 1,500 pieces of headwear covering 400 years of history, plus two historic city-centre factories within The Culture Trust’s care. It is defined by its comprehensive approach to the trade and supporting industries, relevance to non-elite cultures, and local specificity, broadened to a global perspective in recent years.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC