Collection: Carisbrooke Castle Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum was founded in 1898 by Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, who was Governor of the Isle of Wight. It was created as a memorial to her husband Prince Henry of Battenberg who had died in 1896. Prince Henry had been the previous Governor of the Isle of Wight.

  The early museum was placed in the room above the Gatehouse at Carisbrooke Castle and its scope was Isle of Wight history with its core collection a group of objects from the Stuart period. These objects were specifically connected with King Charles 1 and his children, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Henry.  All three were imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle during the Civil War period and Princess Elizabeth died at the Castle. Several significant objects were donated by Princess Beatrice and her mother Queen Victoria.

  The collection was augmented in 1911 by part of the local history collection of the closed Newport Museum, which had been founded in 1852. This included local archaeology. From that time Carisbrooke Castle museum illustrated the Island’s past from prehistory to the 19^th century with collections of archaeology, fine and decorative art and social history. Princess Beatrice continued to influence the collecting policy and she and other members of the Royal Family presented gifts to the early museum. Princess Beatrice died in 1944.

  The local, social history collections continued to grow under the care of the early Curators Frank Morey and his sister Kathleen Morey. By 1950 the museum had outgrown its accommodation and so King George VI gave permission for the museum to move within the Castle from the gatehouse to its present location in the former Governor’s house. In 1974 the Isle of Wight County Council set up a museum service and also began to collect similar items relating to local island history, including archaeology.

  In 1981 the County Council agreed to take responsibility for the field archaeology and all the pre- Norman objects in the collection. The significant collection of Island archaeological material dating from the Palaeolithic to the Anglo-Saxon times was transferred to the Isle of Wight County Council Museums service on long term loan, where it has remained.  At that time a narrower field of collecting was negotiated alongside the Council’s Heritage Service.

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum agreed to collect post- medieval domestic artefacts and paintings from 1500 onwards. The Museum also agreed not to collect industrial archaeology, maritime material and fine art unrelated to Carisbrooke Castle.

  Since this date further revisions have been made to our collecting remit in conversation with the Council and in reference to other local collections, these are reflected by the policy outlined below

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2021

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The collections consist of approximately 35,000 items held at Carisbrooke Castle Museum and a further 30,000 archaeological artefacts on long-term loan to Isle of Wight Council.

  The collections include applied art, fine art, photography, social history, science and technology, archaeology, and archives and cover subject areas such as military, maritime and childhood. They cover a timespan from prehistory to the present day.

  Significant groups of material in the collection are:

  Applied Art

  The museum has strong applied art collections covering costume and textiles, ceramics (handcrafted and souvenir ware), silver and metalwork, furniture, glass, decorative boxes, jewellery and other applied arts including a good collection of sand pictures, perhaps unique to the Isle of Wight. Collections have strong connections to Isle of Wight businesses and organisations, themes of royalty, and ecclesiastical institutions (although large number of loans in this category).

  Fine Art

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum has an excellent collection of topographical views of the Isle of Wight mainly dating from the late-eighteenth, nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Other subjects include royalty particularly relating to King Charles I and Princess Beatrice. Collections include paintings, prints and drawings and works in other media, and artists represented in the collection include: JMW Turner, John Nixon, William Buck, Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, Charles West Cope, Arthur Stockdale Cope, George Brannon, Fanny Minns and Ellen Cantelo.

  Photography

  One of the greatest strengths of the collection are the negatives and lantern slides from the Milne collection. Another significant group is the photographs of local shipwrecks which are of variable quality as photographs, but of clear relevant to the Isle of Wight. Some of the photographs of the castle itself and of various pageants were also of interest and a few other individual works stand out: the two portraits of Tennyson by Julia Margaret Cameron and a photograph called ‘Grief’ by the Swedish-born British photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander.

  Social History

  The museum at Carisbrooke Castle was set up as a museum of local history and its collections of social history include objects relating to the domestic and working life of the people of the Isle of Wight. For a small independent museum, the social history collections are exceptionally good. The collections overwhelmingly date from the late-eighteenth, nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries with very little contemporary collecting.

  Arms, Armour and Militaria

  The collections are strong in military related items covering a range of collections types including arms and armour, medals, uniforms, silver and metalwork, social history and archives. The army, navy and air force are all represented. Particular strengths are collections relating to the Isle of Wight Rifles and items with royal connections.

  Science and medicine

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum has groups of material relating to science and technology, the most important material that the museum holds are the objects and archive relating to seismologist John Milne.

  Archaeology

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum has archaeology from Europe, Western Asiatic and North Africa including archaeology of the Isle of Wight, Mesopotamia and Egypt. The majority of the archaeology collection consists of approximately 30,000 items on long-term loan to Isle of Wight Council and with a smaller collection of archaeology held at Carisbrooke Castle Museum. Generally, archaeology held by the Isle of Wight Council covers Palaeolithic to Medieval periods, whereas the majority of finds at Carisbrooke Castle Museum are post-medieval British and some finds said to be from Europe, Asia and North Africa several of which connect to the museum’s development and history.

  Coins and Medals

  The numismatic collection at Carisbrooke Castle Museum contains something approaching 2,000 items and, in many respects, is quite typical of the collections held by museums up and down the country. It includes British and foreign coins, trade tokens, jetons, banknotes, commemorative medals, campaign medals and gallantry awards, orders and decorations, and what can conveniently be grouped as ‘paranumismatic’ items (i.e. miscellaneous tickets, checks, passes, etc.). Again typically, much of this material has a strong local bias, but there are also a number of individual pieces or groups of much greater significance.

  Archives

  Carisbrooke Castle Museum holds paper archives including documents, manuscripts and correspondence from Medieval period to the twentieth century. One of the earliest documents is a charter of Nicholas the Sumpter dated 1266. There are also documents relating to local businesses, events, personal correspondence, programmes, certificates and other ephemera. Themes include military, royalty, maritime and tourism.

  Other significant collection areas by theme

  • Personal objects given as gifts to the museum by members of the Royal family including Queen Victoria, Princess Beatrice, Prince Henry of Battenberg, King George V and Queen Mary and Lord Louis Mountbatten.
  • Stuart and civil war material connected with King Charles I and his imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle.
  • Objects commemorating the life and death of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Charles I, who was also imprisoned at the castle.

  Closed Collections

  These are collections of material which have been identified as of significance and with potential for display or educational use but which do not relate to the museum’s current collecting policy. They will continue to be held in a closed collection (to which there shall be no further acquisitions).

  These collections are:

  • A collection of objects associated with the history of lighting
  • A collection of toys, games and items related to childhood
  • A collection of early printed Bibles and other early printed books with no IW connection
  • A collection of historic costume with no specific Isle of Wight provenance or story

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date:

  Licence: CC BY-NC