The foundation of a museum

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Ninety-five years ago this March the University of Oxford passed a decree to accept Lewis Evans’ donation of scientific instruments and books. This marked the foundation of our Museum, which opened to the public in 1925.
We’ve collected together photographs of the Museum from 1924 to the start of 2000.

A history through photographs

Click on an image to see it full size.

  • A photocopy of the Decree from the University of Oxford that laid the foundations for the Museum. It reads: Decree passed by the Convocation of the University on Tuesday, March 4, 1924 :— That the offer to the University by LEWIS EVANS, F.S.A., of a valuble collection of Scientific Instruments and of books connected therewith be gratefully accepted, and that the Collection be kept in the two rooms on the upper floor of the Ashmolean Building. [Signed by the] Registrar of the University.
    In 1924 this Decree from the University of Oxford laid the foundation for the Museum.
  • A corner of the top floor of the building showing old wooden cases filled with scientific instruments
    The collection opened to the public on 5 May 1925 and was kept on the top floor. Both photographs from 1925 are from Gunther’s 1925 article about the Museum in Country Life.
  • the main floor of the building, it is mostly empty with desks running down the right side of the room and shelves on the left.]
    The middle floor in 1925. Lexicographers (people who write dictionaries) worked here on the New English Dictionary (OED).
  • the top floor of the building, showing wooden exhibition cases of various sizes filled with objects. A woman is sitting at a desk reading, and a man and a woman are leaning over one of the cases.]
    The top floor in the 1950s.
  • the front of the Museum in 1956, taken from across the street. The stone work is very dark from age. The front door of the museum does not have steps leading to Broad Street, instead there is a balcony.
    The front of the Museum in 1956. At this point the stone steps to the main entrance don’t exist.
  • The front of the Museum taken from across the street in the 1960s. The main feature is the new steps running from the door to Broad Street. They are paler and cleaner than the rest of the building
    In 1957 the stone steps leading from Broad Street to the main door were completed. The stone steps are remarkably fresh when compared to the rest of the building in the 1960s.
  • a photograph of the exhibition Geometry of War. A large pillar stands in the middle with the exhibition title on it. To either side, and behind pillars, are the first two exhibition cases
    The Geometry of War exhibition opened in 1996 and explored the application of practical geometry to the ‘arts of war’.
  • A close up of one of the cases in the Geometry of War exhibition. Astrolabes and surveying equipment are arrange on concrete blocks.
    The Geometry of War aimed to be provocative. Objects were presented on concrete blocks and rusting iron mesh instead of using neutral displays.
  • The outside of the Museum during extensive renovations in 1999. Boards have been put along Broad Street to cordon off the building, and the pavement immediately in front of the Museum is being dug up to alter the foundations
    In 1998 we began a huge redevelopment project. This included improvements to galleries and building the Special Exhibitions Gallery.
  • The outside of the Museum during extensive renovations in 1999. The ground in front of the Museum has been dug up to improve the foundations, and the photo is taken from the hole while looking up to the Museum. The front wall is held up on metal stilts. The image is in bright colour
    Excavations at the front of the Museum in 1999. This area has since been covered again by cobbles.
  • The outside of the Museum during extensive renovations in 1999. The ground in front of the Museum has been dug up, and the photo is taken from the hole while looking up to the Museum. The front wall is held up on metal stilts.
    Laying the foundation for new facilities under street level at the front of the building.
  • the top gallery of the Museum filled with empty exhibition cases
    This haunting photograph shows the Top Gallery shortly before we re-opened in 2000.

Get in touch

If you’ve got photographs of the Museum from the 1900s we would love to see them! You can email us at info@mhs.ox.ac.uk or share them with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using @HSMOxford.

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