What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 5pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 4pm

Bishop's Stortford Museum

Name: Bishop's Stortford Museum
Address: Bishops Stortford, CM233JG, GB
Telephone: +441279710204

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Bishop's Stortford Museum

FREE to visit; telling the story of Bishop's Stortford from our first settlers through to the modern period.

Children's trails, holiday crafts and lots of amazing facts. We are on the 1st & 2nd floor of South Mill Arts, Bishop’s Stortford, and tell the story of the local community through archaeological, Medieval, Victorian and Edwardian artefacts. We also hold The Cecil Rhodes Collection containing objects relating to Cecil Rhodes, founder of De Beers diamond company, and his links to Africa. The museum

itself is based in the birthplace of Rhodes and houses an authentic Edwardian drawing room as part of its displays. Our ArtSpace also hosts rotating exhibitions PLUS the museum holds frequent workshops for adults and kids alike, lunchtime and evening lectures on a variety of interesting subjects and many more events for visitors.

01/06/2026

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin! ☺️

Storytime returns on TOMORROW! 📖

Giraffes Can't Dance 🦒 Enjoy a story and some colouring and craft. Free to join.

📆 Tue 2nd Jun | 10.30am | Ages 2.5 - 5 | Free
🎫 Let us know you're coming: https://southmillarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873685724

27/05/2026

🏫 Building of the month! 🏫

Thomas Heskin Court / The Railway Arms / Inn / Hotel

The Railway arrived in Bishop's Stortford in 1842. Six years later, in 1848, the Railway Arms, on the corner of Station Road and London Road, opened. It had been built by James Patmore. He had previously been a Job Master, running a livery stable on Windhill.

He was offering every accommodation for horses, so a continuation of his earlier occupation as a Job Master. He had in 1844 already taken the extensive stabling occupied for many years by Mr Thomas Heskin, adjacent to the new station, advertising his services to those arriving by train.

Later, in 1887, and by now the Railway Hotel, it appears that the premises were owned by Sir Walter Gilbey. He had accumulated a lot of land in this area, in particular around Warwick Road, which he would go on to develop.

He commissioned a significant extension. The front wall of the original building was rendered with stone dressings at the corner, and extensive stabling was provided in the paddocks across the road.

Read more: https://southmillarts.co.uk/mays-building-of-the-month/

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26/05/2026

Get into the shade and catch the sun with some half term crafts starting TODAY!

This summer: Catch the sun – make a suncatcher! ☀️

Drop in between 10 am - 2 pm - Let us know you're coming below - your £2 suggested donation can be paid on the day.

📆 Tue 26th, Wed 27th, & Thu 28th May | Drop in between 10am-2pm | £2 suggested donation | Ages 3 - 11
🎫 Find out more: https://southmillarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873684380
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23/05/2026

⭐️ OBJECT OF THE MONTH ⭐️

- Local History Museum Model and Sign -

May is Local History Month, and we are featuring a model of Bishop’s Stortford’s previous Local History Museum.

Housed in the Lodge at Stortford’s Old Cemetery- Apton Road, the museum was opened in September 1979 and one of the founders was local resident, Miss Ursula Pye.

Artefacts from her life are displayed on the second floor in our current museum at South Mill Arts.

The museum was closed in 2000 and the sign shown here was placed outside on the main path. The Rhodes Memorial Museum closed at the same time and after five years of refurbishments the two collections merged to became what is now known as the Bishop’s Stortford Museum.

Read more: https://southmillarts.co.uk/mays-object-of-the-month/

You can view this and many other interesting artefacts in our Museum at South Mill Arts.

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19/05/2026

Join us next week for some Half-Term Crafts! 🎨

This summer: Catch the sun – make a suncatcher! ☀️

Drop in between 10 am - 2 pm - Let us know you're coming below - your £2 suggested donation can be paid on the day.

📆 Tue 26th, Wed 27th, & Thu 28th May | Drop in between 10am-2pm | £2 suggested donation | Ages 3 - 11
🎫 Find out more: https://southmillarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873684380

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18/05/2026

Today, we celebrate International Museum Day! 🥳

Started by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), this day aims to highlight the efforts of important cultural sites.

Our story begins in 1938, when we were opened as the “Cecil Rhodes Memorial Museum,” after the British diamond entrepreneur.

The Bishop’s Stortford Museum and Rhodes’ Arts Complex were officially opened on Friday 11th of November 2005 after the collections merged, including items from Bishop’s Stortford Local History Museum and the Rhodes Memorial Museum, creating the Bishop’s Stortford Museum we know today.

The museum aims to promote knowledge on a variety of areas. Our displays provide an overview of the town’s deep history from prehistoric times to the present day.

📖Read more: https://southmillarts.co.uk/international-museum-day/

Come and visit us at Bishop’s Stortford Museum this International Museum Day!

Our opening hours are 10am-5pm Monday-Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturday.
Written and researched by volunteer Thomas

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12/05/2026

Just one week to go until our fascinating talk on Pitcairn Island!

Pitcairn is the home for a community whose roots sit with the mutineer crew of HMAV Bounty and their native companions.
They run a healthy trade in handicrafts and other produce, but their earlier story includes a history of rum, promiscuity and murder. This talk looks at their story and displays examples of their handicrafts.

🗣Speaker: Steve Vincent
📍South Mill Arts
📆 Tue 19th May | 12.30pm | £5
🎫 Tickets: https://southmillarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873679632

08/05/2026

VE Day Commemoration

On this day, we commemorate the courageous soldiers who fought in World War Two for our freedom, often necessitating the highest possible sacrifice.

Today, in 1945, Victory in Europe was declared. 🎉

Marking the defeat of N**i Germany, it was met by jubilant celebrations in the UK, after 6 years of war which caused the deaths of 67,100 civilians, 383,300 soldiers in Europe, Africa and Asia. In Britain, there was an immense amount of damage and destruction to many major cities.

Read our latest blog post about the impact of wartime rationing: https://southmillarts.co.uk/ve-day-commemoration/

To those interested in World War Two history, we invite you to Bishop’s Stortford Museum, where you can find out more about the contributions of the townspeople. This includes information on the donations from the community towards HMS Clover, as well as the contextual significance of this at a time when the Navy was of critical importance to the British war effort.

Written and researched by volunteer Thomas

07/05/2026

Happy Local History Month! 🥳

Join us at Bishop’s Stortford Museum to celebrate the launch of our new Roman Coin Exhibition located on the second floor! 🪙

Learn more about Roman coin hoards and the various Roman rulers throughout the period. Many of our Roman coins were originally part of the collection of George Pritchett, a local architect, inventor and radiologist.

Read more here: https://southmillarts.co.uk/happy-local-history-month/

We would like to say a big thank you to all our volunteers for their work on our Roman coin display - especially to John for his coin knowledge and expertise! 😁

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05/05/2026

Running in our ArtSpace Plus from May until the end of August is our Summer Group Exhibition! 🖼

Displayed is the work of five incredible artists: Becky Ullah, Neriman Keleszade, Roxana Parker, Les Williams, and Lucy Swinburne. 🖌

Visit the ArtSpace Plus (just around the corner from the ArtSpace) this May to the end of August to view the Summer Group Exhibition!

Read more about the artists: https://southmillarts.co.uk/summer-group-exhibition-may-to-august/

Address

Bishops Stortford
CM233JG

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+441279710204

Website

http://www.southmillarts.co.uk/museum/, https://southmillarts.co.uk/news

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