New acquisition at Epping Forest District Museum
Epping Forest District Museum has acquired a nationally significant Early Medieval ring found by a metal detectorist in Matching, Essex- The Portable Antiquities Scheme The nearly complete gold ring, which dates from 550 to 640 AD, is crafted from a flat sheet of gold. The front of the ring features a bird in flight motif…
New Interpretation at the Essex Cricket Museum
The Essex Cricket Museum, officially known as Peter Edwards Museum & Library, has celebrated the 150th anniversary of Essex County Cricket Club and its own 20th with a stunning set of eleven new permanent display boards. The original boards, which had been in place for the whole 20 years, were a straightforward history of the…
Thaxted Windmill – More than Repair and Conservation
The Windmill in Thaxted, Essex, UK, built by local entrepreneur John Webb in 1804, is currently undergoing repair and conservation in a two-year £1.6 million project. The capital works will conserve this Grade II listed Windmill and its machinery by carrying out a comprehensive programme of structural and millwrighting works, so that it is no…
The King and Queen visit the Munnings Art Museum
On Thursday 5 February, The King and Queen took a tour of the Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, Essex. The Museum is at Castle House, the former home of the East Anglian artist Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) and is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2026. Munnings is most well-known for painting horses and The King…
New Member – The Cart and Wagon Shed
Welcome to a new member of Museums Essex, The Cart and Wagon Shed in Shoeburyness. Here an introduction from Chris Spall, Director: The Cart and Wagon Shed is an early example of a prefabricated iron-frame ex-military building constructed around 1860. It is Grade II listed for its special architectural or historic interest and has been…
Museum Interactives on a Budget at the East Anglian Railway Museum
Museum interactives do not have to be technical, expensive, space-hungry, or dependent on staff or volunteers to run. Over the past year, the East Anglian Railway Museum has hosted two public interactives, both of which have been highly successful. Neither required a large budget, specialist equipment, or staff supervision, yet both consistently engaged visitors. The…
Southend Pier / Sopot Pier Project
You may be aware that Southend is twinned with Sopot in Poland. The question is why? In the Pier Museum we had two small pictures of Sopot pier. However, the specific details remain largely unknown. Part of the Museum’s charitable status is to enhance understanding of the Pier and to educate our visitors. We also…
Funding Success!
Cultural Development Grant Fund We are delighted to announce that two of our Museums Essex members have been successful in their applications to the recent Essex County Council Cultural Development Fund. The successful recipients are Epping Forest District Museum and The Minories. Their projects meet both of the grant funds criteria by providing local community…
A ship’s bell lost to the sea for more than 130 years has returned to its Essex port home
Text and images from Matt Knight, BBC Essex (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7nznnj8nlo) The Masonic sank off the North Yorkshire coast during a fierce storm in 1893, and the entire crew and the ship’s high-copper alloy bell were lost. But it is now back in Brightlingsea, where the ship was built, after workers constructing the Dogger Bank Wind Farm…
World War One Propeller wings its way back to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome is delighted to receive the gift of a World War One bomber propeller from Wilkin & Sons in Tiptree. The hand-carved mahogany propeller was originally gifted to the famous Tiptree jam maker in 1919 by airmen at Stow Maries, when the aerodrome was being decommissioned. Now, over a century later,…
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