Collection: Vale and Downland Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The embryo of the museum first appeared in 1968 when local historian Kathleen Philip, rescued the 18th century ‘Minutes of the Governors of the Town Lands’ from being used as a door stop and presented them to the town for safe keeping. She inspired enthusiasm and support for the town’s heritage and an appeal for objects was launched. The collection grew through donations of items. And as it grew, a fixed and permanent home was sought for it. To collect objects and devote money for this purpose, the Urban District Council had to become a Museum Authority. A Museum sub-committee was created with Mary Whipple as its chairwoman. She remained an active member of the Management Committee until her death in 1992. For some years the collection was displayed in the Urban District Council Offices. In the mid 1960s it was, at times, in the Victoria Cross Gallery. When the UDC proposed building the Civic Hall, a room on the ground floor was designed for the museum.

  When local government was re-organised in 1974, the Museum joined the Oxfordshire Museum Service area. Their Director, Nancy Hood, secured the part-time permanent employed post of Curator for Wantage Museum. The uncertainty surrounding the re-organisation of boundaries at the time led the Museum Committee to wish for a measure of independence. The Vale & Downland Museum Trust was established in 1972, with Don Alexander as Chairman. Dr Dick Squires was a member of the Trust and introduced the idea of using the Old Surgery in Church Street as a permanent site for the Museum. There followed a long period of fundraising, negotiation, and physical hard work. The New District Council was persuaded to purchase the building and lease it to the new Museum Trust, and the Carnegie Trust gave £10,000 towards the cost of the displays. The Museum was transferred to its present site in Church Street in July 1975. In 1983 the Vale & Downland Museum was opened by Her Grace the Duchess of Devonshire.

  In 1999 The Museum was awarded a £300,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a £500,000 refurbishment. The extension work refurbished the existing galleries with innovative approaches including hands on activities, multimedia displays and a children’s discovery gallery. Improvements were made to visitor facilities for those with disabilities and additional needs.

  In 2012 the museum was obliged to vacate Legges Cottage that had housed the Café kitchen and office/storage facilities, when the leasing arrangement came to an end. An extension to replace these facilities was constructed at a cost of £500,000.

  Also in 1975, a service agreement was made between Wantage Town Council, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and the Vale & Downland Museum Trust. The ‘founding collection’ (Wantage Town Council Collection) of objects were now accessioned under the number 1975.160. An agreement was made that future objects with a Wantage provenance would belong to Wantage Town Council. OCC collections would be made available to the Vale & Downland Museum and the OCC would be responsible for the collecting policy, caring for collections, providing a curator, conservation, storage, exhibitions, security etc.

  Over the next 40 years the details of service agreement between OCC and the VDM Trust became complicated. On 31 December 2014 the VDM separated from the OCC. All items from the founding collection that were being stored at OCC were returned to VDM in 2015. Objects on display at VDM belonging to OCC were transferred to a loan agreement. All conservation services previously supplied by OCC are now outsourced to relevant professionals.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The museum’s accessioned collection comprises of nearly 8000 objects and broadly consists of social history items relating to the people, trades and domestic life of the town of Wantage and the surrounding villages in the Vale. The accessioned collection can be broken down into the following categories:

  General Domestic and Working Life of People in the Vale

  These collections do not make a comprehensive group at any period, although the Victorian period is well represented in the Victorian Kitchen display. Domestic life is generally represented through unrelated items which do not form coherent groups reflecting life in a particular decade or era.

  Crafts, Trades and Industries

  Particular areas which are quite well represented are:

  • Local industries such as Nalder & Nalder and Wantage Engineering Company.
  • Tools from Lloyds wheelwright’s workshop.
  • Arbery’s department store; shop furniture, papers, artefacts from shop.
  • Papers from the Ormond family who lived in Wantage in the late 1800’s.
  • Wantage Fire Brigade, including uniform, photographs and cart.
  • Lord and Lady Wantage.
  • Bottles from local breweries, Clegg’s chemist and milk bottles from local producers. There are also a good collection of medical bottles.

  Agriculture

  The collection includes agricultural tools, crafts and associated objects.

  Textiles

  • A small collection of costume, mostly rural wear, agricultural workers clothes, a Wantage fire brigade uniform, and general accessories – shoes, hats, and shawls. Of note is the collection of dressing up costumes relating to the Lockinge Revels (1885)
  • Dresses from the 19th and 20th Century.
  • A collection of samplers from the Convent Embroidery School.

  Military History

  A growing collection of personal items, photographs and records relating to servicemen who lived in and around Wantage

  Transport

  • Wantage Tramway related objects and documentation, including tickets and timetables.
  • Photographs and documents relating to Wilts and Berks Canal, Wantage wharf, and its recent development.

  Coins

  Romano British coins to coins of the 20th century, trade tokens of the 17th and 19th centuries; military and commemorative medals relating to the people of the Vale.

  Archives

  • 20th Century printed ephemera e.g. guide books, posters, menus etc.
  • Original archive material such as bills and account books from Wantage families and businesses.
  • Reference Library of books

  Photographs

  The museum has a collection of photographs, transparencies and postcards of Wantage and the Vale. The general themes include personalities, places, landscapes, aerial photographs and significant events.

  Archaeology

  The Oxfordshire County Museum Service is the approved repository of all archaeology in the County, however the museum holds a small amount of archaeology that was collected historically.

  • 56 Romano British items including 44 Romano British coins and 2 nearly complete Romano British vessels, one from Barwell, one from Belmont.
  • 19 pottery items 1 Anglo-Saxon fragment, 1 Bronze Age fragment, 2 Iron Age fragments and 10 Romano British fragments.
  • 34 of the items have local provenance, the remaining 50 have no documented provenance and were most likely donated to the collection when it first started.

  Geology

  A small number of geological specimens, mostly fossils from the wider Vale.

  Subsidiary Collections:

  Handling Collection

  The museum holds a collection of approximately 1,500 objects solely for the purpose of handling and education sessions. These are all logged on our Modes database. These are not accessioned and can be disposed of when no longer of use.

  Research and Photograph Archive

  The museum holds a collection of approximately 3,000 non-accessioned items of archive material which are maintained for research and case dressing. In addition to this there is a collection of 600 non accessioned photographs for the same purpose.

  Oral History

  The museum has a small collection of oral history recordings, related to specific projects or exhibitions, for example, World War 2. This material is currently not accessioned but is catalogued.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC