Museum Society chalks up another birthday

Last Saturday saw the 131st anniversary of the Horsham Museum Society – now the Friends of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery!

The Museum was founded back then by the Free Christian Church (now the Unitarian Church), collecting items of educational and general interest which were stored in the church and brought out on various occasions.

These included birds’ eggs, a hairless horse and even a potato that looked like a person’s foot!

The collection grew and grew until it was too big for the church so, in 1930, the town council gave permission for the kitchen in Park House to be used and it was manned by volunteers of the Society.

However, in 1941 the council needed the kitchen back, so two rooms in Causeway House were offered for use.

Since then the Museum has expanded to the whole of the house, plus extra space outside.

All the objects collected were the property of the Museum Society. However, in 1974 the council took over the running of the Museum and the artefacts acquired after 1966 belong to them.

The Museum Society agreed to a permanent loan of their artefacts, a situation that remains today.

The other change was that a professional Curator was appointed, a role held currently by Nikki Caxton.

Due to a complication over charity status and Gift Aid, it was decided to create the Friends of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, which is a charity and helps safeguard the collection and provides funds for acquiring additions to the collection.

The above information was taken from an article in the latest Friends newsletter by Liz Vaughan. You can read the full article in our Newsletter section.