Collection Topics
Earls Colne has a rich and diverse history covering a broad range of topics. As an ongoing project we are compiling a register of the topics that the Heritage Museum covers. Within these topics we hold information and sometimes objects associated with those topics. The register is continually evolving as we review our collection and relevant information relating to Earls Colne is uncovered. The topics are not presented in any specific order.
You can search our catalogue which holds details of the records and objects that the Earls Colne Heritage Museum holds by going to Search the Digital Catalogue.
You can search within our digital archive of files by going to Search the File Archive. This function supports full text searching of many of the paper objects that the museum has digitised.
Neolithic/Bronze Age
ECHM holds records and objects about the Neolithic activity in the local area
Roman
ECHM holds records and objects about the Roman history in the local area.
Colne Priory
ECHM hold records about Colne Priory, founded by Aubrey de Vere, the 1st Earl of Oxford.
Earls of Oxford (De Vere)
ECHM holds records about the long relationship that the Earls of Oxford have had with the local area, going back to c1100.
Reverend Ralph Josselin
ECHM holds records about the life of the Reverend Ralph Josselin, 1618 – 1683. His life is of particular interest as his diary of his day-to-day life in a rural environment survived until modern times and has been the subject of detailed studies over the years.
Hunt Family
ECHM holds records and objects about the Hunt family, who, as the largest local employer, played a pivotal role in the village starting in 1824 and ending in 1988 when the business they founded eventually closed.
R. Hunt and Co of Atlas Works (‘Hunts’)
ECHM holds records and objects about the R. Hunt and Co of Atlas Works, a local business which existed for over 150 years and whose activities permeated everyday life in the village.
R. Hunt and Co. produced agricultural machinery which was exported all over the world. We understand that some of this machinery is still in use.
ECHM holds R. Hunt and Co product catalogues
ECHM holds a small number of R. Hunt and Co items of machinery
ECHM holds oral history recordings about people’s memories of their lives working at Hunts and about how Hunts impacted all aspects of life in the village.
Military WW1
ECHM holds records about the impact of WW1 on the local area.
Military WW2
ECHM holds records about the impact of WW2 on the local area.
War Memorial
ECHM holds records about the War Memorial and the soldiers recorded on that Memorial
Earls Colne Airfield
ECHM holds records about the Earls Colne Airfield.
Various talks have been undertaken about the activities surrounding the airfield during WW2, including the role of the SAS locally and ‘Operation Varsity’, which reveals the story about Flight officer Rosemary Britton who flew as a ‘stowaway’ in one of the tug aircraft, which left from Earls Colne and became the only female participant of the ‘Operation Varsity’.
Research also discovered the actual location of the crash site of a Lancaster bomber which was returning to the airfield. A memorial has now been raised to the crew and the story told in ’15 Remembered’, produced by ECHM.
St Andrews Church
ECHM holds records about St Andrews Church in Earls Colne
Baptist Church
ECHM holds records about the Baptist Church in Earls Colne
Quakers
ECHM holds records about the Quaker Meeting House in Earls Colne
The Quakers were recorded by Reverend Ralph Josselin as having a meeting house built in Earls Colne in 1674
Earls Colne Meeting House is the oldest non-conformist place of worship still in use in Essex
Earls Colne Grammar School
ECHM holds records and objects about the Earls Colne Grammar School which was founded 1520 and closed in 1975.
ECHM holds the Old Colonian’s Archive, which included digital copies of the school magazines, photographs and records about the Grammar School and the ‘old boys’ association.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton
ECHM holds records about Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1786 – 1845.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton was the local Member of Parliament
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton was an anti-slavery campaigner and social reformer and was at the head of the anti-slavery movement when abolition was secured under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton lived at Colne Place.
Mary Gee
ECHM holds records about Mary Gee, 1795 – 1864.
Mary Gee was a local resident and philanthropist
Mary Gee devoted her time and wealth to improving the living conditions of local people.
Mary Gee lived at Colne House.
Thomas, Lord Audley
ECHM holds records about Thomas, Lord Audley. He was lived at Hayhouse Farm in his youth.
Hamish Valentine
ECHM holds records about Hamish Valentine, an entrepreneur and inventor
Thomas Shepherd
ECHM holds records about Thomas Shepherd, a founder of Harvard University
Robert Aitken
ECHM holds records about Robert Aitken, DSO.
Robert Aitken was the last Managing Director of the Hunt business. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his role in the mini submarine attack on the German battleship, the Tirpitz, during WW2.
Houses/Buildings/Streets
ECHM holds records about the streets, houses, and other buildings in the local area.
ECHM has detailed records about many of the local timber framed buildings.
The Women’s Institute (WI)
ECHM holds records about the Women’s Institute
Four Colnes Horticultural Society
ECHM holds records about the Four Colne Horticultural Society (and its predecessors).
The Four Colnes Horticultural Society can trace its roots back to 1880.
Earls Colne Primary School
(previously known as the Boys School and Girls School)
ECHM holds records such as various School Log Books and Admissions Registers from 1869 to 1996
River House School
ECHM holds records about River House School
Businesses
ECHM holds records about local businesses
Pubs
ECHM holds records about local pubs
Memories – Scrapbooks and Newspaper cuttings
ECHM holds scrapbooks and newspaper cuttings collected by local families over many years
Rivers/Mills
ECHM holds records about the local rivers and mills
Railway
ECHM holds records about the arrival of the railway in Earls Colne.
Time Team at the Priory
ECHM holds records and objects relating to a Time Team television programme that filmed at Colne Priory in 2011.
Social History
ECHM holds records about the social history of the local area.
This includes photographs and documents recording memories of local people.
Oral History
ECHM has actively recorded the spoken memories of local residents over the course of many years.
These oral history recordings cover a broad range of topics.
Reference Books
ECHM has an library of reference books on subjects of local interest
Trade Directories
ECHM holds records of old trade directories for the local area, including Pigot’s, White’s, Kelly’s, Post Office