We care for one of the world's greatest collections of art and historical items. Over a million objects are held at over two hundred historic places.

Caring for our collections

Collections online

Explore over 700,000 objects from artistic treasures to the everyday, quirky and bizarre on our collections site. What will you discover today?

Treasure hunt

Ever wondered about the stories behind the objects we look after? Treasure Hunt is a blog written by our registrar and collections enthusiast, Emile de Bruijn, who shares his delight in some of our more unusual items.

Art collection

During WWII the National Gallery sent many of their priceless works to the safety of Penrhyn Castle in Wales. Today lots of our houses serve as galleries themselves, for our vast collections of art.

Unusual objects

We've unearthed some of our most intriguing curiosities, fascinating stories and unusual objects in our collection - including Churchill's golden winkle.

Focus on:

Knowledge bank