The Bishop’s Stortford Museum’s collections are an invitation to explore our local history, its people and their achievements. A journey through time and a way of engaging with local celebrities as well as the ordinary people who shaped the town and surrounding areas as we know it today.
Our Museum
Narrative
The Museum collection is documenting town transformations and the many ways in which different perspectives have portrayed the essence of the town and the multiple aspects of its life. In 2005 two collections merged, forming one Bishop’s Stortford Museum. The Local History Museum founded in 1979 collected history about Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and the surrounding areas, and Rhodes Memorial Museum created in 1939 was dedicated to the study of Cecil Rhodes life, who was born in this building.
The diversity of the collections and the sheer history each artefact represent are what make our museum unique.
Our Museum
Galleries
The museum is housed in this imposing Georgian house. In the 1930s this house was redesigned by Rhodes personal architect Herbert Baker and was turned into a memorial museum to his life.
It has several galleries on two floors and along with the adjacent storages it houses five major permanent collections: The Collection of Archaeological finds from local digs, The Collection of coins and seals found locally, The Textile Collection mostly from Victorian era, most popular Photographic collection which includes over 3 000 photographs with local references, the Fine Art Collection presented through unique works of artists like Philip Tennyson Cole, Hubert von Herkomer, Edward Roworth and others.
Finally, our Ethnographic collection presents artefacts that have been collected from the communities around South Africa.
Browse through our audio tours of the museum galleries to find out more about our artefacts.
Object
Collection Highlight Gallery
Bishop’s Stortford Museum has a varied and heterogeneous collection, made up of around 80,000 pieces and is organised into five major collections of different types.
Our Museum
Collection Care
The life of museum objects involves careful management to ensure their preservation. After accessioning – where objects are officially recorded and catalogued – they are protected through environmental monitoring to control temperature, humidity, and light. The Museum also implements pest management strategies to guard against damage from insects and rodents. Proper storing methods, using appropriate materials and layouts, further protect objects when they are not on display.
