Here’s a few historic local ghost sightings….as Halloween is upon us…. Do you have any local ghost stories you would like to share with us? Cromwellian soldiers have been reported to stalk both the Cross Keys Hotel and the Old Sun Inn, moving furniture and banging on the walls. The spooky cellar at The… Read More »
This case is arranged to show which butterflies live in the Saffron Walden area today (left), and which are extinct (right). These butterflies died off mainly because of changing land use in the 19th & 20th centuries. Butterflies such as the Adonis blue (1) and chalk-hill blue (2) prefer large areas of chalk wildflower meadow,… Read More »
September’s Object of the Month is a wax model of Pestle Puffball fungus, Handkea excipuliformis, found growing under Scots pine trees on a road to Newport, Essex by George Maynard between 1880 and 1904. Pestle Puffball Fungus This common fungus can be seen from August to November. It grows in woods, grassland, heaths and on… Read More »
Thanks to the magnificent generosity of local people and grants from three national organisations, Saffron Walden Museum Society Ltd (charity 1123209) achieved its target of £10,880 and has been able to purchase these four historic objects below for the collections. They will be on display from Saturday 24 August when there will be short curator’s… Read More »
Please note the Museum will be open as usual on Sunday 25th August, 2-5pm Church Street will be closed but Museum Street will be open and 2-way for vehicles needing access. For more information on road closures and the race route please go to: https://www.monumentcycling.com/saffron-walden-grand-prix
Inspired by the Summer sunshine, Jenny Oxley Collections Officer (Human History) has chosen to pick Victorian ice-cream making equipment as this month’s Object of the Month. G.E. Read’s shop was on the High Street in Saffron Walden in the 19th century, and by the early 20th century had been taken over by T.T. Snow… Read More »
Parking Deer and Cars at Stansted Airport If you are heading off on holiday via Stansted Airport this summer, and leave your car in the Long Term Car Park, spare a thought for the medieval and Tudor ‘parkers’ who once tended this area. These men were responsible for the extensive deer park and its stock… Read More »
Did You Know? The ‘cabbage white’ butterfly is actually two closely related species – the large white (Pieris brassicae) and the small white (Pieris rapae). Apart from the size difference, the large white has darker black wing spots, and a dark black band at the front of its wings. Both lay their eggs on cabbages… Read More »
The Museum’s ‘Object of the Month’ display provides an opportunity to explore interesting and unusual objects from the stores. The object chosen by Sarah Kenyon, Natural Sciences Officer, for May 2019 is a moth. This leopard moth, Zeuzera pyrina, was found in a house at Elsenham, Essex in July 2012. After it was identified it… Read More »
April’s Objects of the Month have been selected by Jenny Oxley, Collections Officer (Human History). She developed an interest in Napoleonic Prisoner of War items whilst working on the Norman Cross collections at Peterborough Museum in 2005. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) over 100,000 French prisoners of war (POWs) were held captive in Britain. Many… Read More »