South Mill Arts

South Mill Arts is a multi-faceted community, arts and heritage facility located on South Road, Bishop’s Stortford.  Our links with music and performance run all the way back to the early 1960s when “The Rhodes Centre”, as it was then known, hosted up and coming artists who were to go on to become some of the most famous performers in the world (Bowie, The Who, Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John to name but a few).  Since that time we have constantly grown, adjusting to the changing needs of our local community as Bishop’s Stortford has evolved from a quite market town into the busy and dynamic town that we see around us today.  Through all the years of triumphs and dramas, good times and challenges our greatest strength is, and always has been, the fantastic link that we have with our local community.

Our Facilities

The Bishop’s Stortford Museum is based in Thorleyborne and Netteswell Houses, a pair of semi-detached late Georgian Villas which form the west side of the Arts Complex fronting on to South Road.  Spread across two floors, the museum displays take you through the development of Bishop’s Stortford and the surrounding area from pre-history through to the present day.   In addition to the museum, the complex features a versatile 300 seat auditorium (retractable seating means that the auditorium can easily be reconfigured to a partial seated or fully open space), a small exhibition space, several multi-function rooms, a fully appointed Dance Studio and the recently refurbished “Maltings Bar”.  We also have limited free on-site parking available on a “first-come, first served” basis.

Our Activities

With our great range of museum events and activities, full theatrical, performance and cinematic programme and flexible, user friendly rooms we are a popular entertainment and educational resource for all the community.  We also host several regular classes ranging from WW and keep fit through to performing arts and even ukele!  With on-site catering facilities our rooms are regularly hired for family events such as anniversaries, baby showers and wakes.