The Artefacts
The Hockey Museum’s (THM) collection of artefacts – i.e. three-dimensional items – grows every week as people donate more material. Old sticks and playing kit are obvious collectables, but you need only look at the different collections listed on this site to realise how diverse they are.
There are over 1,000 books in the library which, along with the magazines, handbooks and photographs, provide a valuable resource for anyone studying our sport. Hockey illustrations, paintings and prints, many of which date back to the early days of hockey now number over 400 and the museum also has a wide selection of playing (and goalkeeper) kit and equipment spanning hockey's 150-year 'modern' history.
To access more details on the different types of artefacts currently housed in THM, please navigate through the sections displayed to the left of this article.
In addition to the currently navigable sections, THM has many examples of items such as fixture cards, umpire’s whistles, goalkeeping equipment, corner flags, Olympic ceremony attire and more – it is hoped in time that we will be able to document these areas more fully.
The Archives
The Archives – which are paper or digital records – are also very diverse. Important archives include the books and magazines in the Museum’s library, photographs, scrapbooks and press cuttings, programmes, official minutes, the records of national, regional, county and umpiring associations and many club records, as well as the playing records and statistics of national teams. THM has an ongoing oral history project which captures the stories of hockey people around the world and is seeking to compile histories of the 4000+ clubs that have existed in England since 1871. Perhaps the most important archive will be the compilation and production of an ‘authoritative history’ of hockey to give the first accurate, fully referenced history of our sport.
As with the artefacts, information on THM’s various archival materials can be discovered by navigating through the sections displayed to the left of this article.
For more information on any particular set of archives or artefacts, please use our online contact form.
What THM collects is covered by our Collections Development Policy, downloadable by clicking on the icon to the right.
Researching the many different aspects of hockey’s history is often what brings together, and brings to life, the artefacts and the archives. We accommodate many visiting students and academics to help them with their research and copies of their projects are important assets of THM. We also undertake many different studies ourselves through our volunteers who identify subjects of their own interest. To access more details about the current Study Topics and Research Projects, please click here.
