Collection: Staffordshire County Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The County Museum collection and County Museum were established at the Quarterly Council Meeting of Staffordshire County Council, held on 28th November 1964, under the enabling powers established by the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

  The Staffordshire County Museum collection was established by the County Council at the Shugborough Estate in 1964, and the Museum opened in April 1966. (Some objects in the collection pre-date 1964:these include items collected by the County Council’s Planning Department between 1959 and 1963). During the 1970s, as a result of local government reorganisation, the Museum’s archaeological and natural history collections were transferred to Stoke-on-Trent City Museum and Art Gallery. The industrial collections were also transferred or loaned to other museums. The remaining collections have since been focused, through the County Museum and Shugborough Park Farm, on the interpretation of the County’s social, local and agricultural history.

  In October 1996, following the reorganisation of the County Council, the County Arts Service and Staffordshire Museum Service were combined to form the Staffordshire Arts and Museum Service. Responsibility for the care and management of the County art collection was then transferred to the Arts and Museum Service. A further restructure in 2011 saw the Museum Service form part of Archives Heritage, while the Arts Service is now part of Libraries Arts. However, the Museum Service has retained responsibility for the art collection.

  In November 2016 the County Council relinquished its lease on the Shugborough Estate and management was taken over by the landowners, the National Trust. The County Museum closed at this point, although the Servants’ Quarters element of the Museum and the displays at Shugborough Park Farm have continued to be open to the public. County Museum collections in these areas are on medium-term loan to the National Trust.

  As of December 2018, the County Museum Service offices and reserve collections are based at collection stores in Stafford. The new base for the County Museum’s exhibitions and displays will be the Staffordshire History Centre, being developed at the current Staffordshire Record Office site, Eastgate Street, Stafford.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The size of the collection at present is estimated at approximately 29,000 objects and 48,000 photographs. Although collecting continues (around 100 to 150 items per annum) the Museum Service’s continuous rationalisation programme means that the collection is no longer growing.

  The museum collection covers a wide range of subjects within the fields of Staffordshire’s social and agricultural history, and, to a lesser extent, crafts and industry. These include: customs and beliefs, agriculture and forestry, public services, retail distribution, education, craft industries, communications and currency, childhood, warfare and defence, hobbies, crafts and pastimes, costume and accessories, health and infant raising, transport.

  The art collection falls into two distinct categories:

  Fine art. The fine art collections consist of the following categories:

  • Works in any medium by artists associated with Staffordshire.
  • Works in any medium of subjects located in Staffordshire or strongly associated with the County.
  • Contemporary work by significant artists who have exhibited in the County.
  • Designs and related information concerning the County Council’s Public Art commissions.

  Decorative art. The decorative art collections consist of the following categories:

  • Contemporary crafts by makers living and working within the United Kingdom with particular emphasis on jewellery, automata, textiles and toys.
  • Items which represent achievement in technique and innovation in craft skills and in the use of materials.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC