The Harborough Collection
Harborough
Museum is a partnership with Harborough District Council and the Market
Harborough Historical Society whose collection of local history items and antiquities is also
housed within the museum.
The Harborough Collection comprises
approximately 11,000 items of local history material reflecting the influence that the town has on its
surrounding area.
Following the traditional 18th and 19th century carrier routes
in and out of the town, the Harborough collection contains material relating to the landscape and communities
of parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, from Billesdon in the north, Lamport in the south,
Husbands Bosworth in the west and Caldecot in the east.
The collection reflects
the history and development of local manufacturers, retailers, agriculture and food production. They
are a record of domestic and social life and the contribution of local individuals.
The
collection contains approximately 5,000 photographs of Market Harborough and surrounding villages including
the work of pioneer photographer the Reverend Law and the commercial photographer Gulliver Speight.
Highlights include:
- The complete contents of the Faulkner shoe workshop
- Material from many of the industries based in Market Harborough, such as R. & W.H. Symington (underwear), Symingtons Ltd (foodstuffs), the Harboro’ Rubber Company and Tungstone's (vehicle batteries)
- 17th century street toys found at St Dionysius church and the church roof bosses dating from the 15th century
- Stable door from the stables at Lubenham with horseshoes from the winners of early steeplechases
- 19th and 20th century samplers
See Harborough Museum Revealed
for further details of these.
Partnership collection: The collection of the
Market Harborough Historical Society is cared for and interpreted alongside the Harborough Collection.
The Historical Society Collection is focussed on the town; however it does
include some antiquities from ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon and Egypt. The Market Harborough Historical
Society retains ownership of the collection.
Page Last Updated: 20 September 2011
