Collections: Kelham Island Museum

Collecting Policy

The Trust has a wide collecting remit covering the major manufacturing industries of the city. We collect, preserve and interpret material relating to the people, products, manufacturing processes and histories of these industries.

The main areas of collecting are: the metallurgical industries, iron and steel making, cutlery making, tool making, silver and holloware manufacture, mechanical and electrical engineering, scientific and technological research, and other manufacturing industries around Sheffield including the extraction of raw materials which support these industries.

The type of material in the collections includes the machinery, tools and other items used in the processes above. Material relating to the working environment such as safety clothing, and that relating to workers' organisational groups is also collected. We have documents, photographs, original art, commercial decorative art, merchandising and advertising material, and health and safety equipment relating to the industries and the products made too.

The scope of collecting is restricted to items that relate to Sheffield's industries and range in date from the 1750s to the present. Items older than this will be collected where they relate to the early development of an industry or specifically to Kelham Island.

Click below to find out more details about different areas of the Trust's collection.

The Heavy Industries

Iron and Steel
Engineering
Extraction and Refractories
Armaments
Transport

The Light Industries

Cutlery
Holloware
Tools
Miscellaneous Light Trades

General Collections

Scientific and Technological Research
Historic Documents and Plans
Historic Photographs, Pictures and Film
Firth Brown Photographic Collection
Library
Ephemera and Personalia Collection