Southend Museums

12/10/2026

Have you got tickets for our next Southend Skies talk yet?

Join Science-on-Sea and Dawid Glawdzin in the Beecroft Art Gallery Lecture Theatre this Sunday for the second in our series of joint lectures!

Tickets available via the Eventbrite link in the original post

Join us on October 18th at the Beecroft Art Gallery, for the second part in our six part lecture series - Southend's Skies: Postcards from the Cosmos.

In this lecture, we will explore our closest celestial body - the Moon. How did the Moon form? How does it affect life on the Earth? How can we take such detailed photographs of its surface? Come along, and discover why the dark side of the Moon doesn't really exist...

Join astrophotographer Dawid Glawdzin, and theoretical physicist Rob Clemenson on this voyage of cosmic discovery.

This talk is accessible for ages 10+. Older children and adults will enjoy this talk, children younger than 10 are welcome, but some may struggle with understanding the content.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/southends-skies-mysteries-of-the-moon-tickets-2002903925558?aff=oddtdtcreator

This lecture series is organised by Science-on-Sea, in partnership with Southend Museums. See less

11/10/2026

One of the more challenging parts of managing our museum stores is dealing with our large and heavy objects such as the guns from the London. One of these is on display in Central Museum, but did you know we actually have two more?

The example on display is the heaviest of the three, but all three are well over 2 tonnes!

When not on display, these are kept with our other oversized objects in their own special made crates.

For more information about any of our collections, and a chance to see behind the scenes on what museum storage is like, book on to our Collections Centre tours via our Eventbrite page here https://www.eventbrite.com/o/36154209223

09/10/2026

Visitor notice, tomorrow, the 10th of October 2026, Southchurch Hall will be closed and Central Museum will be closing early at 3pm due to staffing shortage. Apologies for the inconvenience. Both sites will be open as usual on Sunday.

The Planetarium shows on Saturday and Sunday at Central Museum will be running as normal. To book onto these, simply call Central Museum during opening hours on 01702 212345.

Prittlewell Priory and the Beecroft Art Gallery will both be open as normal all weekend, with plenty to see across our Essex Open, Between:Us and Hardy Amies exhibitions at the Beecroft.

08/10/2026

Ever had your chips stolen by a seagull? Then this Halloween film night is for you. Join us for Alfred Hitchcock's iconic horror classic 'The Birds' (1963), screening 29th October at the Beecroft Cinema Club.

Info & tickets at https://the-birds-cult-classics.eventbrite.com

07/10/2026

Spooky season is here! Join us for a Halloween themed Space Day at Southend Central Museum and Planetarium this half term. Blast off in our specially spooky shows, perfect for aspiring astronauts and alien investigators, and get your helmets on for hands on supernatural space sample handling.

Line up, info and tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/spooky-space-day-4871832

06/10/2026

Last week we were invited along to speak in the church hall at St Barnabas Church in Hadleigh at their annual fundraiser for the Children's Society. Our Visitor Engagement and Learning Manager gave a talk about the Prittlewell Princely Burial, highlighting some common misconceptions about the burial.

Thank you for having us along, it was great to meet everyone!

05/10/2026

Important repair work to the security shutters at The Priory Visitor Centre has now been completed.
During the work impact to the Centre was minimal and it remained operational serving refreshments and providing comfort to visitors.
Did you know? The shutters are part of the annual service programme that includes fire protection, security and safety.

01/10/2026

October is here! Have you got your pumpkin plans sorted yet? 🎃🦙

For one weekend only, Prittlewell Priory's lawn will be transformed into a pumpkin patch, just in time for Halloween! Get into the autumnal spirit and come along to choose a pumpkin to take home with you, meet and greet some furry farmyard friends (including alpacas, mini ponies and sheep) in Stanton's Farm's visiting petting zoo and enjoy other family friendly seasonal activities with face painting, crafting, games and a children's trail.

Adult and child tickets available, and kids under 3 go free!

Info and tickets at https://prittlewell-pumpkins.eventbrite.com

01/10/2026

We can't wait for the start of this new series of lectures this weekend with Science-on-Sea and Dawid Glawdzin!

Have you got your tickets yet? Check the link in the post below to get yours now, only £5.

Southend's Skies: Postcards from the Cosmos is a fortnightly series of lectures starting this Sunday, the 4th of October at 11:30am at the Beecroft Art Gallery

Dive into the wonders of the night sky and learn how to capture stunning space shots with a fun intro to astrophotography!

Join astrophotographer Dawid Glawdzin, and theoretical physicist Rob Clemenson on a voyage of cosmic discovery.

Journey with us from the Beecroft Art Gallery into the darkest corners of the cosmos, in our six part lecture series: Southend's Skies: Postcards from the Cosmos.

In the first of these fortnightly lectures, we will begin our journey right here on the Earth - exploring some of the phenomena captured by Dawid over the skies of Southend; including aurora borealis (the northern lights), star trails, and noctilucent clouds.
Rob will introduce the audience to the science behind Dawid's incredible images, and Dawid will give a beginners guide to those looking to get started in astrophotography.

This talk is accessible for ages 10+. Older children and adults will enjoy this talk, children younger than 10 are welcome, but some may struggle with understanding the content.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2001635477596?aff=oddtdtcreator

This lecture series is organised by Science-on-Sea, in partnership with Southend Museums.

30/09/2026

Here's a view you don't get to see very often!

As part of our most recent deep clean, we ventured into the Victorian room setting at Central Museum to clean some of the furniture and objects on display in there.

Supported by some of our wonderful volunteers, this sort of spring (or autumn) cleaning is an essential part of the conservation work that we do here to ensure that the objects we hold are looked after.

Why not come along to Central Museum this week to see the newly cleaned displays! We are open 11am-5pm Wednesday to Sunday