Pictures of Dover's Past - New Collection Bequeathed To Dover Museum

Dover Museum's important collection of pictures of Dover's past has received a unique boost following the generous bequest of a collection of 122 watercolours, sketches and drawings of the town from Miss Elizabeth Knott, who died in 2005 aged 92.

The watercolours are by the Horsley family, mainly by Mary Horsley who was a well-known figure in Dover, and wrote a number of histories of the town. The pictures cover the period 1830 to 1900 and are a unique record of a town landscape that has now almost entirely disappeared, either through the major Victorian street widening programme of the 1890's or through the damage of two world wars.

The album was originally acquired by Miss Knott's father, Stephen Knott, who was an auctioneers clerk at Flashman's in the Market Square.

The album will form part of Dover Museum's extensive collection of pictures of the town. This follows recent news that the Museum has acquired a photographic library of 460 postcard images of the area from a local collector, who had been collecting postcards of Dover for over 25 years.

For more information, please contact Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.