Guildford Museum

Local museum in Guildford, England

Guildford Museum is the main museum in the town of Guildford, Surrey, England. The museum is on Quarry Street, a narrow road lined by pre 1900 cottages running just off the pedestrianised High Street. This main site of the museum forms the gatehouse and annex of Guildford Castle, which the staff help to run. It is run by Guildford Borough Council and has free entry between 11am and 4:45pm on Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sundays and on Christmas Day.

The Museum's collection originally grew from the collections of the Surrey Archaeological Society, founded in 1854. From the outset the Society collected objects from excavations and private donations, as well as accepting loans from private individuals. These artefacts were first stored with the society's various Honorary Secretaries in a number of locations in London. In 1871 it was suggested that the Society's collections be moved to a more permanent base in Croydon (then Surrey, now a part of Greater London) and housed by the Croydon Literary and Scientific Institute. Part of the attraction of the move was that the Institute offered free accommodation for the collection, provided glass cases for display and offered to produce a catalogue of the collection. These terms were described as "very advantageous" by the Society's committee. However, the Institute failed to live up to its promise to provide adequate care for the collections, and when the Honorary Secretary, Mill Stephenson, visited the collection in 1892 he found it in a "deplorable condition". Glass cases were smashed, locks were broken and objects were damaged or even missing. The Secretary remonstrated with the Institute's librarian/curator and seems to have been unsurprised when the Society was asked to vacate the premises. The Society now had to look for new premises for their collection, and this was duly offered by Guildford Borough Council, who in 1885 had purchased Guildford Castle and its grounds, and opened them up as a public park and bowling green. The grounds included a row of cottages built on the site of the castle's old gatehouse. These cottages were offered to the Archaeological Society in 1898 (once the original tenants have moved out) for a new museum and library, with an annual rent of £12 pa. As part of the arrangement the Society agreed to open the museum to the public on at least one afternoon a week. In 1903 Fredrick H. Elsley was appointed joint Librarian and Curator of the Society's collection of books, manuscripts and artefacts. He was offered an annual honorarium of £5 per year, which by the time of his death in 1944 had risen to £25 per year. In 1912 the Museum, now being funded jointly by the Society and Borough Council, became known as "The Guildford Borough and Surrey Archaeological Society Museum". Free public entry was now offered on three afternoons a week. In 1933 the Council took over the full running of the Museum, with the Society's collection on near permanent loan. In June 2009 the Museum and local publicly sponsored Art Gallery merged.

The Museum hosts a programme of constantly changing temporary exhibitions on site. Recent exhibitions include "Hidden House Histories", detailing the history of objects hidden in houses as a form of superstition, and "The Women's Royal Army Corps in Guildford", which covered the time the WRAC was headquartered in Guildford (1949–1992). A previous exhibition, entitled "A Few of My Favourite Things", featured objects chosen by local people from the Museum's reserve collections. Guest curators include Anne Milton MP, Bishop of Guildford Christopher Hill and High Sheriff of Surrey, Elizabeth Toulson. Objects on display include a 400,000 year old hand axe from Swanscombe in Kent, and a napkin used by Queen Elizabeth I which features her embroidered portrait and an image of St George slaying the Dragon.

Entrance to the museum is free including its collections not on display (usually by appointment). The Museum offers a finds identification service to members of the public who bring in an object to be identified and a school loans box service for schools and other groups eager to use objects during lessons, meetings, etc. A Victorian schoolroom adjacent to the museum offers a Victorian teaching experience for school children aged 6–12. Museum staff can also be booked to give talks on Guildford and Surrey History.