We are over one hundred members of the Eden Valley community, many from the town of Edenbridge. Some of us got together in 1995 following a successful exhibition to celebrate a century of Edenbridge Town Council. The concept of a museum for the locality, originally floated some years earlier when a local water mill seemed to be an ideal location, developed and we eventually persuaded Edenbridge Town Council to rent us Church House a building of Medieval origin. A successful application to a local trust, The Great Stonebridge Trust, followed and a charitable trust was established in 1997. We then made an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund which was agreed in 1999.

Fifty eight volunteers worked on the project from 1997 in a variety of ways. We formed a Research Group to develop the collection, a Catalogue Team and an Information Technology Team to develop an interactive CD ROM. A Costume Team and a Construction Team followed later and shortly before opening in 2000 we established a group of over thirty museum assistants and provided them with training.

One of the principles on which the museum was founded was a museum for the local community and visitors developed and run by the community with professional help. To establish the museum we employed professional designers and media experts and appointed a part time professional curator.

The museum is managed by the Eden Valley Museum Trust a largely elected body and two sub committees. One oversees the day to day running of the museum the other provides a programme for members.

Since opening we have continued the team concept and a number of members are in more than one team. The dynamic nature of the museum and the friendly welcome you will receive from our volunteers is only made possible by the number of committed members, their enthusiasm and the variety of skills existing and new that they bring to their various roles.

Our six galleries tell the story of a house of  medieval origin and the story of the Eden Valley, however, the museum is more than static displays as we mount short exhibitions, undertake outreach work, run courses and events and provide an archive for researchers.

You, too, can join the Trust and help to run the museum and benefit from reduced rates for our talks and visits. Annual membership is £10.00. Just

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