Collection: Tenby Museum And Art Gallery

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Tenby Museum and Art Gallery is the oldest independent museum in Wales. It was established in 1878 by a group of local collectors to display archaeological, geological, botanical and natural history specimens largely collected from local sites with the aim of providing an educational resource for locals and visitors. Significant collections from the time of its inception included the archaeology collections of Reverend Gilbert Smith, the geological collections of Edward Aurelain Ridsdale and the conchology collections of William Lyons.

  The Museum itself houses three permanent galleries and two temporary exhibition spaces.

  The permanent art gallery features work by local artists and examples of 20th century artists of note with strong Welsh links.

  There are also galleries that explore the prehistory of the area, from the Precambrian times through to the Romano-British period (1st-5th century); The Story of Tenby Gallery that traces the history of the town from the 9th century through to the present day and which also explores Tenby connections with the sea. A temporary exhibition space shows changing displays relating to Tenby and the local area.

  Over the years the museum’s collections have developed to include social history artefacts. These include domestic items from the 17th to the 21st century; militaria (especially relating to the Yeomanry and the two World Wars); maritime; textiles and costume; numismatics and fine art. There is also a considerable archive of documents including the Tenby Borough Council records (from the 15th century to the present day), charters (157 – 1702), ephemera, local newspapers (from 1835 onwards), posters, maps and plans, postcards and photographs.

  The museum’s areas of strength include its archaeology, natural history and fine art collections. The extensive archaeological collections of material cover the Pembrokeshire area from the Palaeolithic to the English Civil War.

  The geological collection includes specimens of Pembrokeshire geology from the Lower Palaeozoic period to the last Ice Age, including a fine collection of Welsh minerals. The Ridsdale geological collection features specimens collected from geological sites from all over the world.

  The natural history collections include taxidermy specimens of mammals and birds found locally; the Lyons and Stubbs conchology collections; lepidoptera and entomological specimens and the Frederick Walker herbarium.

  The Fine Art collection includes works by some of the finest and most important 20th century artists associated with Wales including David Jones, John Piper, John Uzzell Edwards, Kyffin Williams, Denis Curry, Grahame Hurd-Wood, Nina Hamnett, Claudia Williams, Gwilym Prichard and Meirion Jones. There is also a significant collection of paintings by 19th century topographical artist Charles Norris. Specific efforts have been made to collect works by Tenby’s most notable artists Gwen and Augustus John. An important collection of personal memorabilia relating to these two artists was acquired from the family in 2010.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2020

  Licence: CC BY-NC