Visiting the Museum!

Our standard opening hours are:

Wednesday-Saturday 10-5pm

Sundays & Bank Holidays 2-5pm

Closed Mondays (apart from bank holidays)

Tuesdays are reserved for pre-booked group visits by schools and other parties in term time. In the school summer holidays the museum will be open on Tuesdays 11am-5pm for general admission visits. 

www.saffronwaldenmuseum.org

Object of the Month

The Museum’s ‘Object of the Month’ provides an opportunity to explore interesting and unusual objects from our stores. 

Stansted’s Roman Secrets

Stansted Mountfitchet has its origins in the medieval period, but there were earlier Romano-British settlements in the area. Saffron Walden Museum preserves some clues left by these small Romano-British communities.

The Parish Church of St Mary occupies the site of a substantial Roman ‘villa’ building. There are records of Roman pottery and building materials being found in the churchyard in the 19^th century. When the Church underwent restoration in 1888, remains of a tessellated floor were found. The contractor Mr Glasscock saved a piece and gave it to the Museum in 1919. The Museum also has pieces of Roman roof and box-flue tiles collected in the churchyard by J J Green in 1891. Box-flue tiles formed flues which vented the hot air from underfloor heating up through the walls.

Mr Green also recovered much Romano-British pottery from a site off Limekiln Lane. The pottery which he gave to the Museum appears to come from a typical farmstead or small settlement, not as well-to-do as the villa on the Church’s site.

A Roman silver ring (pictured left), set with an engraved glass paste gem, was found near Stansted in 2016 by a researcher and detectorist. The ring dates to AD 200 – 300 and the tiny engraving on the gem shows a metalworker at an anvil. He could be either Vulcan, the god of fire or Daedalus, a mythical craftsman and father of Icarus. Saffron Walden Museum acquired the ring through the Treasure Act.

Last chance to catch our

Current Exhibition 

All Fired Up!

runs until 3rd July 2022

Essex Fire Museum & Saffron Walden Museum have collaborated to create a unique exhibition about the history of firefighting in Essex. 

The exhibits include a wide range of artefacts, photographs, uniforms and equipment which trace the history of firefighting from Victorian times to the present day.  It also features private and works’ fire brigades, which were particularly prominent in Essex during the 20th century.

Along with discovering some of the technological developments which have influenced firefighting, visitors will also be able to discover heroic stories of bravery and the human stories behind some of the major incidents which have occurred in the county’s history. 

The exhibition touches upon some of the more obscure aspects of local fire-fighting history, including a troupe of fire-fighting scouts, a famous fire-fighting vicar and the story of how an obscure family pet caused a local mansion to go up in flames. 

Thanks to everyone for their support during the run of this exhibition. We've loved hearing all the great feedback from visitors. 

Upcoming Exhibition:

Lost Language of Nature

opens Saturday 16 July

Lost Language of Nature brings stories of animals and nature from around the world to Saffron Walden Museum. 

Part of a year-long project to begin to recognise and discuss the global origins of the museum’s taxidermy items and to respect, share and record their international stories through community work and exhibitions.

The focus of our community work is to collect both local and international stories and cultural information about our taxidermy specimens from the public. 

Saffron Story Board

Heritage Development Group

Sarah Kenyon, one of our Natural Sciences Officers represented the Museum at the unveiling of the interpretation board on 14 June. The board is located on the wall of Saffron Walden Town Hall. It explains the relationship of the town with saffron crocus. The Saffron Story project involves a leaflet, video, walking tours and culminates in Saffron Day in the town on 16 October. There will be a display of objects at the Museum in October and the leaflet is available in the museum's entrance hall close to the welcome desk.

Special Roadside Verges

We are conducting ecological surveys at the Special Roadside Verges in Uttlesford district.

So far, we’ve been out spotting Cowslips at Little Sampford and Crosswort at Catmere End. Here is a close-up picture of one of the Crosswort plants which is 1 cm wide and 20 cm long. The verges are remnants of flower-rich chalk grassland meadows that once covered this area. They preserve nationally scarce plant species such as Crested Cow-wheat, Sulphur Clover and Lesser Calamint.

The sites are also home to two rare insects the Four-Spotted Moth Tyta luctuosa, whose food plant is Field Bindweed, and the Liquorice Piercer Moth Grapholita pallifrontana, whose caterpillars pierce the seed pods of its only food plant Wild Liquorice.

If you would like to visit some of the verges take a look at the Uttlesford Wildlife website www.uttlesford-wildlife.org.uk/verges/ where you can find details of verges you can visit on foot and cycle routes that pass by sites.

Project Update:

Greater in Spirit,

Larger in Outlook

Epping Forest District Museum in Waltham Abbey and Saffron Walden Museum have received an Arts Council National Lottery project grant of £100,000 to work in partnership on their world culture collections.

The aim of the project is to ensure the museums and their collections reflect their diverse communities by working directly with cultural groups to research different objects and tell their stories.

The project’s title, ‘Greater in Spirit, Larger in Outlook’ is inspired by Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Museum staff will work with relevant community groups including the Ethiopian History Society, to explore, explain and exhibit the collection leading to a new permanent display at Epping Forest District Museum, due to be completed by the end of 2022.

A spokesperson from Ethiopian History Society UK said: We are delighted to partner with Epping Forest District and Saffron Walden Museums for this vital project.”

Other cultures represented in the collections include West and East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Both museums are looking to work with relevant community and cultural groups linked to these collections which will lead to a major temporary exhibition in 2023.

Hazel Edwards, Area Director (South East) for Arts Council England, said:

We’re delighted to be able to support a project that will see source communities for these exciting collections given the important opportunity to work with Epping Forest District and Saffron Walden Museums to research, reinterpret and redisplay the material for audiences to engage with, explore and enjoy.

"I look forward to the resulting exhibitions and seeing how it might inspire other museums to work with cultural organisations to deliver similar projects.”

For more about the project: https://www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/museum-world-culture-collections-project/

(pictured left): Image of Saffron Walden Museum's world cultures gallery. 

Skip Clearance 

The last few weeks you may have noticed we have had a number of skips outside the museum.  

Behind the scenes with staff and volunteers we have been busy re-organising and rationalising the contents of our storage areas for equipment. All the tables, chairs, painting materials, display equipment, display cases, packing materials, etc which are used in running the museum and delivering our busy programme of exhibitions, events and projects. 

Learning & Outreach

Saffron Walden Museum is committed to sharing stories from its collections through its learning and outreach services.

We welcome schools and community groups to the Museum or offer outreach sessions. 

Why not book for the next school term or for your community group.

Our loan boxes are also available for hire, £18 for 6 weeks, and will be quarantined in between hires to ensure they are Covid secure.

School Summer Holidays

Crafts at the Castle: Saffron Walden

Wednesday 3 August, 10.30-3.30pm    Crafts at the Castle: Day at the Seaside - make a peg clam, yogurt pot jellyfish, and Winstanley’s lighthouse

Wednesday 10 August, 10.30am-3.30pm    Crafts at the Castle: Treasure! - make a treasure chest, gold torque and design a coin.

Wednesday 17 August, 10.30-5.30pm   Crafts at the Castle: The Lost Language of Nature Our big Summer Event. As well as our weekly craft activities there will also be story telling, nature surveys and a chance to get involved in a community art project! This weeks crafts: Make a wildflower, model blackbirds baked in a pie (from the nursery rhyme) and a paper bittern.

Wednesday 24 August, 10.30-3.30pm     Crafts at the Castle: Saffron Walden - try pargeting on clay, make a model of a local building and a saffron crocus. 

Wednesday 31 August, 10.30-3.30pm   Crafts at the Castle: Harvest - make a cow mask, a harvest mouse and a corn dolly.

How to take part:

Pre order the activity pack from our art tickets page https://saffron-walden-museum.arttickets.org.uk/ (we may have some packs available on the day for walk ups).

Each pack contains the materials you need to complete the three activities, a trail to do around the museum and an instruction booklet.

Come to the museum on Wednesday to collect your activity pack and, weather permitting, join us in the Museum grounds near the castle where we will help you with the crafts in your pack and supply basic materials and equipment.

Why not bring along a picnic blanket and stay for the day! If it is raining, take your pack to do at home. Please note, pack price does not include entry to the Museum. Museum admission fees apply. 

Shop Focus

This month to align with the forthcoming Lost Language of Nature exhibition, or shop focus this month is on the Heroes look at Nature book, on sale at just £3.99

“A Heroes Look at Nature takes children on a nature trail with the Hero family. The Hero family take you on a journey which aims to teach children about the natural world of rivers and streams, woodlands, coastlines and more. Children will learn about the types of plants and creatures which make their home in different habitats throughout Britain and how these habitats can be protected. Inside this book you will also find an interactive biodiversity board game and a variety of puzzles which make learning about nature fun, engaging and memorable.”

Volunteer Tea Party 

Held on Tuesday 28th June

On Tuesday 28th June we held a celebration tea party for our volunteers.

The museum has 55 volunteers who contribute around 3000 hours throughout the year.

Fulfilling a range of different roles including the welcome desk, sorting and cataloguing collections and helping to run our popular learning activities.

They are vital to the running of the museum and we are very grateful to everyone who has returned after the Covid difficulties and to all our new volunteers who have recently joined us.

Here's some pictures from the event (left & below) including a picture of Jerry's amazing Union Jack chocolate brownie, which was very popular with the party guests. 

Volunteering at the Museum

Would you like to join our team?

We are always looking for additional new volunteers to join our welcome desk team on a regular or adhoc basis. 

To find out more about these and ‘Learning and Support’ volunteer opportunities please contact the museum using the details below.