We might not all have a museum to our name, but from postage stamps to precious timepieces, we Brits love to collect. Walk through the nation’s homes, and you’ll find glass cabinets filled with China patterns, drawers stuffed with coins, boxes under the bed of heirlooms pasted down through generations. Since security is our family business, we’re proud to protect what you cherish - and we know that while sometimes that’s a safe full of great-granny’s diamonds, sometimes the things we love the most are worth the world in sentimental value instead.
Collecting isn’t about completing a set: it’s about the journey. And it’s a journey we’ve long had a love affair with since collecting and cataloguing became a popular pastime during the Victorian era. In fact, it was Queen Victoria herself driving the trend, as she was an enthusiastic collector of books, journals and jewellery. She was one of the first monarchs to seriously collect photographs - a cutting-edge technology in the mid-1800s - and amassed albums of family portraits, landscapes, and notable figures. And she inadvertently provided the material for avid collectors across the globe when her portrait appeared on the first adhesive postage stamp, the ‘Penny Black’, in 1840. It sparked a national enthusiasm for stamp collecting, also known as philately, and in 1869 the Royal Philatelic Society London was established - and still continues to promote ‘the king of hobbies’ globally to this day.
Though perhaps every hobbyist collector would argue that theirs is the king, or queen, of hobbies. Take arctophile Kirsty Johnstone, who has amassed over 1200 teddies since childhood, and for whom collecting is a way to record and research history, with bears dating back to the 1900s. But it's also a sense of community that she cherishes.
For Liz West, it wasn’t a childhood teddy but a teenage obsession that turned her into a collector. Her memories of early Spice Girls concerts led her to seek out first memorabilia, and then iconic tour costumes worn by Britain’s biggest girl group, until her curated finds went on a tour of their own through British museums, inspiring others along the way.
Some collectors delight in exquisite craftsmanship or materials, like the precision-crafted watches and atelier-made handbags that we’ve created bespoke safes for over the decades. Others might want to wake up to see an Old Master on their bedroom wall each morning, or to be surrounded by mid-century modern design classics in their living room. But it’s the less expected, more esoteric collections that are so quintessentially British.
Take a road trip to Cumbria, and you’ll find the world's first pencil at the Derwent Pencil Museum, as well as pencils containing hidden maps dating back to WWII. Drive on to Leeds Castle in Kent, and the Dog Collar Museum has canine neckwear dating back to the 16th century. At the Fan Museum in Greenwich, period hand fans (including one with an in-built ear trumpet) are fittingly displayed in a grade II listed Georgian townhouse.
And sometimes the value isn’t in the artefacts alone, but in the narrative told by a collection gathered over the years. Steve Wheeler took the humble milk bottle and turned it into a lifelong passion after a chance discovery during a walk through the British countryside. Now, his 23,000 bottles are housed in a private museum, and chart the changing face of village life, from the age of the early morning milk float to the era of online shopping.
Whatever takes you down memory lane, and whether your collection is record-breaking or for your eyes only, we’re proud to have been trusted to protect what you cherish most for 100 years - and counting.
Book a Survey
Arrange a free survey with our expert team to assess your home or business security needs.
