Eden Valley Museum facts for kids
The Eden Valley Museum is a local history museum located in the town of Edenbridge, Kent, England. It's a place where you can discover the past of the Eden Valley area.
The museum is inside a very old and special building called a Grade II* listed medieval farmhouse. This means the building is protected because of its important history and architecture.
Inside, the museum has amazing collections. You can learn about how cricket balls were made, how leather was produced through a process called tanning, and see ancient objects found in the area. There's also a huge collection of local information and photos.
One really cool item is a needlework box made by a German POW (a soldier captured during wartime) during World War Two. This box was even featured in a BBC project called 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'!
Contents
The Museum Building: Church House
The building where the museum is located is called Church House. It's a timber-framed house, which means it's built with a strong wooden frame. It was built a very long time ago, between 1380 and 1410!
Originally, it was an open "Hall house," meaning it had a large open space inside. But in the 1500s, it was changed a lot. A first floor and a chimney were added, making it more like the houses we know today.
Later, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, bricks were added to the front of the building. So, today, you can't see the old wooden frame from the outside.
The house was first known as Doggetts Farm. In 1913, a lady named Miss Geraldine Rickards changed it and added another part called Rickards Hall. In 1921, she gave the house to the local church to be used by the community.
The idea for the museum started after a special exhibition in 1995. This exhibition celebrated 100 years of the Edenbridge Town Council. In 1997, the Eden Valley Museum Trust was created to set up and run the museum.
With help from a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the museum officially opened its doors in the year 2000. The museum is a charity, and it's leased from the Edenbridge Town Council. The best part? Admission to the museum has been free since 2004!
What You Can See: Museum Collections
The Eden Valley Museum is mostly run by amazing local volunteers. They help bring the history of the Eden Valley to life.
The museum has many permanent displays that show how the area has changed over time. You can learn about the landscape, the people who lived here, different communities, and the jobs and trades they did. These displays are spread across several rooms and are updated often.
The museum also puts on one or two special temporary exhibitions each year. These usually last for about 12 to 18 months and focus on different interesting topics.
Industries of the Eden Valley
One of the museum's biggest collections is about Whitmore's Tannery. This tannery was the largest employer in Edenbridge for many years until it closed in 1974. You can see items used in the leather-making process.
Other displays show items from the cricket ball manufacturing industry, which was important in Chiddingstone Causeway. You can also learn about:
- Archaeology (studying ancient things)
- Farming
- Iron smelting (making iron from ore)
- Brick making
- Hop growing (hops are used to make beer)
- Other local industries
The museum also has a huge collection of old photographs. There are also many historical documents about local properties, organizations, and families. These are very helpful for people who want to learn about local history or research their family tree. The museum is always adding more to these collections!
The Museum's Focus Area
The museum focuses on collecting items and information from a specific area. This area includes the parishes (like small towns or districts) of:
- Edenbridge
- Chiddingstone
- Cowden
- Hever, Kent (including Four Elms and Mark Beech)
- Penshurst
- Crockham Hill (which is part of the Parish of Westerham)
