The Mapping Museum research project was created to look at the increase in the number of museums in the UK. As part of this project, Guy Farage and Daniel Taylor were interviewed about the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum.

Explore more about the Mapping Museum project here and read Farage and Taylor's interview below:

Interview summary

Name of person(s) being interviewed: Guy Farage and Daniel Taylor

Location of interview: The Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum

Date of Recording: 29 October 2018

Recording Length: 01:01:15

Name of interviewer: Dr Toby Butler

Description: The Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum is dedicated to displaying the regimental uniforms, medals, weapons, armoured vehicles, models and memorabilia.

Summary of main points in interview: Guy Farage became involved in 1956 with Boris Mollo (a professional curator); both were collectors of militaria. A serving member of the Kent Yeomanry called John Ward owned Squerryes Court in Westerham and offered a room for the museum. The Sharpshooters and the Kent Yeomanry merged in 1961 and their regimental collections were combined. The Ward family eventually needed the space and Farage explains how the museum moved to Hever Castle. The involvement of their honorary colonel Nicholas Soames helped their plans for a purpose-built museum. Farage explains that the collection started in Drill Halls with banners, paintings, awards, models and silver. They wanted to raise the profile of the regiment and have a proper museum to display objects to the public and tell some of the extraordinary stories of bravery. Curator Taylor describes the display in the gatehouse, which initially was badly lit and had problems with pests and humidity. He says visitor numbers are around 100,000 a year. The display was influenced by the Firepower Museum, including removable panels in the exhibition to create multi-use space. Daniel feels museums have become over-curated with too few objects, and would like to go back to more crowded cabinets. He would like to know more about the visitor profile.

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