Alderney Museum

The Alderney Society Museum first opened in 1966, in the basement of the Island Hall, in St. Anne's, Alderney. However, as flooding was a regular problem, in 1969 the States of Alderney offered the Society use of St. Anne's Public School building for a peppercorn rent, when the School moved to newer premises. The Governor of Alderney had built St. Anne's Public School in 1790, at a time when money was plentiful in the Island. The war between Britain and France saw the growth of a thriving business in smuggling and privateering on the Island, and this newfound wealth brought about a boom in building, which included St. Anne's Public School. From 1969 working on a miniscule budget, and with only a handful of dedicated volunteers, the school building was redecorated, the first displays were created, and the Alderney Society Museum again opened to the public in 1970. In 1989, the Alderney Society decided to inventory its Museum collection, a massive undertaking, which involved the recording of artefacts, documents, and photographs, in a museum documentation database. By the time retrospective documentation was complete in 1999, the Museum collections had risen from an original 6,000 pieces to more than 12,000. Currently we hold over 17,000 pieces in our collection. An Administrator runs the Museum, with a full time Curator together with a small group of dedicated members of the Alderney Society who volunteer their time to maintain the Museum displays, set up exhibits, and deal with documentation and conservation.