Epping Forest District Museum is located in a beautiful Grade II* listed Tudor building opposite The Angel pub in Waltham Abbey.
The museum tells the story of the people and events that shaped the Epping Forest district of southwest Essex, from the Ice Age via a woolly mammoth tusk found near Nazeing, to the Anglo-Saxons with 'King Harold’s battle axe', and the Home Front during World War Two and beyond.
We are rooted in the local community, hiring our event room 'The Space' out to groups and hosting talks, activities and community events.
I recently joined the museum's small team as the museum’s Learning Officer and am responsible for what we offer our schools, families, and young people and l will be focusing on engaging new audiences and creating new events!
Our popular drop-in Crafty Tuesdays for families will continue to run during the school holidays, with each craft inspired by an exciting object or theme in the museum’s collection.
As well as crafts, there will be a sensory play space, a book nook and an object handling table, so plenty for everyone in the family to do! There will also be an exciting one-off, art-making or story-centred session for young people every holiday!
We still have our wonderful Topic Boxes, which schools can borrow for a half-term or whole term.
These boxes cover a range of topics, from the Ancient Egyptians to the Anglo-Saxons, to World War Two and include objects from our handling collection, photographs, activities and information.
Our new outreach and in-museum sessions focus on discovering history through objects and encourage children to respond creatively.
All sessions are tailored to meet the requirements of the history, art and English National Curriculum for each year group.
The museum is excited to welcome more children, young people and families and share more of our objects with schools through this new programme.
Head to our website to find out more details about our programme and to book – we look forward to seeing you soon
- Victoria Mitchell is learning officer at Epping Forest District Museum (efdmuseum.org.uk).
