Heritage and History
Valence House Museum
Refurbishment programme
Valence House Museum, archives and local studies library closed on Saturday 22 December 2007 for a 2-year refurbishment programme. It will re-open in May 2010.
Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the 5 manor houses of Dagenham. It is sited in parkland and is partially surrounded by a moat.
Home of the borough's local history museum and art gallery, it houses an impressive collection of artifacts and archives that tell the story of the lives of the people of Barking and Dagenham.
Fanshawe Family Portraits and Archive|
Loans, donations and bequests|
Becontree Rooms
Of particular interest in the museum are the Becontree Rooms, a series of period room reconstructions. The history of the massive Becontree housing estate which covers much of the borough is charted in these rooms.
Collections
Also on display are various artefacts illustrating the history of the borough. These include Stone and Bronze Age tools and Roman pottery.
Barking had an important fishing industry from the 14th Century until Victorian times. Major fishing fleets operated out of the mouth of Barking Creek, and many relics from the period are on display.
The extensive archives include the internationally important diplomatic papers of Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608-1666) who was Ambassador to Spain and Portugal.
The collection of Fanshawe Family Portraits and Archive presented to the borough of Dagenham in 1963 is the jewel in the crown of the museum's collections.
Visitor services
The museum offers visitors tours, school visits, adult education, craft workshops and talks and lectures.
Visitors can enjoy a small café and souvenir shop stocking a wide range of local history books and publications, postcards, maps, reproduction prints and drawings.
Opening hours
Valence House is closed for refurbishment until May 2010.
Rail and Underground
One Railway trains to Chadwell Heath then 62 bus
District Line to Becontree then 62 bus
Buses
Routes 5, 62, 128, 129, 364 and 368
Location map
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Click image for larger version.
