The Chelmsford Museum is based in Oaklands House, an historic property off Moulsham Street in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. It is a Grade II

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Oaklands House

The Last Stand, by William Barnes Wollen (1898)

The house was designed by Charles Pertwee for Frederick Wells, a director of the Chelmsford Brewery, and completed by 1865. It was constructed with an elaborate campanile, and went on to be used as a hospital during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Since 1930 the building has housed the Chelmsford Museum.

Collections

The Chelmsford Museum is a local history and industrial heritage museum. A major £5 million extension and redevelopment scheme opened in January 2010 and the museum now includes exhibits and interactive displays focusing on the engineering pioneers

R.E.B. Crompton Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, CB, FRS (31 May 1845 – 15 February 1940) was a British electrical engineer, industrialist and inventor. He was a pioneer of electric lighting and public electricity supply systems. The company he formed, Crompton ...

, Guglielmo Marconi, and Hoffmann Ball Bearings, as well as illustrating the development of the town and city from prehistory up to modern times. The fine art collection includes works by noted artists with a connection to Chelmsford, including Alfred Bennett Bamford,

Doris Boulton-Maude Doris Boulton later Doris Boulton-Maude, (1892–1961) was a British artist, notable as a wood engraver, etcher and for her colour woodcut prınts. Bıography Boulton-Maude studied at the Burslem School of Art in Stoke on Trent before attendi ...

and

Richard Spare Richard John Spare (born 1951) is a British artist known primarily for his drypoints, etchings and oil paintings. He is based in London. Background Spare attended Maidstone College of Art (1971–74) (now the University for the Creative Arts) ...

. It also holds pottery including

Castle Hedingham ware Castle Hedingham Pottery was an art pottery studio run by Edward Bingham (artist), Edward Bingham at Castle Hedingham in Essex, England. History Bingham produced his Castle Hedingham Ware from about 1864 until 1901. It was made in a style remin ...

and that made by the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

winner Grayson Perry. The house also incorporates the Museum of the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

and the

Essex Yeomanry The Essex Yeomanry was a Reserve unit of the British Army that originated in 1797 as local Yeomanry Cavalry Troops in Essex. Reformed after the experience gained in the Second Boer War, it saw active service as cavalry in World War I and as ar ...

. Highlights of this collection include the

French Imperial Eagle The French Imperial Eagle (''Aigle de drapeau'', lit. "flag eagle") refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the ''Grande Armée'' of Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars. Although they were presented with ...

captured by the 2nd Battalion of the

44th Regiment of Foot The 44th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot to form the Essex Regiment in 1881. History Early history The regim ...

from the French 62nd Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne at the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, ...

in 1812, as well as ''The Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at Gundamuck'', a painting by

William Barnes Wollen William Barnes Wollen (6 October 1857 – 28 March 1936) was an English painter mostly known for his paintings of battle and historical scenes and sporting events. Career Born in Leipzig on 6 October 1857, he was educated at University Col ...

depicting the

1842 retreat from Kabul The 1842 retreat from Kabul, also called the Massacre of Elphinstone's army, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, was the retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul. An uprising in Kabul forced the then commander, Major-Genera ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

References

External links

Official siteCollections portal
Buildings and structures in Chelmsford (city) Museums in Essex Natural history museums in England Industry museums in England Local museums in Essex {{UK-museum-stub