Chesham Museum secures a new home

The trustees of Chesham Museum are delighted to announce that the museum has found a new home in the heart of Chesham. With the support of Chesham Town Council, the new museum will open in part of the Lowndes Room, in the upstairs of the Town Hall. 

The museum will open to visitors this autumn, with local people and community groups invited to share their ideas about the development of the new displays. The museum team will share objects from the collection for people to explore and will encourage people to share their stories of Chesham’s past. The town’s contributions will be used to create new, permanent displays, in summer 2024. 

As well as collecting ideas and stories, the new museum will be able to more readily accept donations to the collection, deal with enquiries and sell a range of publications and items related to the town’s past. 

Chesham Museum will now be able to further develop its learning programme, offering discovery boxes and taught sessions for schools and reminiscence with older people. A new public programme of events and activities, including crafts, walks and talks, to complement the museum’s development, will be launched in 2024. 

All of this work relies on a fantastic team of volunteers, which has been steadily growing this year. The museum is looking for more people to help, with opening the museum to visitors, talking to people about their ideas for the new space, and to support the delivery of the public programme. Our collections team also needs help in processing new donations and preparing objects for the new displays. If you’re interested in helping, find out more here.

Museum chair Peter Squire is delighted:

It’s great news that our museum can rent space in the Town Hall allowing us to rotate the exhibition of artefacts for viewing by the public, who may question our volunteers and provide local stories. Most importantly this is a springboard to a full-scale museum in Chesham, which we believe is achievable given our volunteers’ enthusiasm and your support. 

Peter Squire

Town Councillor Jane McBean notes:

Like many residents I miss having Chesham Museum on our High Street. That is why I am delighted that the Town Council has an opportunity to support them with a dedicated space in the Town Hall. Their commitment to preserving and documenting the rich history of our wonderful town is invaluable and this will ensure that they have an opportunity to share it with our residents and visitors, and I look forward to seeing how the next chapter in their journey evolves.

Councillor Jane McBean

In the meantime, the museum continues to offer a strong digital presence on our website, featuring online exhibitions and a regularly updated blog of local stories. There are also new displays in the Elgiva theatre and the library, exploring Chesham’s retail past.