Staffordshire County Museum is housed in the Servants' Quarters of Shugborough Hall,

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, near

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

, Staffordshire, England. The museum features a restored Victorian kitchen, laundry and brewhouse as well as permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions. In November 2016, the management of the Shugborough Estate was returned to the National Trust and the museum at Shugborough was closed to the public. In March 2017, the estate was reopened by the National Trust including some of the displays which were part of the County Museum in the servants' quarters and farm. Staffordshire County Council intends in the future to move the County Museum Service to the planned new Staffordshire History Centre on the site of the Staffordshire Record Office.

Collections

Staffordshire County Museum collects objects relating to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

life over the last 200 years. The museum exhibits objects from Staffordshire County Council's collections, which hold over 25,000 social history artefacts, 35,000 photographs and 1,800 items of fine and decorative art. The strength of the collections are items relating to domestic cooking, cleaning and laundry. Particular areas of collecting include costume and textiles, medicine, coins and medals, archives, social history and land transport. The large and varied photograph collection contains over 35,000 photographs covering Staffordshire places, buildings, people, trades, organisations, activities, entertainment, transport and events since the 1850s. The collections reflect Staffordshire's social and agricultural history in areas such as: *customs and beliefs *public services *education *communications and currency *warfare and defence *transport *shops and pubs *crafts and trades *childhood *sport and entertainment *health and infant raising The museum houses a collection of internationally renowned horse-drawn carriages. These include carriages owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury at Ingestre,

and the Dyott family of Lichfield,

. The museum also houses the nationally significant Douglas Haywood Puppet Collection. Another highlight is the costume collection, which features costume and accessories from the last 400 years including wedding dresses, samplers and servants' costume. The museum holds a collection of shoes and boots from Lotus Ltd, Stafford and Stone's last shoe manufacturer. The fine art collection reflects the landmarks, landscape and people of Staffordshire, and includes locally and nationally known artists such as

Thomas Peploe Wood Thomas Peploe Wood (1 January 1817 – 4 April 1845) was an English landscape painter. A number of his pictures are at the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Staffordshire County Museum and the William Salt Library, Stafford. Bio ...

(1817–1845), his brother

Samuel Peploe Wood Samuel Peploe Wood (17 February 1827 – 30 July 1873) was an English sculptor and painter. His sculpture can be seen on many churches and public buildings in England, and there are a number of his sketches and watercolours at Staffordshire Co ...

(1827-1873),

John Prescott Knight John Prescott Knight (1803–1881) was an English portrait painter. He was secretary of the Royal Academy from 1848 until 1873. Biography The son of the actor Edward Knight, he was born in Stafford in 1803. He began his working life in the off ...

(1803–1881) and Mabel Frances Layng (1881–1937).''Oil Paintings in Ownership in Staffordshire'', (London:

Public Catalogue Foundation Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 220,000 paintings by more than 40,000 artists and is now expanding the digital collection t ...

), 2007 These collections are displayed in galleries which explore themes including health, toys and costume as well as within the restored Victorian servants' quarters, recreated school room, chemist and tailor's shops. The museum's agricultural collections are displayed at

Shugborough Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolu ...

Park Farm. Access to the fine art and craft collections is provided through temporary exhibitions at the Shire Hall, Stafford as well as displays at the County Museum and Shugborough Park Farm. A growing number of photographs and objects from Staffordshire County Museum's collection are accessible online.

References

External links

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Staffordshire Past TrackGateway to the Past
{{Authority control Local museums in Staffordshire