COLLECTIONS DEVELOPMENT
POLICY
CHELMSFORD MUSEUMS
 Chelmsford Museum
 The Essex Regiment Museum
November 2014
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Name of museums: Chelmsford Museum and the Essex Regiment Museum
Name of governing body: Chelmsford City Council. In the case of the Essex Regiment Museum,
the Governing Body (owners) are the Trustees of the Essex Regiment Museum.
Date on which this policy was approved by governing body: 17 November (The Trustees of
the Essex Regiment Museum); 27 January 2015 (Chelmsford City Council)
The collections development policy will be published and reviewed from time to time, at
least once every five years.
Date at which this policy is due for review: January 2020
Arts Council England will be notified of any changes to the collections development policy,
and the implications of any such changes for the future of collections.
1. Relationship to other relevant policies/plans of the organisation:
1.1. The museum’s statement of purpose is:
We will continue to build an inspirational museums service, focussed on Chelmsford, and worthy
of the City and its district in the 21st century, which stimulates a wide variety of quality visitor and
learning experiences.
We will:
 Collect, document, preserve, exhibit and interpret the human, industrial, artistic and
natural history of the district for the benefit of the local community and its visitors
 Ensure the best curatorial care for the collections, for their storage, display and
interpretation.
 Provide opportunities for different people to learn, and to satisfy their curiosity in a fun
and friendly environment.
 Provide and renew appropriate permanent and temporary exhibitions, events and
activities for our visitors and users
 Strengthen our working relationships with our partners
 Provide excellent customer care for all our visitors
The collections, displays, learning and research opportunities will be recognised, well-known and
well-regarded within the community.
The charitable purpose of the Essex Regiment Museum is to own, enhance, conserve and display
a collection of artefacts and archive material relevant to the Essex Regiment and its successors
in order that current and future generations may fully appreciate the service given by the
Regiment and the sacrifices made by its members.
1.2.
The governing body will ensure that both acquisition and disposal are carried out openly
and with transparency.
1.3.
By definition, the museum has a long-term purpose and holds collections in trust for the
benefit of the public in relation to its stated objectives. The governing body therefore
accepts the principle that sound curatorial reasons must be established before
consideration is given to any acquisition to the collection, or the disposal of any items in
the museum’s collection.
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1.4.
Acquisitions outside the current stated policy will only be made in exceptional
circumstances.
1.5.
The museum recognises its responsibility, when acquiring additions to its collections, to
ensure that care of collections, documentation arrangements and use of collections will
meet the requirements of the Museum Accreditation Standard. This includes using
SPECTRUM primary procedures for collections management (as issued by the
Collections Trust). It will take into account limitations on collecting imposed by such
factors as staffing, storage and care of collection arrangements.
1.6.
The museum will undertake due diligence and make every effort not to acquire, whether
by purchase, gift, bequest or exchange, any object or specimen unless the governing
body or responsible officer is satisfied that the museum can acquire a valid title to the
item in question.
1.7. The museum will not undertake disposal motivated principally by financial reasons.
2. History of the collections
Chelmsford Museum was founded in 1835 as a multi-disciplinary collection (for the benefit of its
members) by the Chelmsford Philosophical Society. A small, but significant, part of the
collection still dates from the Victorian holdings. Like many museums, its subsequent history
saw peaks and troughs, including several changes of venues. A decision was taken in 1890 to
merge with the Essex Field Club (primarily a natural history society) and the museum closed in
1893 pending the proposed funding and erection of new buildings. Collections were put into
storage. After an acrimonious period, the two organisations went their separate ways again and
Chelmsford Museum was taken on by Chelmsford Borough Council. One of the main supporters
at the time was Frederic Chancellor, a Surveyor, Architect and Archaeologist, who became the
Borough’s first Mayor in 1888. A new Library and Museum building, designed by Chancellor,
opened in 1906 (built with Carnegie funding) but space was again limited, and in 1930, the
collection moved to Oaklands House where it remains today.
Other early supporters included John Disney, who later established the Chair of Archaeology at
Cambridge University, and Charles Roach Smith, an eminent London antiquarian.
A Curator was employed from 1854. In 1885, the Assistant Curator, Fred Challis, undertook a
major re-organisation, and his lists survive in the records. From 1930 until the 1940s, the
Honorary Curator was Frederick Harrison (Grandson of the Museum’s founder, Thomas Clarkson
Neale). Harrison donated personal collections, including numismatics. In the post war period,
the Museum came under the auspices of the County Librarian, Eric Reed, and a number of
transfers, disposals, sales and swops were made, including taxidermy to Chester Museum in 1957
and shells to Doncaster Museum in the 1960s.
A major collection of taxidermy (c300 specimens) came to the museum in 1932 following the
death of a local GP and big game hunter, Dr John Salter. Over the years, transfers and
infestation saw the Salter Collection depleted by about 90%. One of the surviving specimens is a
Russian brown bear, which remains one of the Museum’s favourites with the public. Other
natural history collectors include Charles Smoothy (died 1906) and GP Hope (died 1921), both
bird taxidermy, and T Pain (foreign shells).
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A major bequest was that of over 400 Georgian drinking glasses and some Castle Hedingham
pottery, left to the Museum by Frederick WalterTunstill in his will in 1958. This collection has
been described as one of the finest collections of Georgian drinking glasses in the provinces, and
remains on display.
In the 1980s, the Museum’s ethnographic collections (in association with a number of other
Essex museums) were transferred to Saffron Walden Museum.
In 1986, following a review conducted by Hilary Woolley, a Head of Service, Dr Pat Andrews,
was appointed, along with a number of specialist Curators.
Excavation archives are held for Chelmsford (City and District), Brentwood District, and
Billericay Roman Town. Earlier archaeological material was gathered in the Victorian period by
the Chelmsford Philosophical Society, and in the 1950s by the Roman Essex Society and the
Essex Archaeological Society.
Fine art was collected in the 1980s under the auspices of an external art adviser, Richard
Calvocoressi. The Museum subscribed to the Contemporary Art Society , acquiring works by
Maggi Hambling and others. In 1991 and later, a large group of prints and paintings by the
locally born artist, Lynton Lamb, was acquired.
The Numismatic collection includes an important group of 17th century Essex tokens, known as
the Chainey Collection, donated by the Chingford Local History Society.
The Museum’s industrial collections were augmented in the 1980s by the collections of the
Chelmsford Industrial Museum Society, the acquisition of the Marconi Hut from Kings Road
School, and in 2010 by the collection of maritime Marconi equipment of the late Bill Waters.
Essex Regiment Museum (separately Accredited, No 580)
The Essex Regiment Museum was transferred from Warley to Chelmsford in 1973, to a purposebuilt extension, and was opened by HRH Princess Margaret, Deputy Colonel in Chief of the Royal
Anglian Regiment (the Essex Regiment’s successor) on 24th April. A long standing gentleman’s
agreement was set up, whereby the Trustees of the Essex Regiment Museum, which own the
collections, loan them to the Borough Council, who manage and curate them. This was
formalised on 24 March 1999 with a 25 year Management Agreement (reviewed every 5 years).
The Museum was relocated in 2010 in a new purpose-built extension at Chelmsford Museum.
3. An overview of current collections
Below are listed the strengths, displays and reserve collections of the main represented subject
areas.
3.1.
Archaeology
Excavation archives are held for Chelmsford (City and District), Brentwood District, and
Billericay Roman Town. Earlier material was gathered in the Victorian period by the Chelmsford
Philosophical Society, and in the 1950s by the Roman Essex Society and the Essex Archaeological
Society.
The displays at Chelmsford Museum are featured in The Story of Chelmsford exhibition.
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The archaeology store is designated by English Heritage as having ‘approved status’.
The collections include (of local/regional significance):
Prehistoric material culture, Bronze Age hoards
the Roman Town at Moulsham (Caesaromagus), including a hoard of nationally significant jet
jewellery
the Roman religious site at Ivy Chimneys, Witham
the Roman Villas at Chignall St James and Great Holts Farm, Boreham
Late Saxon wooden dug-out canoe
the medieval Motte and Bailey Castle at Pleshey
King John’s Hunting lodge at Writtle
the Dominican Friary at Moulsham
the medieval tile kiln at Danbury
ten medieval rood screen paintings of saints from Latchingdon Church.
post medieval material from the dredgings of the Rivers Can and Chelmer (eg pewter)
local Treasure finds
3.2.
Numismatics
The collections include :
Three hoards of gold Celtic coinage from Great Leighs, Great Waltham, and the parish of Great
Waltham (including two supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund). Nationally significant.
Hoard of 16 late Roman gold solidi from Good Easter, including a coin of Constantine III
Roman and medieval coinage
A comprehensive type series of English coinage from 1760 on display
Good collection of Essex tokens 17th and 18th centuries, including the Chingford Society’s
Chainey Collection, on display (regionally significant)
Paranumismatica
Commemorative medals
Bank notes (British and rest of world)
Rest of world coinage and bank notes (no longer actively collected)
3.3.
The art collection
Fine art from the museum’s collections is displayed on a rotating basis in one gallery and a
corridor display. The decorative arts are displayed in a ceramics and a separate glass room. In
addition, there is an opportunity to show works of art as part of the changing Temporary
Exhibition programme. Some larger works are displayed on the Victorian staircase, and at
Hylands House. Relevant works of art are acquired from auction with grant aid; examples
include 2 oils of Juliana Waltersdorff, wife of an owner of Hylands House, by the Danish master,
Jens Juel.
Important local topography and other pictures are also displayed in the post medieval section in
the Story of Chelmsford exhibition and Bright Sparks, and include ‘the Shire Hall’, by P
Reinagle; and ‘Chelmsford from Springfield Hill’, by J Colkett.
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Strengths of the decorative art collections are: the Tunstill bequest of eighteenth-century
English drinking glasses which includes many rare and unusual pieces from this varied period.
Nationally significant.
The Ceramics collections include Seventeenth and Eighteenth century tinglaze dishes;
nineteenth century Castle-Hedingham ware, the Essex Art Pottery made by Edward Bingham and
his family in North Essex. It is possibly the largest number of this pottery on public display, and
some of the items are exceptionally large too: the 25" (63.5cm) diameter "De Vere" dish of 1901
is heavily ornamented, while a 30" (77.4cm) high vase is decorated with Roman soldiers and
captives. Modern ceramics are represented with substantial bodies of work by Joanna
Constantinidis (1927-2000) and Robert Washington (1913-1997), and ‘the Chelmsford Sissies’ pot
by Grayson Perry. Nationally significant.
The fine art collection shows pictures of the Chelmsford area and wider in Essex, from the
eighteenth to twentieth centuries. It also has interesting work by well-known Essex twentieth
century artists such as Edward Bawden, John Nash, Michael Rothenstein, John Aldridge, showing
their design and illustration work as well as their paintings, and Lynton Lamb, who was better
known as a designer and illustrator than as a painter. Regionally significant.
Contemporary works collected under an earlier collecting policy includes pictures by Maggi
Hambling.
3.4.
Social History and costume
The Museum's social history collection covers many aspects of community, domestic and
personal life both in objects and printed documents, and is primarily of local significance. It
includes a large collection of costume, the earliest item being a 17th century woman’s shoe
found hidden in a building. The bulk of the costume collection dates from the 19th and 20th
centuries. The key item in the collection is a very fine man's metal-thread embroidered woollen
coat from about 1705, which has been known in the past as 'The King's Coat'. A key collection of
costume is one that belonged to Rebecca Shaen of Crix, Hatfield Peverel which includes shoes,
boots and dresses from 1790 through to the 1850s. The Shaen family were friends of novelist
Elizabeth Gaskell and were involved in causes such as Chartism and the establishment of
working mens clubs. There are two 2 embroideries - an 18th century still life by Mrs Mary
Knowles and the early 19th century embroidery showing a balloon over Chelmsford Church.
Another key strength is the medical collection, most of it dating from the 19th century and
including amputation, Clyster, enema and cupping sets. A collection of items which belonged to
militant local suffragette, Grace Chappelow, is small but important - a certificate signed by
Emmeline Pankhurst, a knife and cup from Holloway Prison, a miniature hammer, 2 suffragette
badges and a postcard of Grace holding a suffragette placard. The collection of clocks and
watches includes items sold by Chelmsford watchmakers such as the Hunsdon family, Thomas
Spencer, Joseph Greenhow and William Loveday.
The toy collection is small but includes some significant local items - a block puzzle which was
a present to a child in 1884, an early 20th century game with a stamp for Fred Spalding's
toyshop in Chelmsford, a wax fashion doll owned by a Spalding child and a 19th century rag doll
made and owned in Great Baddow.
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The archive relating to the history of the Museum dates from 1828 to the present day.
Some limited material (including Victorian furniture) acquired for display at Hylands House by
the Friends of Hylands is accessioned and curated by the Museum.
The museum actively collects contemporary material, particularly costume, civic ephemera,
and rapidly changing technology (eg mobile phones, childrens games etc).
3.5 Industrial collections
Collections represent a wide range of Chelmsford's industries including trades and crafts
(including the contents of a local forge), agriculture and agricultural processing, but with a main
emphasis on the three key Chelmsford firms of national and international significance Crompton, Britain's first electrical engineers; Hoffmann, Britain's first specialist manufacturers
of rolling bearings; and Marconi, who opened the world's first radio factory in Chelmsford in
1899. Key items include an early Hoffmann ball lathe, an 1890s Crompton arc lamp, lamp
standard, motor generators and electrical instruments. Marconi collections are a special
feature, and include a coherer receiver made at the Hall Street factory in Chelmsford. Key
examples of the products of the New Street factory and other sites in Chelmsford are a large
self-tuning transmitter, a range of receivers from the 1940s to 1960s, a range of Marconi TV
cameras, domestic receivers and a nationally significant collection of marine radio and radar
equipment. There are substantial collections of product photographs, firm’s publications and
equipment manuals.
The collection also include the wooden army hut which housed radio station 2MT Writtle,
source, in 1922, of Britain's first regular radio programmes, and thus of national significance.
Also of national significance is the comprehensive collection of marine radio equipment from
the 1900s to the 1970s, including a range of Marconi spark transmitters and the Bill Waters
collection.
In 2014, a telescope signed by George Calver, a prominent local manufacturer who lived and
worked in Chelmsford, was acquired from auction.
A new display, Bright Sparks, was opened in the Museum’s new building in January 2010. The
larger reserve items are displayed, in open storage, at Sandford Mill.
3.6.
Natural History
The museum holds extensive and varied natural science collections, both in natural history and
earth sciences. The fossil collections are rich in Jurassic, Cretaceous, Eocene, Pliocene and
Pleistocene material, some of which feature in the Ice Ages section of the Story of Chelmsford
exhibition at Chelmsford Museum. There are smaller but fine rock and mineral collections too,
including locally and regionally significant material.
The museum holds natural history collections of past local people like Hope and Dr Salter, the
latter whose Russian brown bear is a well loved feature of the museum.
The reserve collections include important research collections and other material. These
include beetles, butterflies and moths, bird eggs, large tropical shell collections, many fine
taxidermy cases and scientific study skins.
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In two British wildlife galleries at the museum, there are large numbers of animal (mostly bird)
taxidermy mounts. There are also very fine collections of cased specimens illustrating the work
of many leading taxidermists of their day, like Ward, Spicer, Cooper and Waters, some
nationally significant.
The museum also has a very popular living honeybee observation hive.
From 2010, the Museum no longer employs a specialist natural sciences curator. Whilst the
existing displays and collections continue to be curated, it is not currently possible to provide
the same level of curatorial collections management.
3.7.
The Essex Regiment Museum
Alongside Chelmsford Museum is another separately constituted museum, the Essex Regiment
Museum, brought to Chelmsford in 1973, which tells the story of the County's own Regiment
since 1741. Many fascinating and valuable artefacts are on permanent display in the museum,
including the gilded Salamanca Eagle standard captured from the French 62nd Regiment at the
Battle of Salamanca in 1812, and a Chinese cloisonné and enamelled lidded urn from the
Summer Palace at Peking. Also to be seen are the Victoria Crosses won by Essex Regiment men
in China, the Crimea and South Africa; and the Silver Drums presented by the County of Essex in
Memory of its sons who fell in the Boer War and the Great War.
Another important oil painting is the Last Stand at Gundamuk, painted by William Barnes
Wollen in 1898, depicting the heroic fight of the 44th Regiment of Foot in Afghanistan in 1842.
The Museum was redisplayed in January 2010.
Whilst Chelmsford City Council manages and curates the regimental collections, they are owned
by the Trustees of the Essex Regiment Museum. A 25 year Management Agreement, dated 24
March 1999, sets out the arrangements.
Not all relics are beautiful or valuable, many showing the hardships of army life, such as one of
the earliest gas masks or a pike issued to the Essex Home Guard, the real "Dads Army", to fight
off invading paratroopers.
Thousands of local men have served the Regiment and their uniforms, weapons, equipment,
decorations and other memorabilia are preserved to witness over 250 years of world-wide
service. The museum maintains a database of Regiment personnel, which is updated by a team
of volunteers.
The reserve collections are stored off-site in the museum store at South Woodham Ferrers. Fire
arms, and reserve silver artefacts, are stored in the museum strong room, and include Section 5
weapons, for which the Museum is licensed by the Home Office.
3.8 Essex Yeomanry collections
Essex Yeomanry holdings, representing the mounted arm of the volunteer forces in Essex, fall
into two complementary categories below. A small display is featured in the 2010 building. The
reserve collections are in store.
1. Chelmsford Museum Collection
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Property of Chelmsford City Council. Items of the West Essex Yeomanry Cavalry and its
successors which have been in the collection since the 1930s supplemented by subsequent
collecting to date. Strong in 19th Century uniform and uniform accoutrements. Includes medals,
weapons and musical instruments and some photographic and archival material.
2. The Essex Yeomanry Collection
Property of a Charitable Trust and formally loaned to Chelmsford City Council. Some items of the
West Essex Yeomanry Cavalry but largely of its successors, including contemporary material.
Strong in uniform and uniform accoutrements, photographic and archival material. Some
weapons, including both firearms and edged weapons, musical instruments, badges and insignia.
A particular strength is the personal relics of individual Yeomen, many of whom were from the
former landed or mercantile families of the County. This holding is added to by the Trust from time
to time.
4. Themes and priorities for future collecting
4.1
General Considerations
4.1.1 The phrase ‘Chelmsford Museums’ throughout is used to denote both the Chelmsford
Museum and the Essex Regiment Museum.
4.1.2 Chelmsford Museums should build on existing strengths in the collections rather than
opening up completely new areas of collecting, unless a specific area relevant to the
development of the Service is identified, and approved by Chelmsford City Council.
4.1.3 Objects will have specific relevance to the collecting policy in this document, and for
Chelmsford Museums.
4.1.4 Consideration will be given to the coherence of a collection, and either to the potential
for display, or to the importance of the item for research purposes.
4.1.5 Consideration will be given to the ability of Chelmsford Museums to store and curate
objects properly.
4.1.6 The collections and displays should be based on the district of Chelmsford except where
there are identified existing countywide, regional or national strengths.
4.1.7
There are no restrictions based on periods of time.
4.2
Archaeology and Numismatics
4.2.1
Longstanding local agreements between Essex Museums and Essex County Council
Heritage and Environment staff exist and should be adhered to. The Museums Service
aims to receive all archaeological archives offered to it from excavations within the
Chelmsford and Brentwood districts and conditions are covered by a formal agreement
drawn up with the Essex County Council (22.6.1989). In addition archives from
Billericay are accepted.
4.2.2
Other material which will be collected comprises:
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Stray finds from inside the district offered to the Museum, which are of intrinsic value.
Items of intrinsic value which are considered to enhance the collection and which are
of local interest may be purchased using the Museum Purchase Fund. This should
include Treasure items not required by the British Museum. In all cases, authenticity of
the legal ownership and original collection of the said artefact by the donor must be
proven.
4.2.3
The coin collection is of regional strength. Active collecting should be concentrated on
Celtic and Roman coins from the district, British coins, bank notes and commemorative
medals, paranumismatica, items relating to Chelmsford banks, and Essex tokens.
4.3
Art
4.3.1
The Art Collection should build on its regional strength within which the particular
strengths lie in examples of applied art and design, and contemporary ceramics by
local potters of some renown. Examples which add to this strength should be acquired.
4.3.2
Chelmsford Museums should collect the work of Essex artists or subjects having a
Chelmsford or Mid Essex connection, particularly local topographical works of high
quality, unrestricted by period.
4.4
Social History
4.4.1
In general, collecting in this area should reflect the concept of Chelmsford as a
changed and changing community concentrating on objects. Complete paper archives
are generally seen as being the remit of the Record Office; however, photographs and
printed ephemera are actively collected. There should be no unnecessary duplication
and the restraints of space dictate that furniture and building materials will not
generally be collected. Relevant contemporary collecting, eg of electronic games and
communication devices, is encouraged.
4.4.2
The costume collection is of regional significance and should be built on. A
limited number of contemporary items should be regularly added, subject to resources
and storage space allowing.
4.4.3
Items should normally either have been manufactured in the Chelmsford District, or
have been used within the District, or connected to known Chelmsford People of an
interest to the Museum.
4.5
Science and Industry
4.5.1
Science
Chelmsford’s pioneer technologies were closely related to developments in physical
science and items should be collected representing local scientific activity, eg. George
Calver’s instrument-making and the work of Lord Rayleigh at Terling.
4.5.2
Engineering
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Chelmsford's engineering heritage should be the main focus of collecting. Principal
industries to be collected are - electrical engineering (Crompton, Christy),
telecommunications (Marconi/EEV), and precision engineering (Hoffmann).
However, priority should also be given to collecting material from Chelmsford's
industrial firms which are poorly or un-represented in the collections, eg Christy &
Norris, Clarkson, and Chelmsford founders such as Coleman & Morton and Eddingtons.
4.5.3
Craft industries, agriculture and transport
Select items relating to industries arising from Chelmsford's position as a market town
should be collected. Items should be in good condition and of interesting local
provenance.
Large transport and agricultural items should not be collected unless they are of local
manufacture or have a very strong local context.
4.5.4
Items made by Chelmsford firms should be collected, subject to resources,
significance and public utility, from wherever they appear, inside or outside the
district.
4.5.5.
Guidance note for industrial collections
Assessment of potential acquisitions
(a) Specimens whose place in the local history of industry or science and technology is
such that they require preservation irrespective of any short term public use. Examples
from the present collections would be the Marconi Hut, the Chelmer Lighter `Susan'
(now transferred to a Trust), the Crompton motor/generator, and much of the
Hoffmann collection of bearings and gauges.
The Museums Service should be seen as the natural home for such material, should
actively seek it, and where its future is threatened, collect it. Where this is not
possible owing to storage constraints or lack of resources, it should be directed to
other appropriate Accredited museums.
Where the material has national as well as local significance and there are no plans for
its public use within the Service it should be offered to the National Museum of Science
and Industry.
(b.) Specimens meriting preservation only in the context of forseeable public use;
display, study or other educational purposes. The overall interpretive aim will be to
present a meaningful story of the history and technology of Chelmsford's industries,
and the existing collections are by no means sufficient for this. Pending the
development of policy on provision of an industrial museum the aim should be to make
the best use of available storage to build a useful corpus of industrial collections from
a wide variety of local industries, taking into account their condition, information
content, relation to themes represented by the existing collections, potential for
educational activities, and public appeal as display items.
A main aim should be to redress the balance between collections from industries
related to agriculture, which are relatively numerous, and those related to
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ironfounding, engineering, and the post-1875 `new technologies', which are underrepresented. It may be possible to borrow Crompton and Marconi specimens from
National collections for a future full scale industrial museum development, but for
other purposes - temporary exhibitions, educational activities and so forth - there is no
substitute for collections belonging to the Service.
(c) Documentary material. In general the preservation of industrial archives per se is
for the County Record Office rather than the Museums Service. However, holdings of
photographs and of published material - such as local firm's catalogues, in-house
journals and so on - are of great value for research and display, and such material
should be collected freely.
(d) Ancillary items to be used in the restoration or interpretation of other collections.
Examples might be a duplicate specimen whose condition does not warrant
preservation but whose parts may be useful for restoration, or for interactive exhibit
construction. Such items should only be accepted for well-defined projects, they
should be held on entry documentation only and the source of the object should be
informed in writing that the item is not to be accessioned as part of the museum
collections.
Collecting boundaries
Acquisitions should have direct links with local industries, either by manufacture or
use, or direct relevance to local technologies. The normal area for collecting will be
defined by the district’s boundaries. However, given the special requirements for
industrial storage and the lack of other museums in Essex with suitable facilities
exceptions should be considered from a wider area, particularly with regard to:
(a) Chelmsford-made items. Items made by Chelmsford firms should be collected subject to resources and to the above criteria on significance and public utility - from
wherever they appear.
(b.) Radio equipment, particularly that connected with early public broadcasting, may
be collected for its relation to the `Marconi story'.
(c) Material related to the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal. Logically the Canal should
be taken as a single unit and in view of the Chelmer lighter `Susan' and the position of
the industrial store/resources centre on the Chelmer the Museums Service is the
natural home for collections relating to the Navigation.
4.6
Natural Sciences
4.6.1
The Natural Science collections include both Geology and general Natural History.
Given that since 2010 the museum no longer employs a specialist natural sciences
curator, new collecting will be limited.
4.6.2
A small number of locally, well-provenanced geological specimens and fossils are
occasionally taken into the collection, which is of countywide significance.
4.6.3
Very occasionally whole collections are offered for donation. Where these might fill a
specific gap in the existing collections (eg birds, regional geology, local wildlife and
tropical shells) such offers should be considered.
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4.7
Militaria
4.7.1
Items relating to the Essex Regiment and the Essex Yeomanry should be collected
actively.
4.7.2
It should be noted that the Essex Regiment Museum is the official repository for all
types of items relating to the Essex Regiment.
4.7.3
Items relating to named military units from the County, and incidental items relating
to other units, institutions or individuals which aid the interpretation of the defence of
the County, should be actively collected.
4.7.4
Chelmsford Museum should continue to collect actively Yeomanry material, including
both the predecessors and successors of the Essex Yeomanry.The photographic
material retained for display in the HQ of the serving Essex Yeomanry Squadron should
be scanned for record purposes.
4.8
Limitations on collecting
4.8.1 Chelmsford Museums recognises its responsibility, in acquiring additions to its collections,
to ensure that care of collections, documentation arrangements and use of collections
will meet the requirements of the Accreditation Standard. It will take into account
potential limitations on collecting imposed by such factors as inadequate staffing, storage
and care of collection arrangements.
4.8.2
The care of existing collections should be regarded as a higher priority than the
acquisition of new items.
4.8.3
Gifts and bequests
Gifts and bequests shall only be accepted on the basis that any conditions are approved by
the governing body, and in all cases reference will be made to the limitations on collecting as
specified in the policy. Chelmsford City Council shall reserve the right to refuse any offer of
material.
4.8.4
Loans
Chelmsford City Council will not normally accept material on loan unless for the purposes of
exhibition, identification or copying, or where the item is of exceptional interest to the
museum. Any loan will be agreed in writing by the lender and the museum, including
allocation of responsibilities for insurance and transport arrangements and shall be for a
specified fixed term only, renewable in writing. Use of the term 'permanent loan' shall be
avoided and new items will not be accepted on this basis.
4.8.5
Material not accepted for the permanent collection.
Due to the nature of the activities of Chelmsford Museums, the museums may occasionally
acquire certain items which are not intended to be retained for the permanent collections.
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These items may be used as educational or school handling collections, or, in the case of the
science and industrial collections, as spares or consumable working parts.
In the case of such material, documentation will clearly show the intended use of the object
and donors will be made aware of this possibility at the time of entry and informed as soon as
a decision has been made regarding the material. These objects will be recorded separately
outside the main accession record and shall not be treated as part of the permanent
collection since their intended use implies that preservation cannot be guaranteed.
5.
Themes and priorities for rationalisation and disposal
5.1 The museum recognises that the principles on which priorities for rationalisation and
disposal are determined will be through a formal review process that identifies which
collections are included and excluded from the review. The outcome of review and any
subsequent rationalisation will not reduce the quality or significance of the collection and
will result in a more useable, well managed collection.
5.2 The procedures used will meet professional standards. The process will be documented,
open and transparent. There will be clear communication with key stakeholders about the
outcomes and the process.
Responsible, curatorially-motivated disposal takes place as part of a museum’s long-term
collections policy, in order to increase public benefit derived from museum collections 1.
A rationalisation programme was completed ahead of the move to the new unified store at
South Woodham Ferrers in 2008 and resulted in the disposal of some duplicate social history
items and items in poor condition, and transfer to other more suitable Accredited Museums.
There are currently no themes or priorities for further rationalisation; however, individual items
will be considered for disposal if more appropriate homes are identified, or for other reasons
according to the disposals policy below, such as in the case of items which have deteriorated
significantly. In all identified cases, the disposals policy set out below will be followed.
6 Legal and ethical framework for acquisition and disposal of items
6.1 The museum recognises its responsibility to work within the parameters of the Museum
Association Code of Ethics when considering acquisition and disposal. In the case of
human remains, see below, 10.1.
7 Collecting policies of other museums
7.1 The museum will take account of the collecting policies of other museums and other
organisations collecting in the same or related areas or subject fields. It will consult with
these organisations where conflicts of interest may arise or to define areas of specialism,
in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and waste of resources.
7.2 Specific reference is made to the following museum(s)/organisation(s):
1
See Museums Association ‘Disposals Toolkit’ pg 5.
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 All other relevant museums within the county of Essex
 National Army Museum
The Essex Regiment Museum will give priority for acquisition to the Royal Anglian Regiment
Museum at Duxford in respect of material relating to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot), 1958-64.
The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, 1964-92.
The 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, 1992-to date.
Successor Territorial Army units of the Essex Regiment, The 5th and 6th (Volunteer)
Battalions, the East of England Regiment, and the 3rd Battalion (TA), The Royal Anglian
Regiment, 1967-to date.

Archaeological archives. Those museums in Essex that collect archaeological archives
have agreed amongst themselves their geographical collecting areas, and should defer to
the relevant collecting museum.
8 Archival holdings
8.1 Chelmsford Museums collects documents and photographs that are associated with
accessioned objects, or that illuminate collected themes, such as local industries, trades, retail,
businesses and people. However, it accepts that, in the case of large or complete archives, or
where particular environmental conditions are required, the Essex Record Office may be a more
appropriate repository, and discussions would be held with the ERO staff.
8.2 Chelmsford Museum collects all archaeological archives from the District of Chelmsford and
Brentwood, and the town of Billericay, and is an approved store with English Heritage.
8.3 In the case of the Essex Regiment, the Museum collects archives, and is considered to be the
primary collecting institution.
9 Acquisition
9.1 The policy for agreeing acquisitions is:
Authority to acquire collections is delegated by the Governing Body to the appropriate
professional Curator, who will base his or her decision on the parameters outlined
elsewhere in this document. Where there is any uncertainty, or where a purchase
involving Council expenditure over £100 is involved, the decision-making process should
be referred to the Museums Manager, who may consult with the departmental Director
and the Cabinet Portfolio holder. For larger purchases, acquisition will normally depend
on securing contributory grants from outside organisations such as the Museums
Friends, or local or national bodies.
9.2 The museum will not acquire any object or specimen unless it is satisfied that the object
or specimen has not been acquired in, or exported from, its country of origin (or any
intermediate country in which it may have been legally owned) in violation of that
country’s laws. (For the purposes of this paragraph ‘country of origin’ includes the United
Kingdom).
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9.3 In accordance with the provisions of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of
Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural
Property, which the UK ratified with effect from November 1 2002, and the Dealing in
Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003, the museum will reject any items that have been
illicitly traded. The governing body will be guided by the national guidance on the
responsible acquisition of cultural property issued by the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport in 2005.
10 Human remains
10.1 The Museum collects human remains recovered from archaeological excavations, and
undertakes to store remains for future research purposes, unless there are specific
reasons for subsequent reburial. Material is labelled ‘human remains’ and a register is
maintained. Temporary or permanent display of human remains will be considered
alongside ethical concerns.
10.2 As the museum holds or intends to acquire human remains from any period, it will follow
the procedures in the ‘Guidance for the care of human remains in museums’ issued by
DCMS in 2005.
11 Biological and geological material
11.1 The Museum collects biological and geological material in accordance with the
parameters set out elsewhere in this document. However, no specialist Curator is
employed by the City Council, and this will be reflected in a correspondingly low level of
collecting, where professional standards can still be met.
11.2 So far as biological and geological material is concerned, the museum will not acquire by
any direct or indirect means any specimen that has been collected, sold or otherwise
transferred in contravention of any national or international wildlife protection or natural
history conservation law or treaty of the United Kingdom or any other country, except
with the express consent of an appropriate outside authority.
12 Archaeological material
12.1 Chelmsford Museum collects all archaeological archives from the District of
Chelmsford and Brentwood, and the town of Billericay, and is an approved store with
English Heritage. It follows national guidelines published by the Society of Museum
Archaeologists, including policies on selection and retention of material, and local
guidelines approved by ‘Museums Essex’. A one-off per box fee is normally
applicable at the time of deposition.
12.2 The museum will not acquire archaeological material (including excavated ceramics)
in any case where the governing body or responsible officer has any suspicion that
the circumstances of their recovery involved a failure to follow the appropriate legal
procedures.
12.3 In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the procedures include reporting finds to the
landowner or occupier of the land and to the proper authorities in the case of
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possible treasure (i.e. the Coroner for Treasure) as set out in the Treasure Act 1996
(as amended by the Coroners & Justice Act 2009).
13 Exceptions
13.1
Any exceptions to the above clauses will only be because the museum is:
o acting as an externally approved repository of last resort for material of local (UK)
origin
o acting with the permission of authorities with the requisite jurisdiction in the
country of origin
In these cases the museum will be open and transparent in the way it makes
decisions and will act only with the express consent of an appropriate outside
authority. The museum will document when these exceptions occur.
14 Spoliation
14.1 The museum will use the statement of principles ‘Spoliation of Works of Art during
the Nazi, Holocaust and World War II period’, issued for non-national museums in
1999 by the Museums and Galleries Commission.
15 The Repatriation and Restitution of objects and human remains
15.1 The museum’s governing body, acting on the advice of the museum’s professional
staff, may take a decision to return human remains (unless covered by the ‘Guidance
for the care of human remains in museums’ issued by DCMS in 2005) , objects or
specimens to a country or people of origin. The museum will take such decisions on
a case by case basis; within its legal position and taking into account all ethical
implications and available guidance. This will mean that the procedures described in
16.1-5 will be followed but the remaining procedures are not appropriate.
15.2 The disposal of human remains from museums in England, Northern Ireland and
Wales will follow the procedures in the ‘Guidance for the care of human remains in
museums’.
16 Disposal procedures
16.1 All disposals will be undertaken with reference to the SPECTRUM Primary
Procedures on disposal. Full records will be kept of all decisions on disposals and
the items involved and proper arrangements made for the preservation and/or
transfer, as appropriate, of the documentation relating to the items concerned,
including photographic records where practicable.
16.2 The governing body will confirm that it is legally free to dispose of an item.
Agreements on disposal made with donors will also be taken into account.
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16.3 When disposal of a museum object is being considered, the museum will establish if
it was acquired with the aid of an external funding organisation. In such cases, any
conditions attached to the original grant will be followed. This may include repayment
of the original grant and a proportion of the proceeds if the item is disposed of by
sale.
16.4 When disposal is motivated by curatorial reasons the procedures outlined below will
be followed and the method of disposal may be by gift, sale, or as a last resort destruction.
16.5 The decision to dispose of material from the collections will be taken by the
governing body only after full consideration of the reasons for disposal. Other factors
including public benefit, the implications for the museum’s collections and collections
held by museums and other organisations collecting the same material or in related
fields will be considered. Expert advice will be obtained and the views of
stakeholders such as donors, researchers, local and source communities and others
served by the museum will also be sought.
16.6 A decision to dispose of a specimen or object, whether by gift, sale or destruction (in
the case of an item too badly damaged or deteriorated to be of any use for the
purposes of the collections or for reasons of health and safety), will be the
responsibility of the governing body of the museum acting on the advice of
professional curatorial staff, if any, and not of the curator or manager of the collection
acting alone.
16.7 Once a decision to dispose of material in the collection has been taken, priority will
be given to retaining it within the public domain. It will therefore be offered in the first
instance, by gift or sale, directly to other Accredited Museums likely to be interested
in its acquisition.
16.8 If the material is not acquired by any Accredited museum to which it was offered as a
gift or for sale, then the museum community at large will be advised of the intention
to dispose of the material normally through a notice on the MA’s Find an Object web
listing service, an announcement in the Museums Association’s Museums Journal or
in other specialist publications and websites (if appropriate).
16.9 The announcement relating to gift or sale will indicate the number and nature of
specimens or objects involved, and the basis on which the material will be
transferred to another institution. Preference will be given to expressions of interest
from other Accredited Museums. A period of at least two months will be allowed for
an interest in acquiring the material to be expressed. At the end of this period, if no
expressions of interest have been received, the museum may consider disposing of
the material to other interested individuals and organisations giving priority to
organisations in the public domain.
16.10 Any monies received by the museum governing body from the disposal of items will
be applied solely and directly for the benefit of the collections. This normally means
the purchase of further acquisitions. In exceptional cases, improvements relating to
the care of collections in order to meet or exceed Accreditation requirements relating
to the risk of damage to and deterioration of the collections may be justifiable. Any
monies received in compensation for the damage, loss or destruction of items will be
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applied in the same way. Advice on those cases where the monies are intended to
be used for the care of collections will be sought from the Arts Council England.
16.11 The proceeds of a sale will be allocated so it can be demonstrated that they are
spent in a manner compatible with the requirements of the Accreditation standard.
Money must be restricted to the long-term sustainability, use and development of the
collection.
Disposal by exchange
16.12
The museum will not dispose of items by exchange.
Disposal by destruction
16.13 If it is not possible to dispose of an object through transfer or sale, the
governing body may decide to destroy it.
16.14 It is acceptable to destroy material of low intrinsic significance (duplicate
mass-produced articles or common specimens which lack significant
provenance) where no alternative method of disposal can be found.
16.15 Destruction is also an acceptable method of disposal in cases where an
object is in extremely poor condition, has high associated health and safety risks
or is part of an approved destructive testing request identified in an organisation’s
research policy.
16.16 Where necessary, specialist advice will be sought to establish the appropriate
method of destruction. Health and safety risk assessments will be carried out by
trained staff where required.
16.17 The destruction of objects should be witnessed by an appropriate member of
the museum workforce. In circumstances where this is not possible, eg the
destruction of controlled substances, a police certificate should be obtained and
kept in the relevant object history file.
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