Welcome

The museum is located next to the Village Hall and adjoins Coggeshall's free car park. There is one disabled parking space outside the museum and others just a few yards away in the car park. The museum is 'wheelchair friendly'. Guide dogs welcome and there is a hitching ring outside for other dogs.
The public toilets are located at the Village Hall - please ask for the key to the wheelchair access toilet.

On this site we aim to give our on-line visitors a glimpse of what we have on show. Instead of just a collection of pictures of items in the museum, the site has been divided into 'topics' and the pages include a bit of the story associated with that topic, hopefully showing what a rich and varied history there is in one small Essex museum.

COGGESHALL ROLL OF HONOUR

A book commemorating the men of Coggeshall who gave their lives in the two World Wars has been compiled by volunteers at the museum. The book is on display in the museum and has now been included on the website in the Family Research page. Click on the poppies to take you to that section

FOR FAMILY RESEARCHERS
Burial records for the 'Old Burial Ground' - Register of Graves for Coggeshall Cemetery, Baptist church records, Wesleyan Methodist baptisms, Independent Meeting House baptisms and burials, Transcript of Marriages 1754 - 1851, Transcript of Burials in St Peter's churchyard 1811 - 1856. All in PDF form on the Family research page.
Newly opened records room in museum. See the picture on Family Research page.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS OBJECT and help us solve the mystery

How It All Started

Coggeshall Museum opened in 1990 in an annex to St. Peter's Hall (now the Village Hall) in Stoneham Street. The hall itself was formerly one of Coggeshall's breweries but since the 1920s has been a focus for many of Coggeshall's community activities. During the Second World War the hall provided a place to relax for the many servicemen of all nationalities who were stationed at the airfields that surrounded this small Essex town. The museum was established in what had been the kitchen which provided meals for the nearby primary school with the aim to preserve Coggeshall's historic past and to carry on recording today's events for generations to come. It was set up by enthusiastic band of volunteers who do all the maintenance and the setting of the exhibits.


Top Left:
Volunteer staff Derek Brindley and Malcolm Ratcliffe paint the exterior of the museum




Bottom Left:
Stan Haines, Doug Judd and Brian Tebbutt discuss an exhibit for the new season


Right:
Museum fundraising stall on Market Day

The memorabilia on show has been loaned or donated by local people and some of the exhibits change from year to year, different themes taking precedence, so there is always something new to see. The museum is run entirely by volunteers and there is no set admission charge, but donations are always very welcome to help offset running costs and improve the standard of the exhibitions. It is hoped that visitors to the museum, whether from Coggeshall itself or from further afield, will find something of interest in their look at Coggeshall's past and, above all, will enjoy their visit and come and see us again.
A free town walk leaflet is available in the museum as well as a variety of other leaflets about the visitor attractions in the surrounding area. There are cafes, restaurants and pubs in Coggeshall as well as attractive areas to picnic.

To learn a bit of the history, take an on-line walk around Coggeshall. Just click on the Footprints icon and step back into Coggeshall's past.

Some of our visitors

Anglia TV technical crew get ready for recording while presenter Brian McEnery studies the displays

The new season and Coggeshall folk come to see the new exhibits

Some members of Waltham Abbey Historical Society on a pre-arranged group visit

(Picture courtesy of Lawrence Greenall, WAHS)

Come and see us for yourself

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