Our past exhibitions have been drawn from both the museum and other private local collections. We present a selection here...
2022
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Ships, Planes & Cars
November 2021 - March 2022 From a private collection Two of the most famous ships in the world have sailed into Henfield Museum! The 17th century Swedish warship Vasa and Nelson's HMS Victory can be seen in incredibly intricate model form. The real life Vasa (1628) was to be the pride of King Gustavus Adolphus' fleet, but was feared top heavy. Nonetheless launched. she sunk on her maiden voyage. Recovered largely intact from the bottom in 1961 after three centuries' oblivion and two years' hard work, she is now on display in her own museum at Stockholm. After her celebrated career in battle, HMS Victory (1765) was retired from active service in 1824 and after much public lobbying was ultimately saved for the nation. Finally dry docked at Portsmouth in 192 after a century of harbour service, she is now the foremost feature of the historic dockyard. The progression in shipbuilding styles over the century and a half can be readily compared with the models completed in painstaking detail. Accompanying them, a collection of classic Dinky vehicles and aeroplanes have driven and flown in, all carefully restored from battered to 'like new' status. |
HMS Victory
Vasa
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2021
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Henfield's Early History
August 2021 - November 2021 Discover a tale from Henfield's Medieval past - that of Stretham Manor. Named for the Roman road it stood beside (now known as the Greensand Way), it was an impressive moated site, likely at the heart of local authority for the Bishops of Chichester who held these lands. The exhibition focuses on the archaeological excavations undertaken by A. Barr Hamilton from 1958-82, illustrating the layout of the stone and wood built structures on the site from its 13th century peak to the final abandonment in the 15th century. A number of smaller household finds and larger masonry items from the dig are displayed in addition to the excavation map and photos from the digs. |
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The Thames Mudlark
September 2020 - July 2021 For the re-opening of the museum in September, the museum is pleased to host a display on mudlarking, featuring items from the collection of enthusiastic local retired mudlarker and author Graham du Heaume. Discover a lost world of the everyday and the exotic, ranging from the Medieval to the Victorian. Knives, keys to the unknown, padlocks and horseshoes, a Georgian love token, a bearded bottle, a British Bulldog revolver, perhaps cast into the river after deeds unremembered... All were preserved, deep in the anaerobic mud - now they see the light of the modern day. Read the story of the collection... |
'The Thames Mudlark', 2020
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2020
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The 1,250th Anniversary of the Founding of St. Peter's Church
A wooden church dedicated to St. Peter was granted a charter by the South Saxon King Osmund in 770 and subsequently ratified by King Offa after his subjugation of the Sussaxons. This exhibition of photographs and other documents celebrates the long unbroken history of St. Peter's as the centre of the village since that date. |
Ceremonial cope from St. Peter's Church, Henfield. Image, Henfield Museum (CC BY-NC-SA)
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2019
Remembering the War in the East: the James Luto Collection
In June 2019, the museum was privileged to host a part of the collection of James Luto, a longtime collector of Japanese wartime memorabilia and medical equipment. The collection provided a rare insight into the wartime experience with the majority of objects telling the story from the Japanese perspective.
'Everyone knows that a squaddie likes a souvenir. And when you fought in the Far East you were more likely to bring home an object emblazoned with the Rising Sun as opposed to the Swastika. In this captivating exhibition, the author and historian James Luto reveals some of the artefacts that might have found their way to Britain at the end of the Second World War. From the infamous Japanese ‘meatball’ flags to saki cups, helmets to the iconic Army sword, and from medical equipment to photographs and postcards. the objects, big and small alike, along with stories of how they reached these shores, provide an insight into the war against Japan. You never know, the items might just help you identify a long-forgotten memento lurking in your attic!'
If you would like to discuss the collection or an item you see in the photo gallery below, James Luto can be contacted *here*.
'Everyone knows that a squaddie likes a souvenir. And when you fought in the Far East you were more likely to bring home an object emblazoned with the Rising Sun as opposed to the Swastika. In this captivating exhibition, the author and historian James Luto reveals some of the artefacts that might have found their way to Britain at the end of the Second World War. From the infamous Japanese ‘meatball’ flags to saki cups, helmets to the iconic Army sword, and from medical equipment to photographs and postcards. the objects, big and small alike, along with stories of how they reached these shores, provide an insight into the war against Japan. You never know, the items might just help you identify a long-forgotten memento lurking in your attic!'
If you would like to discuss the collection or an item you see in the photo gallery below, James Luto can be contacted *here*.
The Heritage of Horsham District in 100 Objects
To accompany the Horsham District Year of Culture 2019 project, in October 2019 we put on a display of some of Henfield's contributions, along with a number of ancient objects kindly loaned by Horsham Museum.
2014
Toys & Games of the 20th Century
A variety of toys, teddies, models and games came to the museum, many being prized friends loaned by local residents. Their age ranged from the Edwardian era until the 1960s.
WW1 in Postcards
To mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, we put on a display of contemporary postcards. Being the primary means of communication for many at the time (along with letters), most had an overtly propagandistic or patriotic flavour. A British Brodie helmet and German leather Pickelhaube (spiked helmet) were also loaned for the display from a local collection.
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