A history of Surrey in 50 objects: Surrey Museums Month 2011

PUBLISHED: 12:51 25 May 2011 | UPDATED: 19:15 20 February 2013

Photos: Brian Wood

For Surrey Museums Month, a celebration of our county's heritage in April, our museums have delved into their collections to highlight some of their most special items. Photos: Brian Wood

The Palaeolithic flint hand axe shown above is the oldest human artefact in Godalming Museumâ€™s collection (it dates back at least 400,000 years) and was discovered at Llanaway, a small estate between Godalming and Farncombe.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine April 2011

For Surrey Museums Month, a celebration of our countys heritage in April, our museums have delved into their collections to highlight some of their most special items. Surrey Life teamed up with the organisers to exclusively bring you this history of Surrey in 50 objects, via flints, sculpture, footballs and a host of other priceless artefacts and oddities, in April's Surrey Life magazine thanks to the photography of Brian Wood

Surrey Museums Month:
A history of Surrey in 50 objects

A collection of Mesolithic flints can also be found at Godalming Museum (in neatly labelled brown envelopes and tobacco tins), along with notes about their excavation and correspondence.

NEED TO KNOW: All the stories that accompany these fascinating objects can be discovered in full at www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk, along with video clips of curators talking about the items, and details of events taking place throughout April for Surrey Museums Month.

FULL EVENT LISTINGS FOR SURREY MUSEUMS MONTH 2011

Surrey's museums

Army Medical Services Museum
Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6DD: 01252 868820

Discovered in St Maryâ€™s churchyard, Oxted, this flint axe-head (shown from three different angles) is just over a foot long and is in mint condition. Now housed at East Surrey Museum in Caterham, it is believed to date from either the Mesolithic or early Neolithic period.

Bourne Hall Museum
Spring Street, Ewell, Surrey KT17 1UF: 0208 394 1734

Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN: 01932 857381

Byfleet Heritage Centre
Byfleet Library, Byfleet, Surrey KT14 7QN: 01932 341084

Chertsey Museum
The Cedars, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8AT: 01932 565 764

This head-dress from Wanborough Roman temple is one of the most important surviving objects from the period in the UK. Now in the collection of Guildford Museum, the wheel symbol at the top is linked with the Celtic version of Jupiter.

Chobham Museum
Benham's Corner, Bagshot Road, Chobham, Surrey GU2 2JY: 01276 858322

Cobham Bus Museum
Redhill Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1EF: 01932 868665

Museum of Croydon
Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, Croydon, Surrey CR9 1ET: 020 8253 1022

Dorking Museum
The Old Foundry, 62 West Street, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1BS: 01306 876591

At the museum of Holmesdale Natural History Club in Reigate, you can see these Roman box flue tiles, found in 1886 in the Doods Road area â€“ there is evidence of box tiles being made in Roman kilns in the area.

East Surrey Museum
1 Stafford Rd Caterham Surrey CR3 6JG: 01883 340275

Elmbridge Museum
Church Street, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 8DE: 01932 843573

Museum of Farnham
Willmer House, 38 West Street, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DX: 01252 715094

Godalming Museum
109a High Street, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1AQ: 01483 426 510

Spelthorne Museum holds one of the largest collections of Roman material in the county, ranging from roof tiles to this Roman babyâ€™s bottle.

Guildford Museum
Castle Arch, Quarry Street, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3SX: 01483 444 751

Holmesdale Natural History Club museum
14 Croydon Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0PG: 01737 247092

Haslemere Educational Museum
78 High Street, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2LA: 01428 642112

Kingston Museum
Fairfield Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2PS: 020 8547 6460

Wealden iron was a significant industry in Britain for over 2,000 years and the Weald area (Surrey, Sussex and Kent) was the main iron-producing area during the early Roman occupation of Britain and in Tudor and early-Stuart times. This reproduction can be seen at the Rural Life Centre in Tilford.

Leatherhead Museum
Hampton Cottage, 64 Church Street, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8DP: 01372 374093

The Lightbox
Chobham Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 4AA: 01483 737800

National Rifle Association Museum
Bisley Camp, Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU21 0PB: 01483 797777

Queens Royal Surrey Regimental Museum
Clandon Park, West Clandon, Guildford, Surrey GU4 7QR:01483 223419

Found at Guildford Museum, this intricate brooch was buried with an Anglo-Saxon woman in the pagan cemetery on Guildown, the hill above Guildford, in the early 500s AD. It would have been used to fasten a cloak.

Reigate Priory Museum
Reigate Priory School, Bell Street, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7RL: 01737 222550

Museum of Richmond
Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey TW9 1TP: 020 8332 1141

Rural Life Centre
Reeds Road, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey GU10 2DL: 01252 795571

Send and Ripley Museum
Portsmouth Road, Ripley, Surrey GU23 6AF: 01483 224876

At Chertsey Museum, you can see this well-preserved 10th century sword, which was found in Thorpe. Chertsey Abbey, the first monastery in Surrey, was ransacked by the Vikings on a number of occasions.

Shere Museum
The Malt House, Shere Lane, Shere, Guildford, Surrey GU5 9HS: 01483 203 245

Spelthorne Museum
1 Elmsleigh Road, Staines, Surrey TW18 4PM: 01784 461804

Surrey Heath Museum
Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey GU15 3HD: 01276 707284

Watts Gallery
Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1DQ: 01483 810235