Collection: Torquay Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  From the foundation of Torquay Museum by the Torquay Natural History Society in 1844 until the 1920’s, the Museum maintained a policy of acquiring material illustrating the geology, natural history, archaeology, and social history of Devon and in particular specialised in material excavated from local caves which received international attention. From the 1920’s the Museum increasingly acquired material from outside Devon and outside Britain, especially in the fields of natural history, ethnography and archaeology. This period has seen spectacular growth in the more local collections of Devon Folk Life and Pictorial Records (mainly local photographs, prints etc.).

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Designated Collection

  The Designated Quaternary Collection and Archive is comprised of over 30,000 specimens and an associated archive (notably the John MacEnery and William Pengelly manuscripts of the 19th century). Torquay Museum and Torquay Natural History Society have been intimately associated with collecting, documenting and preserving prehistoric remains from the caves of South Devon ever since 1845, something which is actively continued to this day.

  Devon archaeology

  As well as the designated material the museum also holds a broader collection of archaeology from Devon. This includes material from a number of open sites excavated in the 20th century, notably Milber Down, Dainton, and Stoke Gabriel and many miscellaneous small finds from the Dartmoor and South Devon area. In recent years the museum has also acquired finds from a newly discovered Roman site at Ipplepen.

  British archaeology

  The collections of non-Devon British archaeology comprise mainly prehistoric stone artefacts and a miscellany of small finds.

  Foreign archaeology

  There are modest sized collections of Egyptian, Roman, Cypriot and Etruscan archaeology and other miscellaneous objects from the Mediterranean area.

  Ethnography

  The Museum has an ethnographic collection of about 2,800 objects, half of which were amassed by one man, Dr Charles Paget-Blake. The collections are particularly rich in Chinese and Oceanic material. The ‘Explorers’ gallery draws heavily upon many of these artefacts.

  Social history

  The Museum has extensive collections which tend to fall into two divisions – the Devon Folk Collections and a miscellany of everyday social history objects ranging from the Victorian to World War II period. The Devon Folk Collection is extremely rich in domestic objects from Devon farmhouses, mainly of 17th – 19th century date. It is regarded as being of both regional and national importance. The remaining social history collection comprises of a miscellany of costume, costume accessories, numismatics, domestic objects, etc., broadly illustrative of everyday life from the Victorian period to WW II. These items have no special association with Torbay.

  Local history

  The Museum has large collections of photographs, prints, watercolours, drawings and ephemera relating to Torbay and the neighbourhood, which form the best source available for local history study of the area. There is also a particularly good photographic archive of Dartmoor dating to the beginning of the 20th century. The collections also contain many examples of pottery from the local Torquay potteries and other local products such as objects made from local ‘marble’. Apart from these ‘applied art’ objects the collections are rather poor in 3-D local history objects.

  Ceramics

  Apart from the extensive collection of material from the Torquay potteries mentioned above, the Museum has a modest collection of English, continental and oriental ceramics of some note. The collection includes a particularly fine number of Staffordshire dogs associated with the Devon Folk Collection.

  Geology

  The geology holdings comprise very large collections of Devon palaeontology (mainly Devonian fossils and Pleistocene mammal fossils(?)), modest collections of mainly Devon rocks and a modest worldwide collection of minerals. The palaeontology collections are of international, regional and national importance. The remainder of the geology collections are of regional importance.

  Zoology

  There are large British and foreign collections of entomology (mainly Lepidoptera) and conchology and smaller collections of vertebrates (especially birds) and marine invertebrates. There also exists a modest sized collection of zoological microscopial slides.

  Botany

  The Museum has a large herbarium, rich in British and foreign material, with some particularly important local collections (e.g. marine algae).

  Archives

  The Museum has collections of letters, manuscripts, albums and personalia associated with prominent figures associated with the history of the Museum and Society (e.g. William Pengelly).

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC