Tonbridge Historical Society collections
The Society collects historic material relating to the town, in the form of
Pictorial Records, Archives,
and
Artefacts.
Our collections store is at Castle Lodge (the green gate in Castle Street, adjacent to the 'Gift Box' shop), where there is an open morning from 10 a.m. to noon on the first Wednesday of every month.
Pictorial Records
The Society holds a large collection of images of Tonbridge, mainly photographs dating from c1860 to the present day. The collection, which totals over 5000 images, includes numerous Tonbridge postcards, and a selection of press photographs from the Courier newspaper (Courier copyright).
More than 900 pre-1950 of images from the Pictorial Records collection can be seen in the Pictures section of this website.
If you have anything you would like to offer for the collection, or wish to enquire about items we already hold, please contact us, or bring the item to an open morning at Castle Lodge (details above).
Archives
The Society holds a sizeable collection of original documents relating to the town’s history – buildings, people and events. They are arranged under the headings of Business, Estate and Manorial, Education and Charities, Local Government, Plans and Prints and Miscellaneous. There are also several collections personal to a donor with a variety of material within them. Our archival material is used for personal historical research purposes, to answer enquiries and to complement the Society’s photograph collection at exhibitions.
The archives are in the process of being moved into our new storage area; and with space to work on the collection the catalogue will now be updated. It is hoped to put key information from the catalogue on the website in the future, and a regular update of new acquisitions.
We would be interested to hear of items suitable for donation to the archives. If you have anything you would like to offer for the collection, or wish to enquire about items we already hold, please contact us or bring the item to an open morning at Castle Lodge (details above).
Artefacts
The Society is building a permanent collection of artefacts relating to the town’s history and the past way of life of Tonbridge people, and would welcome offers of items to go into it.
We are interested in any items associated with the town or with people who were born or lived or worked here, including items made or traded in Tonbridge and items which show what life was like for Tonbridge people, such as small domestic items, fashion accessories, souvenirs of events, etc.
If you have anything you would like to offer for the collection, please contact us or bring the item to an open morning at Castle Lodge (details above).
The Castle Lodge store has kindly been made available by
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Space is limited so we regret we
cannot at present accept large items.