Hampshire Museums Service collections

Our collections

We have extensive collections on the archaeology, history, art and environment of the county on display in our museums and held in reserve at our stores at our headquarters in Winchester.

Why we collect
One of our fundamental purposes is to acquire and preserve objects as a permanent collection for the general benefit and enjoyment of the people of Hampshire. Many people are extremely generous in offering objects to museums. Here, we explain that we only collect objects for a purpose, where they are kept, and why they are not necessarily displayed all the time.

What do we collect
Caring for and using museum collections properly costs a great deal of time and money. We collect items that tell us something important about the area which they serve. We have a Collecting Policy, which describes what we collect. This is approved by the Committee which oversees the Museums Service. A copy of the Collecting Policy 312kb pdf can be downloaded.

We are scrupulous about observing various legal and ethical concerns about collecting. We try to ensure that the donor or vendor does really own the object and has a right to offer it, and that items have not been obtained wrongly, for example, birds' eggs, stolen artwork, or improperly obtained archaeological objects. The mammals and birds prepared for our displays have died from natural causes, or were road casualties.

Searchable collections

Collections subject disciplines