History of The Collections

Objects have played an integral role in campus life, teaching and research since the University’s inception.

When plans were drawn up for an Edgbaston site in the 1890s, they included eight separate museums. These all related to academic disciplines including Commerce, Applied Chemistry, Metallurgy, Mining, Engineering, Geology and Physiology.

In addition to these museums, there were collections held by different departments all across the University. Long before the arrival of audio-visual and digital media, objects were used to bring teaching to life. Lecturers and professors engaged their students using tangible artefacts and inventions, and the real-life stories that went with them.

In 1991, one hundred years after those Edgbaston plans were drawn up, Vice-Chancellor Sir Michael Thompson and Registrar David Holmes commissioned a survey of all the paintings and works on paper, sculpture, cultural artefacts, and ceremonial objects that were housed across the University. 

They soon discovered that there were thousands of objects, together reflecting a rich history of ideas, discovery and creativity. A University Curator was appointed to begin the task of cataloguing, organising and assessing these newly identified collections – the University Collections.

Since then, the collections and the team who care for them have continued to grow. The University Collections was renamed Research and Cultural Collections in 2006 and returned to its roots as University Collections again in 2025 - the year of the institutions’ 125th anniversary.

In 2008 the collections received Museum Registration, followed by full Museum Accreditation by Arts Council England.

For information about the history of the collection and collecting practices, see our  Collections Development Policy.