What you will find in our collections
Our collections are an incredible resource for research, whether you are a family historian, an academic, an artist, a writer or just interested in finding out more about Frome and the surrounding area.
We currently hold around 11,600 documents, 4,400 photographs, 2,300 books; 1,300 maps, 3,600 objects (including geology and archaeology items) and our collection is growing all the time.
The topics covered by the material include:
- Frome Streets – activities and buildings
- Villages near to Frome
- Industry and Transport
- Maps
- People
- Natural History – geology and archaeology
- Newspapers
- Organisations – churches, schools, commercial enterprises
- Governance – councils, public services, politics
- Lifestyle – health, sport, leisure, household/domestic
- Events affecting Frome – national and local
Our online Collections catalogue provides searchable access to the records for items owned by the museum, including physical artefacts, books, documents, photos, paintings, maps, newspaper articles.
The catalogue descriptions have been compiled by museum volunteers and normally consist of a couple of sentences or so, sometimes accompanied by an image. If you are interested in viewing an item during a visit to the museum, it is worth jotting down its Object Number so that stewards at the museum can track it down quickly and easily.
You will find instructions on the front page of the catalogue but here are a couple of tips:
- Be smart – narrow things down. If you’re looking for the famous stained glass windows in Trinity Church, “Trinity Church” gives 100+ entries, “Holy Trinity Church” about 70, and “Trinity Church Windows” just 8.
- Take care, we are not Google. If you want a “society” but you spell it “soceity”, you won’t find it.
Please contact us if you have any questions, and please note the terms and conditions of use.
