Designation Scheme

The Designation Scheme is an English system that awards "Designated status" to museum, library and archive collections of national and international importance. The Scheme is administered by Arts Council England (ACE).^[1] As of 2020, 152 collections are officially designated.^[2] National museums are not eligible for Designated status.

The Scheme was first launched in 1997 under the auspices of what eventually became the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and originally covered only museum collections. Harewood House became the first stately home to be awarded Designated status in 1998.^[3] The scheme was expanded to cover libraries and archives in 2005. Responsibility was transferred to the Arts Council in October 2011 following the closure of the MLA.^[4]

Designated collections[]

• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
• The Baring Archive, London
• Bath & North East Somerset Heritage Services
  • Fashion Museum, Bath
  • Roman Baths Museum
  • Bath Record Office
• Birmingham Libraries (The Photography Collection, The Archives, Early and Fine Printing Collections, Literature Collections, The Birmingham Collection, The Music Collection)
• Birmingham Museums Trust (Fine and decorative arts, science and industry, Birmingham history (including numismatics), the Pinto collection)
  • Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (main site)
  • Aston Hall
  • Blakesley Hall
  • Jewellery Quarter
  • Sarehole Mill
  • Soho House (main site)
• Beamish Museum, County Durham
• The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp
• Bowes Museum, Durham
• Black Country Living Museum, Dudley
• Bradford Industrial Museum (Worsted Collection)
• British Motor Museum (entire holdings of motor cars, motoring related artefacts and archive material)
• The British Postal Museum and Archive (The Royal Mail Archive)
• Bristol City Council Museums, Galleries & Archives Service (Collections related to Bristol’s role as a manufacturing city and major seaport)
  • Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery (main site)
  • Bristol Industrial Museum
  • Georgian House
  • Red Lodge
  • Blaise Castle House Museum
• Bristol Archives and Bristol Central Library’s Local Studies Service
• , Aldeburgh
• BT Heritage (BT Archives)
• Cambridge University Museum of Zoology
• Cambridge University Library (special collections)
• Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum (The arts and crafts collections)
• Chesterholm Museum – Vindolanda
• Chetham's Library (The whole of the collections)
• Colchester Castle Museum (Archaeology collections)
• Compton Verney, Warwickshire (Archaic Chinese bronzes)
• Cornwall Record Office (The archives relating to Cornwall's hard-rock mining industry)
• Corporation of London (Guildhall Library and London Metropolitan Archives) (The History of London collection)
• Courtauld Gallery, London
• Coventry Transport Museum
• Derby Museum and Art Gallery (The Joseph Wright of Derby collection)
• Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
• Durham University Library (The Bishop Cosin’s Library and The Sudan Archive)
• Durham University Oriental Museum (Egyptian and Chinese collections)
• English Folk Dance and Song Society (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library)
• Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
• Glasgow Women's Library, Glasgow
• Hampshire Record Office, Winchester
• Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds
• Horniman Museum and Gardens, London (The musical instruments collections and ethnographic collections)
• Institution of Engineering and Technology, London
• Institution of Civil Engineers, London (The library, archive, and works of Art)
• Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
  • Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron including Old Furnace
  • Blists Hill Victorian Town
  • Coalport China Museum
  • Jackfield Tile Museum
  • Broseley Pipeworks
  • Darby Houses
  • Library and Archives
• Jewish Museum, London (The Ritual Judaica collection)
• John Rylands Library, the University of Manchester
• Kensington Royal Palace (royal ceremonial dress collection)
• King's College London (Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives)
• Kingston upon Hull City Museums and Art Galleries
  • Ferens Art Gallery
  • Hull and East Riding Museum
  • Hull Maritime Museum
  • Streetlife Museum of Transport
  • Wilberforce House
• Lambeth Palace Library
• (The textile industry collections)
  • , Helmshore
  • , Helmshore
  • Queen Street Mill, Burnley
• Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham
• Leeds Museums and Galleries (Natural science, fine and decorative arts, and industrial collections)
  • Leeds City Art Gallery
  • Leeds City Museum
  • Lotherton Hall
  • Temple Newsam House
  • Armley Mills Industrial Museum
  • Thwaite Mills Museum
• Leeds University Library Special Collections (The English Literature Collection, The Romany Collection, The Cookery Collection, The Leeds Russian Archive, The Liddle Collection)
• The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons' Hall, London
• Lincolnshire Archives, Lincoln (Episcopal Rolls and Registers)
• Linnean Society of London (entirety of the Linnean Society’s library, archive and biological specimen collections)
• (Photographic image collection)
• London School of Economics and Political Science
  • British Library of Political and Economic Science
  • The Women's Library @ LSE
• London Transport Museum
• (Fine and decorative art, and Costume collections)
  • Manchester City Art Gallery
  • Platt Hall, the Gallery of Costume
  • Wythenshawe Hall
  • Heaton Hall
• Manchester Museum
• Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth
• Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
• Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, London (The Silver Studio collection)
• Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands
• Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
• Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
• National Co-operative Archive, Co-operative College, Manchester
• National Football Museum, Manchester (core collections)
• National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
• National Tramway Museum, Crich
• Norfolk Record Office (Collections relating to the history of Norfolk)
• Northampton Central Museum and Art Gallery (Boot and Shoe Collection)
• (The Lace Machinery and Lace Collections)
• Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
• Oxford University Library (Special collections at the Bodleian Library: Rare books, Manuscripts and Archives, Maps, Music, and Oxford University Archives)
• Oxford University Museum of Natural History
• People's History Museum, Manchester
• Petrie Museum, London
• Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
• Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (The Cottonian collection)
• Porthcurno Telegraph Museum (core collection of submarine telegraphy objects and the historic archive collections of key international telegraph cable companies)
• Royal Academy of Arts, London (collections, library and archive)
• Royal Academy of Music, London (The Special Collections and Archives of the Royal Academy of Music Library)
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (world cultures collections and the Montagu collection)
• Royal Artillery Collection
• Royal College of Music Museum and Library Collections
• Royal College of Surgeons of England (Hunterian Museum Collection, Library and Archive)
• Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham
• Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) (All geographical collections)
• Royal Horticultural Society, London (Lindley Library)
• Royal Institute of British Architects, London (The British Architecture Library)
• (Decorative arts, World Art and Anthropology, and Natural History)
  • Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
  • Royal Pavilion
  • Preston Manor
  • Booth Museum of Natural History
• St John's College, Cambridge (Old Library collection)
• Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum (The archaeology collections)
• Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
• Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon (All collections relating to Shakespeare’s life and times)
• Sheffield City Museum (Metalwork collections)
• Sir John Soane's Museum, London
• Southampton City Council Cultural Services
  • Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Museum of Archaeology, Southampton
• SS Great Britain (SS Great Britain collection)
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service
• Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service
  • Potteries Museum
  • Etruria Industrial Museum
  • Ford Green Hall
• Torquay Museum (Quaternary Cave Collection and associated archive)
• Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery (natural science collection)
• Tyne and Wear Archives (Shipbuilding, Marine and Maritime Trade Collection)
• Tyne and Wear Museums (Fine and Decorative Arts, Natural Sciences, and Science and Technology Collections)
  • Discovery Museum
  • Laing Art Gallery
  • Monkwearmouth Station Museum
  • Shipley Art Gallery
  • Stephenson Railway Museum
  • Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery
• Unilever Archives & Records Management (Unilever plc), Manchester (archive of the United Africa Company and all permanent archive collections)
• University of Bristol Theatre Collection
• University of Birmingham Library (The Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts)
• University of Cambridge Churchill Archives Centre
• University of Nottingham (The D. H. Lawrence collection; collections related to the Portland (London), Portland of Wellbeck and Newcastle of Clumber families)
• University of Reading
  • Archive of British Publishing and Printing
  • Library (The Beckett Collection)
  • Museum of English Rural Life
• University of Sussex Library (The Mass-Observation Archive)
• University of Warwick Modern Records Centre
• Waterways Trust
  • National Waterways Museum, Gloucester (lead site)
  • Ellesmere Port museum, Ellesmere Port
  • Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne
• Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Chichester
• Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston, Stoke on Trent
• Wellcome Trust (All collections within the Wellcome Library)
• (The Art and Design collection)
• Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge
• Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
• Wiener Library, London
• William Morris Gallery, London (William Morris and Morris & Co. collection)
• Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
• Wordsworth Trust, Dove Cottage, Lake District
• York Museums Trust
  • York Castle Museum
  • York City Art Gallery
  • Yorkshire Museum

See also[]

• Designated landmark (US)
• Designated place (Canada)

References[]