This world-renowned tool collection has been amassed since the mid-1950s by former tool retailer and champion of Sheffield’s industrial heritage, Ken Hawley. It consists of over 100,000 objects, all relating to Sheffield’s tool, cutlery manufacturing and silversmithing industry.
The collection is on display in the Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum and cared for by the Ken Hawley Collection Trust. It includes edge tools, measuring tools, tools used for cutlery manufacture and silversmithing, as well as a wide range of related catalogues, photographs, films and oral histories. Drawn mostly from Sheffield and Yorkshire, it also features examples from across Britain and around the globe.
Explore displays including a giant saw wall, an A-Z of Tools and exhibits chronicling all aspects of tool design and manufacture.
This prestigious collection is housed in a building originally known as Russell Works, home to saw makers by Wheatman & Smith.
Additional information about the Hawley Collection can be seen at the Trust’s website at hawleytoolcollection.com and access to their database on Sheffield knives is available via hawleysheffieldknives.com
