The Saffron Walden Museum is a museum on Museum Street in Saffron Walden, Essex. The museum was opened in 1835. It stands in a small park next to Walden Castle, which dates back to the 12th century. An extension to a “Heritage Quest Center” is planned; this facility is scheduled to open in 2012. The main building is two-storey and looks rather sober from the outside. Saffron Walden Museum is one of the oldest museums in the country, built from scratch for this purpose. At the entrance gate is a single-storey former school building from 1817, which today serves as a training room, preservation laboratory and warehouse. A few kilometers from the actual museum there is a dependance that is not generally accessible to visitors but is open to the scientific community. Here larger exhibits and reserve collections are kept. This building represents an emergency solution that became necessary after the evacuation of the actual storerooms in the years 1984/85. In addition to the permanent presentation, the museum also regularly exhibits special exhibitions. Founder of the museum was the Saffron Walden Natural History Society, which had set itself the task to show the art, craft and lifestyle of the different peoples as well as to awaken a sense of the beauties of nature among the visitors. She was supported by several wealthy Quaker families in the area, including the Gibson, Tuke and Fry families. The first professional curator of the museum was hired in 1880. George Nathan Maynard was later replaced by his son Guy, who then became director of the Ipswich Museum. The collections are still owned by the company, now called the Saffron Walden Museum Society. Since 1974, the museum is managed by the Uttlesford District Council. The Saffron Walden Museum is open 363 days a year and is attended by about 20,000 people each year. It is barrier-free and has a small museum shop.
Saffron Walden Museum
More Things To Do In Essex