Museum Galleries

The Museum galleries tell the history of the Epping Forest District from the earliest inhabitants,
to the present. The galleries are as follows:

Archaeology

Located on the ground floor, the archaeology gallery shows some of the key archaeological finds from the district. The gallery runs in sequence from the Palaeolithic era, through to early Medieval.

Highlights of the gallery include a Mammoth tusk and tooth, found at the Waltham Marsh (to the north of Waltham Abbey), a late Anglo-Saxon hoard from Nazeing, dating from at least 1050 AD, and a Penny of Harold Godwinson- the last Anglo-Saxon King of England (date 1066).

        King Harold Penny. 1066

 Medieval

On display in the Medieval gallery you will see a fantastic collection of artefacts, including the spectacular Waltham Abbey Bible (c.1200 AD).
Click here to find out more about the Waltham Abbey Bible.

The Medieval gallery also houses a skeleton from the Waltham Abbey Chapter House Burial (c.1250 AD). Study suggests that the skeleton is of a man of high status, most likely to be an abbot of Waltham. A facial reconstruction has been completed, showing what he may have looked like.

The most recent addition to the gallery is a medieval plough (1400-1500), which was discovered by the Waltham Abbey Historical Society during the early 1970s at Crooked Mile, Waltham Abbey.

Facial Reconstruction of                   Waltham Abbey Bible (c.1200)
Chapter House skeleton

Tudor

One of the many highlights of this gallery includes the Tudor wall panelling from the Abbey House (what is now the Abbey Gardens).  The gallery also displays a superb collection of Tudor artefacts from pottery to coins, as well as a Whipping Post from 1598.

Your History

Located on the first floor of the museum, 'Your History' tells the story of the Epping Forest District from the start of the 18th Century to the end of the 20th Century. Displays feature the history of shopping, work and home life within the district, as well as a wonderful collection of costume.

 Kitchen setting in the museum's Your History Gallery.