The Eden Valley Museum is a local history museum in the market town of Edenbridge, Kent in England. The museum is housed within a Grade II* listed medieval farmhouse. The museum holds notable collections demonstrating the history of cricket ball making, tanning as well as archaeology and an extensive archive of local information. The museum is also notable as the home of a needlework box made by a German POW during World War Two. The box was featured as part of the BBC's 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' project. [1]
The museum building itself is a Grade II* listed timber-framed house dating from 1380 to 1410. It was initially an open Hall house but was extensively re-built during the 16th century to add a first floor and chimney. In the late 18th and early 19th century the front of the building was clad in brick. Today the timber framed bones of the building are invisible from the outside. Known today as Church House, the house was originally known as Doggetts Farm until 1913 when Miss Geraldine Rickards converted it and added Rickards Hall adjoining to the west. In 1921 Miss Rickards gave the house to the Parish Church for community use. The Museum was established following an exhibition in 1995 marking the centenary of the Edenbridge Town Council, organised by the Edenbridge and District Historical Society. In 1997 the Eden Valley Museum Trust was formed to develop and run a museum for the Edenbridge area. The Trust was granted charitable status in November 1997, and with the aid of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund the Museum opened in 2000. The Museum is a registered charity. Church House is held on lease from Edenbridge Town Council. Admission to the Museum has been free since 2004.
Run mainly by local volunteers, the museum is home to collections that cover a range of topics on the Eden Valley from its early origins to recent times. These permanent displays, describing the topography, people, communities and trades are spread over several rooms and are updated regularly. In addition one or two temporary exhibitions are mounted each year lasting from 12 to 18 months.
The museum has one of the most extensive collections of material relating to Whitmore's Tannery, historically the biggest employer in Edenbridge until its closure in 1974. Other displays include items used in the cricket ball manufacturing industry of Chiddingstone Causeway, archaeology, farming, iron smelting, brick making, hop growing and other industries from the surrounding area. A large photographic collection, together with archival material relating to properties and local organisations, former residents and local families are major sources of information for local historians and family researchers, and are continually being augmented.
The defined geographical collecting area largely incorporates the parishes of Edenbridge, Chiddingstone, Cowden, Hever, Kent (including Four Elms and Mark Beech) and Penshurst and Crockham Hill (part of the Parish of Westerham). [2]
Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It is near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, including some of the pubs; the parish church is Norman. For centuries, there was a livestock market in the town.
Edenbridge is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English Eadhelmsbrigge. It is located on the border of Kent and Surrey, on the upper floodplain of the River Medway and takes its name from that river's tributary, the River Eden. The town had a population of 7,808 in 2011.
The River Eden is a tributary of the River Medway in south east England. It rises at the foot of the North Downs escarpment near Titsey in Surrey and runs initially southwards through Oxted before turning eastwards to enter Kent. After flowing through Edenbridge and passing Hever Castle, the Eden meets the Medway at Penshurst.
Chiddingstone Castle is situated in the village of Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge, Kent, England, 35 miles south-southeast of London and in the upper valley of the River Medway. The castle was built by the Streatfeild family and served as their seat from the early 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century when the family left the castle. The Streatfeilds sold the castle to Lord Astor in 1938. Since 1977, the castle and its 35 acres of grounds have been held in trust for the nation by the Denys Eyre Bower Bequest, and both are open to the public. Much of the current structure dates from the early 19th century, but incorporates elements of the earlier buildings on the same site.
Chiddingstone is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the River Eden between Tonbridge and Edenbridge. The villages of Chiddingstone Causeway and Bough Beech and the hamlet Chiddingstone Hoath are also included in the parish.
Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England.
Headcorn is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is on the floodplain of the River Beult south east of Maidstone.
Tonbridge and Malling was a constituency in western Kent, in South East England, in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented for its entire creation since 1974 by members of the Conservative Party.
West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 2011 Census the population increased to 2,181. The parish, which has a land area of 2,139 hectares, includes the hamlets of Highbrook, Selsfield Common and Sharpthorne. The mostly rural parish is centred on West Hoathly village, an ancient hilltop settlement in the High Weald between the North and South Downs.
Weobley is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance of old timber-framed buildings. Although it has the historical status of a town and is referred to as such in the sources, it nowadays refers to itself as a village.
Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25. The composer Frederick Delius and orchestral conductor Sir Thomas Beecham are buried in the village churchyard. The village contains are 89 listed buildings.
Bidborough is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 958, increasing to 1,163 at the 2011 Census.
The Weald and Downland Living Museum is an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The museum is a registered charity. The museum covers 40 acres (16 ha), with over 50 historic buildings dating from 950AD to the 19th century, along with gardens, farm animals, walks and a mill pond.
Wallingford Museum is a museum with collections of local interest, housed in a Tudor house in High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
Guildford Museum is the main museum in the town of Guildford, Surrey, England. The museum is on Quarry Street, a narrow road lined by pre-1900 cottages running just off the pedestrianised High Street. This main site of the museum forms the gatehouse and annex of Guildford Castle, which the staff help to run. It is run by Guildford Borough Council and has free entry between 11am and 4:45pm on Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sundays and on Christmas Day.
The following is a list of recreational walks in Kent, England.
Maidstone Museum is a local authority-run museum located in Maidstone, Kent, England, featuring internationally important collections including fine art, natural history, and human history. The museum is one of three operated by Maidstone Borough Council. The building is Grade II* listed.
Crockham Hill is a village in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) south of Westerham, and Chartwell is nearby. The village has a population of around 270 people. It contains a 19th-century pub, the Royal Oak, and Holy Trinity church.
Chiddingstone Causeway is a village 4 miles (6 km) west of Tonbridge in Kent, England. It is within the Sevenoaks local government district. It is in the civil parish of Chiddingstone.
The Wealden hall house is a type of vernacular medieval timber-framed hall house traditional in the south east of England. Typically built for a yeoman, it is most common in Kent and the east of Sussex but has also been built elsewhere. Kent has one of the highest concentrations of such surviving medieval timber-framed buildings in Europe.