Chance to adopt a Horsham Museum object!

Did you know you can help Horsham Museum & Art Gallery by adopting an artefact?

Yes, the Friends and Museum Curator Nikki Caxton have chosen 12 objects from the collection that the public can help to preserve by their adoption.

One of the more unusual items (and one of the most popular!) is the mummified cat that resides in the Museum’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

It was found walled up in a local building.

Across the UK many cats have been found walled into properties from the 16th and 17th Centuries and were probably put into a newly-built home (thankfully after they had died!) to ward off evil spirits or as a good luck charm.

Another fascinating artefact is the Jolly Sausage Sign.

This came into the Museum collection in 1984 and there was some mystery about it!

Originally little was known about it, but photos from the 1950s show it to be part of a butcher’s shop in Queen Street, Horsham.

One story goes that soldiers during the Second World War use to take pot-shots at it because the shape of the Jolly Sausage resembled a swastika!

Whatever your interest in history we most likely have an object that will grab your attention among the 12 up for adoption.

When you adopt an object, you will receive an adoption letter and an an adoption certificate, regular email newsletters from the museum and your name will be put on the object’s label for a whole year (unless you choose to remain anonymous).

If you want to know more and view the complete list of artefacts then go to our Adopt an Object page.