Crawley's Collections Revealed exhibition

Crawley’s Collections Revealed

3 Jun 2021 - 31 Jul 2021
Thursday, Friday, Saturday - 10.30 - 16.00
Admission free

Crawley’s Collections Revealed was a 18 month project funded by Arts Council England. We worked with volunteers and community members to look at and talk about our collections. We want our collection to reflect the diversity of the history of Crawley, and this project and exhibition is about people working together to achieve that.

As part of the project, a group of volunteers worked together to go through the museum’s object collection to make sure that everything was relevant to Crawley. Some items were removed from the collection and dispersed elsewhere. Some objects went to the museums education collection, some to other museums or other organisations and some had to be destroyed for safety reasons.

We also worked with members of the local community to label objects from our collections, and to decide what should be added to our collection.

To start with all of these sessions were taking place in person but then Covid-19 happened and our activities moved online.

The content of this exhibition is largely written by project volunteers and some of the people who took part in the community workshops.

If government restrictions allow, we will be creating a physical version of this exhibition which will be in Crawley Museum from 3rd June to 31st July 2021.

Thank you to everyone who was part of this project!

Dispersals

In autumn of 2019 a number of local residents responded to an appeal made by Crawley Museum, for volunteers to assist with a review of the collection of items held by the museum.

The project launched in January 2020, just before the 1^st Covid lockdown. To keep the project on track we agreed to continue to review the collection online, and throughout 2020 worked many hours, mostly via zoom meetings. Each item was assessed on merit, to determine its contribution to local history and if it should be kept within the collection or be disposed of. The team also considered factors such as heritage sector regulations, safety concerns or potential for contamination. The project was overseen by museum staff, and this phase of the project was completed by the years end.

The next phase of the project was to plan and prepare this exhibition. Again the focus has been on community engagement, and many of the original volunteers were happy to stay on to help organise this. We hope you enjoy seeing the results of this endeavour.

Method of Deciding What to Disperse

The purpose of this project was to consolidate the Crawley Museum Collection by making sure that all the objects it includes have a relevant connection to Crawley and its history, past and present.

Any object which could not be linked by means of manufacture, provenance or possession to Crawley was added to the ‘For Dispersal’ list.

The process of deciding if an object was to remain in the Collection or be dispersed involved the following steps:

Each object was individually analysed, photographed and catalogued with any original information attached to the object also read and considered.Based on the observations and existing information attached to the objects at the time of them being acquired by the Museum, discussions between the project group of volunteers and the project leader concluded if the object is a CM Collection ‘candidate’ or good for dispersal.

The Crawley Museum Trustees reviewed the recommendations using their expertise and knowledge to produce the final list of objects which would remain in the Collection, and those which would be put forward for Dispersal.

With few exceptions, the majority of the volunteers’ group recommendations were agreed by the Crawley Museum Trustees and the final List of Objects for Dispersal was created.

Gallery Click images to enlarge

Bottle of Medicine. Not safe to keep in the Collection. This medicine bottle made of clear glass with an aluminium cap was very common. They became redundant after it was realized brown glass helped preserve the medicine from light damage. The Aluminium cap is very prone to oxidation and has now been replaced by plastic which is far more inert.

Telescope. Beautiful but no link to Crawley. This very nice leather and brass telescope came complete with its own leather carrying case. This gave it the ability to be used anywhere, on ships in the countryside etc...

Roller mill jar/bottle. Object kept in the Collection, This ceramic jar was used in laboratories to grind down powdery substances into a finer power. The Jar would be filled with the substance to be powdered along with either steel or ceramic balls to help the grinding process. The jar would then be placed on a rolling machine and "rolled" for several hours.

One of the objects we ‘liked’ was this French made Praxinoscope Replica. Fully functioning and complete with specially designed strips of paper, this is a modern replica of the 19th century rotating optical ‘toy’: the strips of paper are fixed to the inside of the outer cylinder and as it rotates, the stationary mirrors in the centre reveal the frames drawn on the paper as a continuous animated image.

Coal Hod. Object not liked. This zinc plated steel coal hod was for collecting coal from your coal Bunker. The two handles gave you the ability to literally throw coal safely on to the fire .

Bicycle: With no established link to Crawley this item was designated for dispersal. A local collector has taken on the task of restoration, and it is anticipated that in due course it will be donated to another museum, possibly Amberley.

Great Reform Bill Map: This remarkable item is of great age and was found to be in a very poor state of repair. It is in urgent need of expert restoration, a task and potential expense beyond the scope of our local resources. It has been passed onto The People’s History Museum Manchester where it will receive the care it deserves, and we will continue to take an active interest in its restoration and ‘afterlife’.

Stoneware hot water bottle: A common example of its type though in good condition. It has no known link to Crawley so could not be included in our collection, but has been kept for education purposes. It is now on display in the museum learning space as a handling object, though please do take care not to drop it on your foot!!

Quaker Bonnet 19th century: There was a thriving Quaker community in the district, established in the 17th century This item belonged to Sarah Robinson [1787-1875]. Sarah [Pennifold] was born in Balcombe to a Quaker family. She married John Robinson, also a Quaker. They lived at Manor House Farm, on the site now known as Manor Royal. Sarah became a prominent local benefactor; renowned for founding the first free school for local children at Ifield, a domestic servant training home for disadvantaged young women, and raising funds for the founding of a local cottage hospital. She is buried at the Friends burial ground in Ifield.

An original, used war-time document, a Defence Map Legend. These legends were kept separate from the actual maps as to not divulge information in case of the capture of either. What an amazing and unexpected find! Due to lack of background information about the provenance of this object, sadly, no direct link to Crawley could be established. We passed it to the Education department hoping that further research might reveal more of its history.

This China canister is a typical object for our Dangerous objects category. It is an old, broken cereal jar with sharp and jagged edges. We found that it had no visible link to Crawley and therefore, luckily, we were able to put it on the dispersal list.

Made of glass, metal and wood, with working handle and paddles, this Butter Churner is an example of a household item used in the 1920’s. With no proven connection to Crawley it is a good example of the type of objects passed to the Education department of the museum, specifically for ‘handling’.

Milk bottles. Common object no specific link to Crawley. These relatively modern "squat" milk bottles have been commonly used since the 1960s. Their lower height compared to the previous tall bottles gave the ability to store more milk bottles in less space increasing distribution efficiency.

Community Engagement

Community engagement was a central part of the Crawley’s Collections Revealed project

At the start of the project in early 2020 we ran face to face sessions with members of the local community. At these sessions people could handle objects from our collection and write their own labels for them which we displayed in the project cabinet in the museum

When lockdown happened in March 2020 we moved our activities online and posted photographs of objects on our website and social media for people to write labels for. When the museum reopened in summer 2020 we displayed the objects and their labels in the project cabinet.

We were planning to run more face to face sessions, but with lockdown 3 we decided to run sessions online via Zoom. We worked with three groups – LPK Learning, Diverse Crawley and Crawley Interfaith Network. We talked to them about different types of labels. They then talked about what objects they thought should be in our collection that we didn’t already have, and how they would label them. Some people kindly loaned us objects for this exhibition or donated them to us for our permanent collection.

Different groups focused on different themes.

LPK Learning discussed objects that represented lockdown.

Crawley Interfaith Network discussed objects that represented faith.

Diverse Crawley discussed objects that represented Crawley.

We’d love to work with more groups in this way. If you’re interested in arranging this please get in touch!

Gallery Click images to enlarge

Item representing Crawley - lab at APV - Donated by Iyadh Daoud

Item representing Crawley - letter from APV - Donated by Iyadh Daoud. "APV.Co.Ltd in Manor Royal. Opens a door. Process Engineer Position Offered. Crawley Town Adopts. A Baghdadi Iraqi. Life’s New Chapter Navigated. Destiny Dictates. Forty Years and Three Pass. Thank You Crawley. For Being My Blessed Home."

Item representing Crawley. Loaned by Marilyn Le Feuvre. Marilyn Le Feuvre and Maureen Underwood at Crawley Fairfield House Nurses Home in 1990 "Hard work during our Adaptation Course year at Crawley Hospital -but also very fond memories of the many multicultural parties on our days off in Fairfield House Community Areas" Fairfield House Nurses Home was in West Green Drive, and only about 200 metres from Crawley Hospital Recently demolished and replaced with new flats 😭

Item representing faith. "This is the first verse of the first chapter of the Quran, and is recited at the start of the recitation of every other chapter, meaning: "In the Name of Allah the Infinitely Compassionate, Infinitely Merciful."

Item representing lockdown, loaned by participant in workshops with LPK Learning.

Item representing lockdown, loaned by participant in workshops with LPK Learning. Solar powered oven.

Item representing lockdown, loaned by participant in workshops with LPK Learning.

Donation from a member of the Crawley Interfaith Network. "In 1992 the Hindu Community got together and organised one of the most significant events in the history of Crawley. We invited a Pope like figure, Pujya Shree Moraribapu to recite our scripture, Maha Bharat for seven days. The event was held in a large marque in Broadfield and people from up and down the UK attended the holy event. On weekend up to 20,000 people attended. They heard The holy sermon, were given breakfast, lunch and evening meals prepared fresh on site by 200 volunteers. The event was so successful and we managed to raise £250,000 in donations that Hindus of Crawley played at this event to build a Temple and Community Centre! The dream of 1992 was realised by Hindus in 2010 when the £3.4 million Temple and Community Centre was realised in Ifield!"