Donate an object

Carisbrooke Castle Museum has been collecting items relating to the Isle of Wight for over 120 years.

Thanks to the generosity of the many people who have donated objects, photographs and documents we now have an extensive collection that telling the story of life on the Island over the last 1000 years. We are grateful for all the donations that have helped us build our collection.

Our Collecting Policy

The collecting policy for Carisbrooke Castle Museum is:
“To collect objects, artefacts, books, documents and pictures which illustrate or are related to the particular history and culture of the Isle of Wight from the Norman conquest to the present day, or which illustrate the history of Carisbrooke Castle and its inhabitants”.
Objects will usually be considered for acquisition if they satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
Illustrate the Isle of Wight’s particular history and culture
Relate to a significant person, place or event connected with the Isle of Wight
Made on the Island, or by an individual associated with the Island and of recognised significance. The full collections development policy is available.

Collection Policy

We cannot accept every item

We are unable to accept all offers that are made to us, often due to lack of storage space. We may also not accept an offer for one of the following reasons:
We already have a similar item in our collection
The item doesn’t meet the criteria of our collecting policy
The item isn’t in good condition
There isn’t enough information about the history of the item

Important Information

We are unable to give valuations
We don’t usually accept items on long-term loan
We can’t accept items with specific conditions attached
Please do not bring or send items to the museum without a prior appointment, we are not able to store them for you whilst we make decisions regarding the donation
We only accept items that relate to, or originate from, the Isle of Wight and that fit our collecting policy.

How to Donate

If you feel that your item is of particular importance to local history of the Isle of Wight please contact our team. As we are a very small team please be patient waiting for a response.
Please include images of the item and as much information as possible about its history. If your donation contains multiple objects please provide an itemised list of everything you wish to donate.
Email info@carisbrookecastlemuseum.org.uk
Write to Carisbrooke Castle Museum, Castle Hill, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1XY

What Happens Next?

If we are interested in accepting the item a member of our team will be in contact to make arrangements with you.
If we feel it is not appropriate for us we will try to advise you of a suitable alternative.
As we check each offer individually it make take a few weeks for us to get back to you.