We warmly welcome donations of new objects as well as enquiries into our existing collections. Please read the following for more information on how to go about both.
Collections enquiries:
Collections enquiries often need time being set aside for research and discussion, it is best to make an appointment either by clicking here to email us abingdon.museum@abingdon.gov.uk alternatively see our contacts page for postal and telephone enquiries.
Please do have a look at our online collections first in case your enquiry can be resolved this way.
eHive online database:
Here you can search at your own leisure through some of our collections, this is on-going work and we will be adding to this database. Please check back to see the new records and images as they become available.
Identifications and donations:
We would also be glad to hear from you if you would like to show us an object with a strong connection to Abingdon. You might like to ask us to:
- identify an object
- accept an object as a donation for the collection
- make recommendations on where to send an object that does not have an Abingdon provenance
Please contact us in advance before bringing the object to the museum. Without prior warning, the appropriate staff may not always be available to deal with identifications or offers to donate objects.
It would be helpful if you could send a photograph so that we can see what the object looks like.
Please note that we cannot give the valuation of any object.
Should you wish to proceed with donating an object.
It may be that your donation is exactly what we have been looking for as it has definite local provenance, is in good condition and has a full history. In this case it will be accepted into our permanent collections. Another possibility is that your object could be useful for work with education and outreach groups, in which case, with your permission, it would not be accessioned but would form part of our valued “handling” collection.
However, it may be that for a variety of reasons we cannot accept your offer. Please do not be offended. It could be that we already have a similar example in the collection, that your object is simply too big or that it is of a type that we do not collect (but another museum might). In this case, we may be able to advise on where best to donate.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss making gift of an object to us. Thank you again for your interest!
The Treasure Act, 1996
All finders of Treasure have a legal obligation to report such items under the Treasure Act 1996. Treasure includes all gold and silver objects over 300 years old, groups of two or more coins over 300 years old which come from the same find, and groups of two or more prehistoric base-metal objects which come from the same find. For more information please go to www.finds.org.uk/treasure . If you think that your artefact may constitute Treasure, you are legally obliged to report the find to the local Coroner within 14 days. For Treasure found in Oxfordshire or Berkshire, Anni Byard , the local Finds Liaison Officer, can help with the identification of Treasure items and the reporting process.
