Meet our Board of Trustees
The Powell-Cotton Trust is guided by a dedicated Board of Trustees who bring expertise from across the arts, heritage, science, and local community sectors. Together, they support the Museum’s vision…
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Following the success of Decolonisation and Practice, which led to the reinterpretation of the East African collections held at the museum, the Powell-Cotton Museum is proud to continue its pioneering…
We’ve achieved Museum Accreditation – again!
We’re proud to announce that the Powell-Cotton Museum has once again achieved Museum Accreditation! This recognition from Arts Council England shows our collections are cared for to the highest national…
Explore our new Digital Guide on Bloomberg Connects
The Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex House and Gardens is joining over 1,000 cultural spaces around the world on the Bloomberg Connects platform, which offers expert-curated content, behind-the-scenes stories, and audio and…
We are looking for a finance Trustee to join the Powell-Cotton Trust
The Powell-Cotton Trust (PCT) is looking to recruit a new trustee with a finance specialism, in particular, who has experience and understanding of property and/or investment management. The Powell-Cotton Trust…
Collect your Wheels of Time badge from us!
We are thrilled to be a new participating member of the Wheels of Time badge collecting scheme, alongside neighbouring Thanet venues the RAF Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum, the RAF…
Our roof replacement project – update number 6
Have you visited us since we opened for the 2025 season? Hopefully, you have noticed the wonderful changes to Galleries 1, 2 and 3. From a fresh coat of paint,…
Folktales of the Garden
As Head Gardener at Quex, my role involves much more than just tending to the horticultural tasks and general maintenance. I am constantly planning for a variety of factors in…
Opening Weekend – Saturday 15th February
And what an amazing opening weekend it was! The opening event was the culmination of so much prep, planning, and hard work by the entire Powell-Cotton Museum & Gardens team. The day…
We are recruiting Trustees to join the Powell-Cotton Trust
The Powell-Cotton Trust (PCT) is looking to recruit new trustees with one or more of the following specific skills: business finance and/or charity fundraising; property and/or investment management; gardens and…
What's On at Powell-Cotton Museum
Visit us by attending one of our special events and open days, partnering with local and national organisations, projects and schemes. We’re listing new events regularly. Find out more…
What’s On
Our natural history curator Rachel, Rosie and Catherine from our Gardens team stepped inside the Gallery 1 dioramas this week to look closely at the plants.
They’re helping us research how the dioramas were made and what materials were used, while also exploring the fascinating links between the gardens and the museum, which species may have been grown locally, and whether any still grow in Quex Garden today.
The plants in Gallery 1 are a careful mix of real foliage and replicas. In the 1930s, Percy Powell-Cotton sought advice from Arthur Hill, then Director of @kewgardens, to ensure the vegetation looked convincing.
The results of their first findings are fascinating. The vines in the primate and tiger dioramas are made from real clematis stems (likely grown locally), finished with artificial leaves copied from an Indian liana. Many of the trees in the large diorama also appear to be hawthorn, fitted with handmade leaves.
With plenty of photographs taken, the team will now investigate further and see how many more species can be identified and whether living links to these dioramas are still growing in the gardens today.
#PowellCottonMuseum #QuexGardens #NaturalHistory #BehindTheScenes #Diorama #MuseumResearch #BotanicalHistory #NaturalHistory
We thought it was just a basket...
While our team were decanting Gallery 7 - home to our display of Chinese and Japanese ceramics - we had the rare chance to take a closer look at some of the items that haven’t been viewed outside their cases in many years.
Among the surprises, was what we’d always thought was simply a decorative basket - which turned out to hold a beautiful Chinese porcelain teapot.
Delicately painted and exceptionally fine, it’s a perfect example of the craftsmanship that made Chinese porcelain so prized around the world. We loved the mixture of design and functionality, using the spout of the teapot as part of the closing mechanism!
We’re now diving into the archives to uncover the story behind this piece - who made it, how it was used, and how it came to be part of the collection here at the Powell Cotton Museum. Watch this space for updates!
#MuseumLife #PowellCottonMuseum #BehindTheScenes #MuseumExhibits #MuseumStories #KentMuseums #Conservation
Snuff bottles and netsuke will soon be securely redisplayed following the latest phase of our roof works, thanks to conservation-grade glue dots made in-house!
These objects were previously secured with putty sometimes used in museums and galleries; however, this proved both visually intrusive and ineffective for certain items.
Our new solution involves creating small tacky dots using a reliable conservation-grade adhesive that discreetly secures objects to shelves. This method, borrowed from our peers at @canterburymuseum in Christchurch, New Zealand, was originally developed as a protective measure against earthquakes and similar events.
To make the dots, adhesive is applied to greaseproof paper and left to dry. Once ready, they can be peeled off and applied where needed. The glue dots were first tested in the conservation workshop to ensure their effectiveness.
With ongoing roof works causing higher-than-usual vibrations in the museum, it’s the perfect time to trial them in the gallery - testing their grip on various items - including a Weeble and a nail - along the way! It’s all part of keeping our displays safe and looking their best.
#MuseumLife #PowellCottonMuseum #BehindTheScenes #MuseumExhibits #MuseumStories #Conservation #KentMuseums
Phase 2 of our MEND roof replacement continues...
Our Collections team have been carefully decanting the artefacts from Gallery 7 ahead of the next phase of the maintenance work on the floors and ceilings in the museum.
We`re making sure every object is safely stored and protected while work takes place.
This does mean Gallery 7 will be closed for a few weeks, but we`re excited to be embarking on the next chapter of this gallery space.
But don`t worry, Quex House, Gardens and Galleries 1 to 4, featuring our natural history dioramas, African exhibitions and archaeological displays are still open to the public.
Visit us Friday to Sunday and Bank holidays, 11am-4pm.
#MuseumLife #ConservationInAction #BehindTheScenes
Museum Team Member Daiz is back with another fascinating behind the scenes look at the conservation work we do here at the museum.
This time, they are repairing 100 year old curtains in Quex House.
#MuseumConservation #BehindTheScenes #MuseumLife #CurtainRestoration #MuseumTeam
The museum refurbishment works have revealed another clue to those who helped make the museum!
Whilst stripping wallpaper in Gallery 1 (the largest diorama gallery), the decorator noticed a pencil print on the paper. We think it reads:
"G.A. Smith P.H. [paper hanger?] June 15th 1936"
Do you know who G.A Smith is? Can we make a connection with the past through the signature he left? Share this post and help us solve the puzzle.
#behindthescenes #museummakers #museummystery #signature #heritage #MuseumRefurbishment #HistoricalClue #MuseumHistory
Welcome back to another day in the life with Museum Team Member, Daiz!
Today Daiz shares that their day included helping to move a huge taxidermy elephant`s head, pest trapping, moving specimens into the big freezer to kill potential pests and a spot of curtain repairing! What does a typical workday involve for you?
#MuseumLife #BehindTheScenes #MuseumTeam #Taxidermy #CuratorialWork
Progress and Developments in Collections Management
On Tuesday, 3rd December, two of our Collections team visited Canterbury Cathedral to meet with their Archives team. They use the same Collections Management System (CMS) we’ve recently adopted. It was a fantastic opportunity to see how they manage their diverse collections—objects, library materials, and archives—and gain insights into how this powerful system works in practice.
Highlights of the day included:
- A tour of the Cathedral’s archives and library.
- Exploring the awe-inspiring Cathedral itself.
- Valuable discussions about best practices, potential challenges, and handy tips.
This CMS is a major upgrade from spreadsheets, enabling us to more effectively catalogue, care for, and share our collections. Eventually, we will have an online catalogue that can be accessed worldwide. It’s a long-term project (years in the making!), but learning from others makes the process less daunting and more inspiring.
In a time of challenges across the sector, collaboration and knowledge-sharing are more important than ever. A big thank you to the team at Canterbury Cathedral for their hospitality and insights!
Canterbury Cathedral Visit Kent Museums Association #BestPractices
#CollectionsManagement #MuseumLife #BehindTheScenes #Collaboration
Behind the scenes discovery!
During our gallery redecoration works, one of the workmen found a sheet of paper hidden behind a display case in gallery 3! The document appears to be handwirtten by Hannah Powell-Cotton (blue writing) and her son Christopher (black writing).
From the text which we have been able to read, we can tell it is a written plan of where different objects will be displayed in the museum. It seems Hannah`s text suggests plans and ideas for where new display cases will go; "could they make a case in Hall - passage when this is built" and how to display the objects; "could in some cases illustrate a whole. <unreadable section> if a case - in others, it could have to illustrate a single object. as many as sensible (?) i.e. not taking up too much room".
Christopher`s notes appear to respond to Hannah`s; " Yes - but we have insufficient storage room to afford to show only a few selected specimens - otherwise agreed in principle".
Historic buildings often hold secrets that are only discovered when building works take place so this is very exciting. This precious note will now be accessioned into our archive and form part of the story of our museum.
#BehindTheScenes #MuseumLife #HistoricFind #MuseumExhibits #MuseumDiscovery #MuseumArchiving #MuseumStories #Archives
Join us for a day in the life with Museum Team Member, Daiz, as they show you the kind of work they do behind the scenes.
Kids in MuseumsVisit Thanet- Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate
#museumwork #museumjobs #behindthescenes #dayinthelife
#BehindTheScenes #MuseumMonday
We are now in the second phase of our thorough conservation work with our stored collections. This work is part of a large storage project which will move collections from storage conditions suffering water ingress and pest infestation to more suitable areas.
Part of the process is unpacking and repacking collections with fresh materials, in correctly sized boxes.
Currently we are working with our very precious primate collection which is regularly requested by researchers.
This particular specimen is a male Agile Monkey.
@visitkent @visitthanet @kentattractions
#Reimaginingthemuseum #conservation #museum #powellcottonmuseum
“A Confession
Time was that I
Was gayest of the gay;
I passed my days
In mirth and joy.
But now my heart is sad
Because I love
But dare not my love.
Secrecy”
Celebrating St. Valentine`s day today by sharing our charming collection of Valentine`s cards, each associated with Henry Horace Powell Cotton (1830-1994), Percy Powell-Cotton’s father.
All the cards are very intricate and highly decorated. Each one has a thin paper front, of lacelike appearance. Almost veil like, perhaps to hide the emotions held by the sender. Usually decorated with colourful flowers, one also has the image of a locket and printed words ‘My heart with love is beating’.
Another of the cards is in an envelope addressed to Horace Powell Cotton Esqr. Quakes, Ramsgate. It is stamped with a ‘Penny Red’ stamp and contains the verse above written within. In 1865 Horace, as he was known, married Matilda Christina Gordon (1841-1916). She was from a Scottish family and was living in Scotland in her early years so it is
unlikely this card came from her, but some of the others may well have.
Happy Valentine`s Day to all our staff, volunteers and visitors - We hope you enjoyed learning about this special collection today!
#behindthescenes #objectinfocus #fromthearchives #quexhouseandgardens #powellcottonmuseum #museumobject #valentines #valentinesday
@visitkent @visitthanet @kentattractions
