Southend Central Museum

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Central Museum, Southend
Central Museum Southend.jpg
Central Museum, Southend
Essex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Museum location in Essex
Established1981
Location Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Coordinates 51°32′32″N0°42′38″E / 51.5422°N 0.7106°E / 51.5422; 0.7106
TypeLocal history
Key holdings Prittlewell Anglo-Saxon burial; The London shipwreck
CollectionsCostume, fine art, local history, natural history, archaeology
Architect Henry Thomas Hare
Owner Southend-on-Sea City Council - Southend Museums
Public transit access National Rail logo.svg Southend Victoria
Website www.southendmuseums.co.uk
A close up of the Central Museum, Southend Central Museum Southend on Sea.jpg
A close up of the Central Museum, Southend

Southend Central Museum is a museum in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The museum houses collections of local and natural history and contains a planetarium constructed by astronomer Harry Ford in 1984. [1]

Contents

The museum was opened in April 1981 in a Grade II listed building that was previously Southend's first free public library. The library service had moved to a new purpose built site on Victoria Avenue, which opened on 20 March 1974. [2]

The building

The Museum was originally built in 1905 as a free library, with £8,000 of funding from Andrew Carnegie. The architect was Henry Thomas Hare. The building was listed in 1974. [3]

The collections

The Museum features a collection of original Ekco radios, manufactured by E.K. Cole & Co. Ltd. (or 'Ekco') formerly based in Southend. In the 1930s, this company was one of Britain's largest radio manufacturers. [4]

The displays also include local and natural history and archaeology. [5]

In September 2018 the museum opened a major exhibition of finds recovered from the wreck of the London, a 17th Century Cromwellian era warship that exploded and sank in the Thames Estuary in 1665. The exhibition ran till July 2019. [6]

In May 2019 a new gallery opened to display the archaeological finds from the Royal Saxon tomb in Prittlewell, an Anglo-Saxon burial mound in the suburb of Prittlewell that was discovered in 2003 as a result of a road-widening scheme. The excavations unearthed a number of Anglo-Saxon artefacts that suggested a high-status burial; carbon dating has revealed that the burial probably dates from about 580 AD, and may have been the tomb of Sæxa, brother of Sæberht, King of Essex. [7] [8]

Additional photographs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Essex</span> Former kingdom on the island of Britain (527–825 CE)

The Kingdom of the East Saxons, referred to as the Kingdom of Essex, was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Middlesex, much of Hertfordshire and west Kent. The last king of Essex was Sigered of Essex, who in 825 ceded the kingdom to Ecgberht, King of Wessex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southend-on-Sea</span> City and unitary authority in Essex, England

Southend-on-Sea, commonly referred to as Southend, is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, 40 miles (64 km) east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. The city is one of the most densely populated places in the country outside of London. It is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier, while London Southend Airport is located to the north of the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon architecture</span> English architecture from the mid-5th century to 1066

Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. No universally accepted example survives above ground. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers or sited to serve as ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billericay</span> Town and civil parish in Essex, England

Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, 23 miles (37 km) east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Abbot of West Ham, in his Manor of Great Burstead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sæberht of Essex</span> 7th century king of the East Saxons

Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was an Anglo-Saxon King of Essex, in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Museum</span> Natural and physical science museum in Liverpool, England

World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the museum is free. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh-on-Sea</span> Town in Essex, England

Leigh-on-Sea, commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a town and civil parish in the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509.

The Prittlewell royal Anglo-Saxon burial or Prittlewell princely burial is a high-status Anglo-Saxon burial mound which was excavated at Prittlewell, north of Southend-on-Sea, in the English county of Essex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prittlewell</span> Area of Southend-on-Sea, England

Prittlewell is an inner city area and former civil parish in Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the south end of Prittlewell. The village of Prittlewell was originally centered at the joining of three main roads, East Street, West Street, and North Street, which was extended south in the 19th century and renamed Victoria Avenue. The principal administrative buildings in Southend are located along Victoria Avenue, although Prittlewell is served by Prittlewell railway station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beecroft Art Gallery</span> Art Gallery in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Essex</span>

Essex is a county in the East of England which originated as the ancient Kingdom of Essex and one of the seven kingdoms, or heptarchy, that went on to form the Kingdom of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A1159 road</span> Road in Essex, England

The A1159 road is a short road skirting the north of Southend-on-Sea from Thorpe Bay to London Southend Airport, in the coastal city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Bling</span> Former road protest camp in Southend-on-Sea, England

Camp Bling was a UK-based road protest camp set up in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in September 2005, to obstruct a £25 million plan to widen the Priory Crescent section of the A1159 road over the Royal Saxon tomb in Prittlewell. In April 2009, the authority announced that plans to build the road had been abandoned and the camp was disbanded in July 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EKCO</span>

EKCO was a British electronics company founded by Eric Kirkham Cole in Southend-on-Sea during 1924. The company started out by making radio sets, before progressing onto television sets and lighting. The company's knowledge of radio saw it expand into developing radar before and during World War II. The company expanded into making its own plastic bodies for radio sets, with EKCO Plastics later becoming a manufacturer of domestic wares. The company merged in 1960 with Pye to become British Electronic Industries Ltd, which was purchased by Dutch firm Philips in 1967, with the EKCO brand disappearing from brown goods during the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mucking (archaeological site)</span> Archaeological site in Essex, England

Mucking is an archaeological site near the village of Mucking in southern Essex. The site contains remains dating from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages—a period of some 3,000 years—and the Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon features are particularly notable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prittlewell Priory</span> Priory in Southend-on-Sea, England

Prittlewell Priory is a medieval priory in the Prittlewell area of Southend, Essex, England. It was founded in the 12th century, by monks from the Cluniac Priory of St Pancras in Lewes, East Sussex, and passed into private hands at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The last private owner, the jeweller R. A. Jones, gave the priory and the grounds to the local council. The grounds now form a public park, Priory Park, and the Grade I listed building is open to the public as a museum. The remains of the priory are a scheduled monument.

The archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England is the study of the archaeology of England from the 5th century AD to the 11th century, when it was ruled by Germanic tribes known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex</span> Ceremonial county in the East of England

Essex is a ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea, and the county town is Chelmsford.

References

  1. "Southend Planetarium". Southend Museums. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  2. "History of Libraries in Southend". Southend on Sea Borough Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  3. "CENTRAL MUSEUM, Non Civil Parish - 1322354 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. "Ga-ga for radios". Evening Echo. 23 October 2007.
  5. "Southend Museum Service (Central Museum)". Southend Museum Service. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  6. "Opening of HMS London, museum exhibition". Leigh Times. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  7. "Southend burial site 'UK's answer to Tutankhamun'". BBC. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. Whitehouse, Ellis. "Anglo-Saxon king exhibition showing 'Southend's rich cultural heritage' officially opens". Halstead Gazette. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.