Designation Scheme
The Designation Scheme is an English system that awards "Designated status" to museum, library and archive collections of national and international importance. The Scheme is administered by Arts Council England. As of 2018, 148 collections are officially designated, with 140 recognized as 'outstanding'. National museums are not eligible for Designated status.
The Scheme was first launched in 1997 under the auspices of what eventually became the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and originally covered only museum collections. Harewood House became the first stately home to be awarded Designated status in 1998. The scheme was expanded to cover libraries and archives in 2005. Responsibility was transferred to the Arts Council in October 2011 following the closure of the MLA.
Designated collections
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
- Bath & North East Somerset Heritage Services
- * Fashion Museum, Bath
- * Roman Baths Museum
- * Bath Record Office
- Birmingham Libraries
- * Birmingham Central Library
- Birmingham Museums & Heritage Birmingham history )
- * Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
- * Aston Hall
- * Blakesley Hall
- * Jewellery Quarter
- * Sarehole Mill
- * Soho House
- Beamish Museum, County Durham
- The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp
- Bowes Museum, Durham
- Bristol City Council Museums, Galleries & Archives Service
- * Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
- * Bristol Industrial Museum
- * Georgian House
- * Red Lodge
- * Blaise Castle House Museum
- Bristol Archives and Bristol Central Library’s Local Studies Service
- Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh
- Cambridge University Museum of Zoology
- Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
- Chetham's Library
- Colchester Castle Museum
- Compton Verney, Warwickshire
- Cornwall Record Office
- Corporation of London
- Courtauld Gallery, London
- Coventry Transport Museum
- Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
- Durham University Library
- Durham University Oriental Museum
- Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum, London
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
- Glasgow Women's Library, Glasgow
- Hampshire Record Office, Winchester
- Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds
- Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
- Institute of Engineering and Technology, London
- Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
- * Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron including Old Furnace
- * Blists Hill Victorian Town
- * Coalport China Museum
- * Jackfield Tile Museum
- * Broseley Pipeworks
- * Darby Houses
- * Library and Archives
- Jewish Museum, London
- John Rylands University Library, University of Manchester
- King's College London
- Kingston upon Hull City Museums and Art Galleries
- * Ferens Art Gallery
- * Hull and East Riding Museum
- * Hull Maritime Museum
- * Streetlife Museum of Transport
- * Wilberforce House
- Lambeth Palace Library
- Lancashire County Museum Service
- * Higher Hill Museum, Helmshore
- * Whitaker's Mill, Helmshore
- * Queen Street Mill, Burnley
- Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham
- Leeds Museums and Galleries
- * Leeds City Art Gallery
- * Leeds City Museum
- * Lotherton Hall
- * Temple Newsam House
- * Armley Mills Industrial Museum
- * Thwaite Mills Museum
- Leeds University Library Special Collections
- The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons' Hall, London
- Lincolnshire Archives, Lincoln
- Liverpool and Merseyside Record Offices
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- * British Library of Political and Economic Science
- * The Women's Library @ LSE
- London Transport Museum
- Manchester City Galleries
- * Manchester City Art Gallery
- * Platt Hall, the Gallery of Costume
- * Wythenshawe Hall
- * Heaton Hall
- Manchester Museum
- Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth
- Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
- Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, London
- Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
- Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
- Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London
- National Co-operative Archive, Co-operative College, Manchester
- National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
- National Tramway Museum, Crich
- Norfolk Record Office
- Northampton Central Museum and Art Gallery
- Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
- Oxford University Library
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History
- People's History Museum, Manchester
- Petrie Museum, London
- Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
- Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
- Royal Academy of Music, London
- Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
- Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham
- Royal Geographical Society
- Royal Institute of British Architects, London
- The Royal Mail Archive, London
- Royal Pavilion, Libraries and Museums
- * Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
- * Royal Pavilion
- * Preston Manor
- * Booth Museum of Natural History
- St John's College, Cambridge
- Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
- Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon
- Sheffield City Museum
- Sir John Soane's Museum, London
- Southampton City Council Cultural Services
- * Southampton City Art Gallery
- * Museum of Archaeology, Southampton
- Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service
- * Potteries Museum
- * Etruria Industrial Museum
- * Ford Green Hall
- Tyne and Wear Archives
- Tyne and Wear Museums
- * Discovery Museum
- * Laing Art Gallery
- * Monkwearmouth Station Museum
- * Shipley Art Gallery
- * South Shields Museum and Art Gallery
- * Stephenson Railway Museum
- * Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery
- * Washington 'F' Pit Museum
- Unilever Archives & Records Management, Manchester
- University of Birmingham Library
- University of Cambridge Churchill Archives Centre
- University of Nottingham
- University of Reading
- * Library
- * Museum of English Rural Life
- University of Sussex Library
- University of Warwick Modern Records Centre
- Waterways Trust
- * National Waterways Museum, Gloucester
- * Ellesmere Port museum, Ellesmere Port
- * Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne
- Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Chichester
- Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston, Stoke on Trent
- Wellcome Trust
- Westminster Libraries and Archives
- Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge
- Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
- Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
- Wordsworth Trust, Dove Cottage, Lake District
- York Museums Trust
- * York Castle Museum
- * York City Art Gallery
- * The York Story
- * Yorkshire Museum