Skip to main content

Red Boxes Gallery

Unboxing England’s Histories…

About the project

2019 marked the 120th anniversary of the Victoria County History (VCH): an ongoing project to write the history of every county in England, from the earliest times to the present day.

To celebrate, counties across England have each filled a special VCH Red Box – referencing the iconic VCH series of Red Books – with objects which tell the history of their place in quirky, surprising, and often personal ways. From musket balls to sari fabrics to a pinch of mustard, please enjoy exploring these objects and their rich and colourful stories.

Selected objects are on display at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, London (November 2019 – February 2020). The full Red Boxes collection is below, in a permanent virtual exhibition, with all object captions. Scroll down the page to view the full captions as PDFs.

Thank you to all who participated in this national public history project.

Thank you also to the Victoria County History Trust for funding the Red Boxes project, and to our partners, the Being Human Festival.

Explore the VCH Red Boxes gallery with Professor Catherine Clarke

Cumbria

Durham

Essex

Gloucestershire

Hampshire

Herefordshire

Leicestershire

Middlesex

Norfolk

Northamptonshire

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Shropshire

Somerset

Wiltshire