As part of International Museum’s Day, we would like to celebrate our Museum and its founder Roy Armstrong MBE.
The Museum was founded in 1970 by Roy as a response to the widespread destruction of vernacular buildings in the post-war period. His principal aim was to develop a representative collection of buildings illustrating the structural development of vernacular buildings in the Weald and Downland region of south-east England.
Along with over 50 historic buildings, the Museum now also holds significant collections relating to rural life, and a library of materials relevant to the Museum.
Part of Roy’s vision for the Museum was that it should become a recognised centre for research into traditional building, so from the outset the establishment of a library and associated research facilities were major objectives.
“The library should do what the exhibits by themselves do not. Whereas the latter can provide a few selected examples of buildings typical of a limited area and period, the library provides details and explanation of their setting within a larger context.” – Roy Armstrong, 1988.
Today, The Armstrong Library contains around 25,000 books, journals and documents covering all aspects of traditional building, including history, materials and construction methods, as well as related subjects such as local history, agriculture and country crafts. It is perhaps the finest specialist public library on vernacular architecture and traditional building in the country.
As part of the Museum’s continued commitment to lifelong learning we are now looking to improve our archive systems and develop a new learning space in our lower Downland Gridshell. This will form a more accessible archive and research space for our MSc students, and other school, university and community history groups. We are currently fundraising towards this project, if you would like to support our Museum and its lifelong learning programme, you can find out more here (wealddown.co.uk/donate) or start today by texting ARCHIVE to 70480 to donate £10 towards our £50,000 target.
