Collection: Museum of the Order of St John

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  For a detailed history of the collections up to 1945 see H.W. Fincham, Notes on the History of the Library and the Museum of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem at St John’s Gate Clerkenwell (London: 1945).

  The history of the collections may go as far back as 1838, when the beginnings of a Library made up of gifts of books from Order members was kept on behalf of the Order. In around 1875, the remit of the Library expanded beyond books to incorporate other objects and documents of interest.

  Colonel Holbeche started the first Accessions Book in 1912.

  Items from the collection were first displayed in 1915 in two table cases. In 1923 the ground floor room of the West Tower became the first Museum Room and in 1935 a second room – the west tower basement – was opened to visitors by appointment.

  In 1978 the Museum commenced regular opening for visitors, not only by appointment, in the current galleries at St John’s Gate. In 2010 the galleries (including the new Priory Gallery) reopened having undergone refurbishment and redisplay, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other donors.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  As of May 2023, the Museum’s Collections Management System has 43,771 object records in the accessioned collection. These objects date from the first century to the present day and originate from around the world, from Jerusalem to Clerkenwell.

  The main object types in the Museum collection are: Architects’ Drawings, Armour, Artworks, Decorative Arts, Ceremonial, Coins, Transport, Medical and First Aid Equipment, Ecclesiastical, Fundraising Objects, Furniture, Manuscripts, Maps, Medals, Models, Plaques, Printing Blocks, Seals, Souvenirs, Archaeology, Training Equipment, Trophies and Uniform. Certificates, Film and Photographic Material, and Books may currently be found in both the Museum and Archive and/or Library collections.

  Within the collection, the Crusader coin collection, manuscripts and munition-type armour are deemed to be particularly significant. The social history collection is diverse and relevant to both internal and external audiences, and holds the greatest potential for the delivery of the Museum’s statement of purpose.

  Much of the known collection remains relevant but an on-going inventory project may reveal currently undocumented objects that are irrelevant.

  The Museum’s key themes, which form the core collection and relate directly to the Museum’s statement of purpose, are:

  • The Knights Hospitaller (1099 – 1798) in: The Holy Land 1099 – 1291, Cyprus and Rhodes 1291 – 1522/23, Malta 1530 – 1798. Particular emphasis is placed on the activities of the English branch (or langue) of the Knights and the activities of its members.
  • The history of the Priory of Clerkenwell and the post-Reformation history of its buildings (1140s – present)
  • The history of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, with an emphasis on the Priory of England and the Islands (following the 1999 establishment of this Priory and St John International as a distinct office of the Order) (1820s – present)
  • The history of St John Ambulance in England (originally the St John Ambulance Association and the St John Ambulance Brigade until they merged in 1968) (1870s – present)

  Related themes, which may be relevant and form complementary additions to the collection, are:

  • The history of the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group (1882 – present)
  • St John International and the overseas Priories, Commanderies and Associations
  • The history of the Alliance Orders of St John, including the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
  • The history of the military religious orders in Europe and elsewhere, including the Knights Templar (1118 – 1312), much of whose property was gifted to the Knights Hospitaller following their suppression
  • The history of the Crusades and the Latin East

  Objects falling within these related themes may serve the Museum’s statement of purpose if their context is related explicitly to the Order of St John or St John Ambulance.

  In addition to the accessioned collection, the Museum has two additional inventoried collections:

  • The Regular Use Collection (RU) is formed of items of furniture and ceremonial equipment that remain in use but are of historic and on-going significance to St John. Use at St John’s Gate and the Priory Church, and in Order ceremony is often integral to the significance of these objects. Unique identifying numbers and an inventory meet the need to record properly and account for these objects.
  • The Handling Collection (HC) is used as part of the Museum’s education and outreach programme, and through regular use and handling will likely ultimately deteriorate and be disposed of.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC