Where
A 1790 former schoolhouse on Alderney, the third largest of the Channel Islands.
What
A museum devoted to documenting Alderney's history, from the prehistoric (it has a sizeable geological collection) to the most recent, including the German occupation between 1940 and 1945.
"Alderney has been subjected to long uneventful periods punctuated by very short ones of frantic activity such as the loss of Normandy in 1204, the Hundred Years' War, the Reformation, the Armada and the French religious wars, the English civil war, the Napoleonic and French revolutionary wars, the building of the Victorian harbour and forts and the first and second world wars," reads its website.
Opened
1966.
Founders
Peter Arnold, who had holidayed as a child on Alderney in the 1920s and 30s and later settled there in 1962 to establish a stoneware pottery. By 1965 he realised that people wanted to know the history of Alderney, and every islander had a story to tell.
He called a meeting of a few interested people to start a local historical and natural history society; by 1966 the Alderney Society had been founded. The States of Alderney (the island government) offered a basement in the Island Hall and some 30 years ago, the museum moved into the schoolhouse.
Collection
More than 15,000 objects, including Mesolithic, Neolithic, Roman and medieval items. There are also artefacts relating to garrison regiments, social history, wrecks, lighthouses, coins, medals, postage, telegraphy, the Victorian harbour and defensive forts, German fortifications and equipment.
The Elizabethan period wreck attracts much interest, says part-time administrator Don Oakden. There are 3,000 prints, drawings, photographs, maps, paintings and plans, all from Alderney and its surrounds.
Help at hand
Oakden, plus 48 volunteers. A postgraduate student (shared with the Alderney Wildlife Trust) worked on a redesign of the natural history gallery and helped create the Alderney Record Centre.
Budget
Entrance fees, annual subscriptions to the Alderney Society and donations. In 1999 the museum won the Gulbenkian award for most outstanding achievement with limited resources.
Visitors
Some 4,000 in 2007. In the 1980s, they averaged 7,000 a year. Numbers depend on trends in holiday destinations, Peter Arnold points out.
Survival tip
"Constantly looking for new ideas," says Oakden. "We are now putting a lot of effort into liaising with the island's children in order to interest younger generations."
Highlights
The Victorian harbour fortifications and the remains of the German occupation, when the SS ran a prisoner of war camp on the island. "We have a cat o' nine tails, some prisoners' uniforms and even an official photograph of Adolf Hitler," Oakden says.
The museum also houses items from the still-unnamed Elizabethan wreck, which foundered on a shallow reef north-east of Braye Bay in the early 1590s. In 1994 the first wreck objects - including the ship's rudder and artefacts such as some rare, metal charge flasks (called "apostles") for measured charges of gunpowder - arrived at the museum. Also on display is a cannon found with its original gun-carriage.
Sticky moment
"The most difficult thing recently has been raising the money to build the last extension to house the cannon and artefacts for the wreck," Oakden says.
Current project
To raise money to finance a further extension to the schoolhouse, which will be used as a dedicated wreck display. This summer, divers are expected to salvage more cannons from the ship.
www.alderneysociety.org/museum
A 1790 former schoolhouse on Alderney, the third largest of the Channel Islands.
What
A museum devoted to documenting Alderney's history, from the prehistoric (it has a sizeable geological collection) to the most recent, including the German occupation between 1940 and 1945.
"Alderney has been subjected to long uneventful periods punctuated by very short ones of frantic activity such as the loss of Normandy in 1204, the Hundred Years' War, the Reformation, the Armada and the French religious wars, the English civil war, the Napoleonic and French revolutionary wars, the building of the Victorian harbour and forts and the first and second world wars," reads its website.
Opened
1966.
Founders
Peter Arnold, who had holidayed as a child on Alderney in the 1920s and 30s and later settled there in 1962 to establish a stoneware pottery. By 1965 he realised that people wanted to know the history of Alderney, and every islander had a story to tell.
He called a meeting of a few interested people to start a local historical and natural history society; by 1966 the Alderney Society had been founded. The States of Alderney (the island government) offered a basement in the Island Hall and some 30 years ago, the museum moved into the schoolhouse.
Collection
More than 15,000 objects, including Mesolithic, Neolithic, Roman and medieval items. There are also artefacts relating to garrison regiments, social history, wrecks, lighthouses, coins, medals, postage, telegraphy, the Victorian harbour and defensive forts, German fortifications and equipment.
The Elizabethan period wreck attracts much interest, says part-time administrator Don Oakden. There are 3,000 prints, drawings, photographs, maps, paintings and plans, all from Alderney and its surrounds.
Help at hand
Oakden, plus 48 volunteers. A postgraduate student (shared with the Alderney Wildlife Trust) worked on a redesign of the natural history gallery and helped create the Alderney Record Centre.
Budget
Entrance fees, annual subscriptions to the Alderney Society and donations. In 1999 the museum won the Gulbenkian award for most outstanding achievement with limited resources.
Visitors
Some 4,000 in 2007. In the 1980s, they averaged 7,000 a year. Numbers depend on trends in holiday destinations, Peter Arnold points out.
Survival tip
"Constantly looking for new ideas," says Oakden. "We are now putting a lot of effort into liaising with the island's children in order to interest younger generations."
Highlights
The Victorian harbour fortifications and the remains of the German occupation, when the SS ran a prisoner of war camp on the island. "We have a cat o' nine tails, some prisoners' uniforms and even an official photograph of Adolf Hitler," Oakden says.
The museum also houses items from the still-unnamed Elizabethan wreck, which foundered on a shallow reef north-east of Braye Bay in the early 1590s. In 1994 the first wreck objects - including the ship's rudder and artefacts such as some rare, metal charge flasks (called "apostles") for measured charges of gunpowder - arrived at the museum. Also on display is a cannon found with its original gun-carriage.
Sticky moment
"The most difficult thing recently has been raising the money to build the last extension to house the cannon and artefacts for the wreck," Oakden says.
Current project
To raise money to finance a further extension to the schoolhouse, which will be used as a dedicated wreck display. This summer, divers are expected to salvage more cannons from the ship.
www.alderneysociety.org/museum