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Archaeology
We have a large archaeological collection - mainly Roman from the town underneath Glaxo's in Priory Street, but also Bronze Age, Iron Age and Saxon. Eventually we shall have a proper display of all this - maybe in the style of the Museum of London's magnificent High Street, Londinium exhibition (do go and see it). For the time being, we have six handling boxes of Roman archaeology (provided by GlaxoWellcome) which we lend out to primary schools. If your school is interested and near Ware, please ring Ware Museum on 01920 487848.
River Lea and Malting industry
 Ware was the main supplier of malt to the London brewers in the 17th-19th centuries. It was taken by barge down the Lea (or "Ware River" as it was often called). We have loads of tools and photographs about malting, as well as records, photos and a model of the sort of sailing barge you can see in our photo dating from about 1900.
D. Wickham & Co. Ltd
Apart from malt and pharmaceuticals, Ware was noted for its railway engineering. Wickham's of Ware made gang trolleys, railcars and large diesel units for almost every country you can name - from Argentina to Zimbabwe. We have virtually the whole Wickham archive of photos, documents and engineering drawings. If you are a genuine railcar enthusiast, you are welcome to consult our collection. Our photos show a gang trolley and large unit made in the 1950s for Rhodesia Railways.
The Great Bed of Ware
Another of our projects is making a replica of the Great Bed of Ware. The original left the town in 1870 and is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Cheekily we asked for it back but the V&A said it was too important to them - in fact it is the centre-piece of the rebuilt British Galleries since they opened in November 2001. But they did say they'd help us build a replica and that's our other big project of the decade. We have carvers and joiners lined up and some of us have been the V&A to measure and photograph the bed. The V&A exhibit the original as an item of furniture; our bed will be a piece of folklore. There are many strange tales attached to the Great Bed and its grotesque figures. And of course it is haunted.
Who is the Ware Museum?
We were founded in 1986 by the Ware Society and Ware Town Council. Both appoint representatives to the management committee. Other trustees are elected at the AGM in May. Among current trustees are Ken Weeks (chair), Graham Watson (secretary) and Wally Ling (treasurer). Incidentally, Ken along with David Perman (our past Secretary and Curator) are the same team which initiated restoration of the riverside gazebos, managed restoration of Scott's Grotto and commissioned the Bluecoat Boy statue in East Street and the Maltmaker Sculpture outside St. Mary's Parish Church.
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