Newsletter 2009

Chelmsford Museum: new extension and Marconi collection display

Nick Wickenden, Chelmsford Borough Council’s Museums Manager recently announced that the Chelmsford Museum in Oaklands Park is having an new built, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. This will be home to the Essex Regiment collection and some other exhibitions.

“We’ve been looking for more space and it will enable us to provide facilities such as an education room……we’ll also be able to have a display of Chelmsford’s industries for the first time. We are very aware that Chelmsford was something of an industrial world beater with the likes of Marconi, Comptons, and Hoffmans all here. We really haven’t been able to do this justice due to the limited space,” he said.

He also announced the return on loan of items from the Marconi collection, papers and objects relating to Guglielmo Marconi and the wireless company in Chelmsford which were passed to Oxford University in 2004. He said it was very sad a few years ago when the Marconi company’s own collection was moved from Chelmsford to Oxford. “We’re very pleased that we’ll be able to have some of those items back in Chelmsford on loan, because Marconi is such a key figure in the town’s history.”

Source www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2008/01/03/marconi_exhibition_feature.shtm Also have a look at www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2007/04/24/marconi_feature.shtml