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Vestry House Museum

Coordinates: 51°35′0″N 0°0′45″W / 51.58333°N 0.01250°W / 51.58333; -0.01250
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51°35′0″N 0°0′45″W / 51.58333°N 0.01250°W / 51.58333; -0.01250

Vestry House Museum
The museum courtyard
Map
Established1931; 93 years ago (1931)
LocationLondon, E17
United Kingdom
TypeLocal History, Public Archives
OwnerWaltham Forest Council
Public transit accessLondon Underground London Overground Walthamstow Central
Websitewww.walthamforest.gov.uk/libraries-arts-parks-and-leisure/arts-and-culture/vestry-house-museum

Vestry House Museum is a history museum in Walthamstow focusing on the heritage of the local area. The collection includes various artefacts dating from the Victorian era to the 20th century, including numerous archived documents and photographs.[1]

Vestry House was originally built as a workhouse and was later used as a police station and also as private housing (amongst the exhibits is a replica police cell demonstrating one of the building's previous uses). The building became a museum in 1931.[1][2]

On permanent display in the museum is the Bremer Car, the first British motor car with an internal combustion engine, which was built by Frederick Bremer (1872–1941) in a workshop at the back of his family home in Connaught Road, Walthamstow. The car first ran in 1892 and was donated to the museum by Bremer in 1933.[3]

In 2023, the museum began a revitalisation led by architects Studio Weave [4] [5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Waltham Forest Council. "Vestry House Museum". Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ^ Glanvill, Natalie (8 September 2015). "Museum's dark past as parish workhouse unveiled". Waltham Forest Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. ^ "A History of the World – Bremer Car". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Vestry House reopening date set for 'early 2026'". 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Studio Weave appointed for £4.5m museum revamp".