Wednesday 4th December 2024
Great Dunmow Museum

World War II

Did you know that Dunmow had its own airfield during the war? 190 & 620 Squadrons of the RAF were based here from 1944 to 1946. With many veterans still living in the town, we always have some war memorabilia on show. We also hold the USAAF 386 Bomb Group archive of photographs and uniforms in the museum.

Spitfire

Flitch Trials

Flitch Procession

The Flitch Trials came to Great Dunmow in 1855. The ceremony takes place every leap year and couples are required to prove in a mock 'court' that they have been married for at least a year and a day and have never had an argument. Successful couples are chaired through the town and awarded a flitch of bacon (half a pig).


Railway Station

Come and see the trains running through Dunmow Railway Station again. The town's station closed to passengers in 1952 and freight in 1969, but we have a superb model of the original station and its surroundings, complete with moving trains. If you can't wait, you can also choose a different train game to play.

Great Dunmow Railway Station

Fire Brigade

Great Dunmow Fire Engine

The Town Council still owns two old horse-drawn fire engines which used to serve the town and which are now on permanent show in the museum. There is also a third old fire engine from the nearby village of Stebbing and a changing exhibition of local Fire Service memorabilia.


Brewing

Randall and Gibbons brewery stood opposite the Doctor's Pond and was a major employer in the town until the mid 1960s. Various artefacts were rescued before the buildings were demolished. The town also had its own maltings, which were closed in the 1940s and now provide a home for our museum.

Blue Boar Brown Beer Label

Tick! Tock!

John Fordham Clock

There have been a number of clockmakers based in the town over the last three hundred years. The most famous of them was John Fordham, who was making clocks around the start of the eighteenth century. The museum has examples of the work of various local clockmakers on permanent display.


Find the Pig

As the flitch town, we have a pig called Persephone who is our museum mascot. There are also 12 little glass pigs hidden in the cabinets around the museum for our younger (or older!) visitors to find while they are exploring. Can you find them all?

Persephone the Pig

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