Collection: The Brickworks Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The core collection can largely be divided into two groups; the original buildings and machinery of the factory (steam engines and brickmaking machines) and all the other objects that have been acquired since the Brickworks was restored in the early 1990s. Early key influences on the collections were the involvement of Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust and a previous museum director.

  The influence of HBPT was to collect more broadly in terms of buildings than simply objects relating to brickmaking. Various architectural objects were collected such as window frames and doors and even a large, oak bell frame. Most of these were never accessioned into the collection but were housed on site.

  Since 2013 with the arrival of the Collections Manager some of these items have been disposed of as they no longer fit with the focus of the museum collections. With agreement from HBPT, objects such as rock samples with no labels and timber with active furniture beetle were discarded. Others were offered to more relevant museums such as a lime kiln truck to Twyford Waterworks. The previous museum director’s personal interests did to some extent influence the HBPT collection. A small number of his objects are still on active loan.

  More recently the collections have been shaped by the Collections Development Policy written in preparation for Accreditation (2017) and the establishment of Bursledon Brickworks Museum Trust. The focus is now on artifacts that reflect the history of bricks and brickmaking, and careful consideration is given to the long-term implications of acquisition. As the museum has begun to gain recognition over the past decade, private individuals and museums have donated collections of bricks and/or archives to TBM. In addition to the accessioned core collection, there are objects that have been obtained to dress the visitor experience during the last 10 years, such as items in the period room displays. These are held as non-accessioned objects.

  More detail about the collection can be found in the Documentation Plan contained within this overarching Collections Management Framework. Two documents in Appendix A give an insight into the major acquisitions and the focus for the collections in the mid-1990s. It is hard to accurately date many of the acquisitions pre-2013 due to lack of documentation. From 2007 until 2013 the museum had an entirely volunteer workforce, with no museum professional in post. This has also had some impact on the development of the collection. Copies of past Acquisition and Disposal policies have also been included in Appendix A.

  Major acquisitions since 2017 include an oil portrait of Robert Ashby, Jane Wight’s collection of objects and archive, a silver 25-years’ service medal, a selection of bricks from Derby Museum, the Stubbs brick collection, a clay head made on site, the Sawtell brick collection and the Pat Ryan collection of objects and archive.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The prime focus of the site is the buildings, original brick making machinery and steam engines. The steam engines, one in its original location and the other taken from the Northern complex prior to demolition, and brickmaking machinery are operated regularly for visitors. The restored brickmaking machine remains in-situ, but the brickmaking machine from the Northern Complex, in unrestored condition, is in a former drying shed.

  The rest of the core collection includes bricks (predominantly from England, from the Roman period through to present day) as well as ais a large collection of wooden brick moulds illustrating a vast range of special shapes employed for creating brick architecture. The museum also holds several examples of brick and tile making technology that represent developments in the industry over the last 200 years (including running-out machines, pug-mills, and cutting-tables). Some of these were acquired as individual items, while others came as a group of objects from a works when closed.

  There is also a significant collection of products from related clay-based industry including tiles, chimney pots, land drains, garden path edging representing both local and national manufacturers. The majority of these were acquired before 2013.

  The museum also holds groups of archival material. These include original and copied photographs, documents including letters and receipts, maps and plans as well as audio-visual recordings.

  This archival material can be grouped into three categories:

  • Items relating to the history of Bursledon Brickworks and its buildings, products and workforce.
  • Items which relate to the wider brick industry in the United Kingdom.
  • Personal archives of brick collectors and researchers. Some of these archives relate to donated collections of bricks included in the museum’s collection.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC