An outstanding collection of memorabilia

Welcome. I am John Miller, the Honorary Curator of the Museum. Let me tell you about us.

John Miller holds the recently acquired Northiam Station Clock (Photo:Ross Shimmon)

The collection was first displayed in the Town Museum in Station Road, Tenterden which was opened in 1977 in what were once the railway stables. The opening of a new display in a building in premises adjacent to the station at Tenterden was a great step forward when it opened in stages between 1996 and 1998. Display and interpretation could be vastly improved and documents stored on one site. Sufficient space was now available to display a locomotive, even if it was the smallest standard gauge locomotive in Britain, the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire locomotive 'Gazelle'.

The present display is designed to inform and entertain a general non-specialist visitor through displays and models for an hour.

The collection began in the 1960s largely through the foresight of Philip Shaw, the Kent and East Sussex Railways Historian, who began putting aside items donated by former employees of the Stephen's empire. W H Austen junior in particular, was a considerable source of material, much of which he had inherited from his father.

Following nationalisation in 1948 and the closure of Colonel Stephens' office at Salford Terrace, Tonbridge, a large chest was stuffed with papers relating to the various companies and this sat unopened for 30 years or so in the porch of William Austen's home. It proved to be a veritable treasure trove of papers and small artefacts, some of which have still to be sorted and indexed. We must be thankful that other employees also retained material from the offices, because everything else was taken away and burnt.

Fortunately, a large number of personal relics of Colonel Stephens have survived including nearly all the furniture and paraphernalia of his office, a representation of which may be seen in the Town Museum. This includes his roll-top desk and office chair, wicker filing trays, ledgers, pictures, rubber stamps, brief case and even pens, pencils and pieces of chalk. We also have the Colonel's drawing table and stool, his stationery cabinet, and his drawing office and surveying equipment. These are all displayed in the Museum as a representation of the Colonel's Office.

Other bygones of the great man have also remarkably survived and most may be seen - his masonic regalia, bible, camera, family snapshots, pocket watches, walking sticks, vesta case, and his cigar case containing the last unsmoked cigar at the time of his death. A particular prize is the collection of family letters and papers spanning nearly 50 years.

Of greater value still, are the two free pass collections. The first is a collection of 72 wallet or card and watch chain passes all issued to Stephens, mostly in the immediate pre-grouping years of 1921/1922. Stephens was himself particularly proud of these and so are we. Most are first class and include many minor companies that are now almost forgotten. The second collection numbers 54 free passes all issued to W H Austen, many of which are second or third class. Apart from these two collections, we do not know of any others to compare, all made out to the one person. The display of these passes is expected to be completed soon.

The archive collection embraces material from all the 16 railways associated with Colonel Stephens and a general selection of artefacts may be seen in the Museum. It is only a selection because lack of space prevents more being displayed. Included are timetable posters, trespass signs, nameplates, permanent way materials, documents, tickets, notices and a host of other miscellaneous items.

Hidden behind the public display is the heart of the research section, the historical papers dating from about the 1880s occupy 32 steel cabinet filing drawers and the preservation archives dating from 1961 are contained within 78 lever arch files. As todays events are tomorrow's history - and each year more material is donated - the lever arch files grow by about three each year. Incidentally, it has been the policy for some years now to put aside at least two copies of every piece of printed material issued by the company, and it is possible that we have a copy of every leaflet issued for the K&ESR over the past 30 years.

The photographic archive is considerable, though seldom are we given original negatives. Although never counted, there are probably somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 photographs, the earliest of which were in the Colonels collection. We receive many requests for copies of photographs but quite frankly we just do not have the time to provide such a service. We co-operate with a limited number of established authors and photographs acknowledged to "Colonel Stephens Railway Archives" come from the Tenterden archives. Although usually not individually credited, many other illustrations of handbills, tickets or correspondence are also from our collection. Not only do we supply material, but often we are also asked to proof-read the text before publication.

The Tenterden archive is also acknowledged as a source of material for special exhibitions in municipal museums and in recent years we have lent to Chichester, Bexhill and Hastings.

In recent years, a reference library of books on light railway subjects has been put together and this now numbers in excess of 50 titles.

Interestingly, although the Tenterden Railway Company owns most of the preservation archives, the Company only directly owns a small amount of the historical collection. Much of the material is on indefinite loan or is lodged by personal agreement into the care of Philip Shaw. Some owners would like to make rather more permanent arrangements by transferring ownership to a Trust and that is a possibility for the future.

The Kent & East Sussex Railway Co. covers some limited costs, but the museum is reliant on income from admissions and sales to cover acquisitions, conservation, framing, display materials, photography, stationery, photocopying etc. We make a little go a long way but even so, without the occasional private donation we could not achieve as much as we do.