Collection: Amersham Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Amersham Museum opened to the public in 1991 in part of a restored, Grade Il listed, timberframed hallhouse, built c.1480. The building had been saved by The Amersham Society and a group of volunteers who had fundraised to purchase the building in 1985 and undertake the major repairs required. The focus of the building work was to make the building safe, retain as much as possible of the original structure and remove inappropriate modern fittings so that the building could be appreciated by visitors in close to its original form.

  Collecting for a museum was started by The Amersham Society before 1983, when no building had been identified as a location for the museum. The collection has primarily been focused on items relating to the history of Amersham, particularly the old town. It was amassed by local volunteers and was located in the British Legion Hall. A catalogue of the collection appears to have been commenced in 1983 as some items simply have ‘before I 983’ as the date they were acquired. At first index cards were used to record objects, photographs and documents in the collections. The catalogue on index cards was partially transferred to the Catalist computer catalogue in 1995. In 2006, the Catalist records were upgraded to MODES, and the opportunity was taken to simplify the structure of the catalogue. In 2014 MODES for Windows was upgraded to MODES Complete, allowing higher resolution images of photos and objects in the collection to be added as well as audio files and PDFs.

  The museum’s collection now includes around 3,000 objects (including artworks), around 2,700 documents, around 6,000 photos, over 120 oral history interviews, around 660 publications, and a reference collection.

  In 2017 a capital project was completed, which included the development of two dedicated stores for the collection. The ground floor store contains the social history collection (objects) and the upstairs store contains photographs, documents, maps and book as well as a workstation for cataloguing.

  The ‘A New View’ project (2023/24) increased the collections storage for large objects through the upgrading of an outdoor storage area, and increased the museum’s capacity to display objects from its collections in a new temporary exhibition gallery and timeline display.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The museum’s collection focuses on the history of Amersham and the surrounding area. The locality of Amersham is usually considered to be within circa five miles of Amersham Museum and includes:- Amersham (Old Town), Amersham-on-the-Hill, Chesham Bois, Coleshill, Gore Hill, Holmer Green, Hyde Heath, Little Chalfont, Little Missenden, Mantles Green, Mop End, Penn Street, Shardeloes, Winchmore Hill, and Woodrow High House. We do not collect material that falls within Chesham Museum’s collecting remit.

  The museum collection ranges from Mesolithic and Neolithic flint and stone tools to modern material commemorating Amersham history. The main grouping of objects include:

  • Personal and domestic objects
  • Late 19th to mid 20th century industrial and agricultural tools and products
  • Photographs, primarily dating from the late 19th to mid 20th century
  • 19th & 20th century documents and maps
  • 20th century artworks

  The collection also features items relating to national events as they were commemorated in Amersham and the surrounding area. The collection is catalogued under four headings:

  Amersham Objects Collection

  The Objects Collection comprises around 3,000 objects and artworks with a strong link to the history of Amersham and the immediate locality, that were made or used in the Amersham area; associated with local people, shops or industries or are illustrative of national events (e.g. wartime or Royal events).

  This collection includes a small number of archaeological items found in the local area by field walking, small-scale excavations, or during building work. Any items found during planned archaeological excavations are deposited with the Buckinghamshire County Museum.

  The majority of this collection includes a wide range of personal, domestic and decorative items from the 19th and 20th centuries; tools and products of local craft industries such as straw plait, lace making, chair making, blacksmithing and agriculture; memorabilia from Weller’s brewery and manufacturing industries including World War II barrage balloon manufacture, Brazil’s meat processing and Goya toiletries; and items linked to local organisations, the civic and religious history of Amersham.

  There are two taxidermy items in the social history collection, a cockatoo and a Glis glis (both specimens have links to local history). There is also a Glis glis skeleton found during building work and a small number of fossils found locally. It is not the intention of the museum to acquire further biological specimens for the collection.

  Amersham Document Collection

  This collection of printed and manuscript material on paper or parchment includes around 2,700 original documents, letters, newspapers, maps, architectural drawings, magazines, minute books and ledgers that directly relate to people and property in Amersham and the immediate locality.

  When appropriate, items are offered/transferred to the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury.

  Amersham Photograph Collection

  This collection of photographs relates specifically to Amersham and the surrounding villages. Although predominantly printed photographs, a growing number of items in this collection are digital scans of original prints that are retained by their owners, and modern digital images taken by local residents. There nearly 6,000 images in the collection.

  A special group within this collection are the original glass plate negatives taken by local photographer George Ward.

  Oral History Collection

  The oral history collection of numbers over 120 interviews with local people, with the oldest dating back to the 1970s. Most of the interviews have written summaries and some have full transcripts.

  Book Collection

  The collection of accessioned books are key local reference materials and/or were written for and by local residents.

  Reference Collections

  The following collections held by the museum are used for reference and are not listed in the Accessions register.

  • Reference collection of photocopies or digital scans of documents, maps, newspaper cuttings and articles from magazines etc. relating to Amersham.
  • Book collection of reference books and journals on open access in the museum office for use by researchers and volunteers.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC