2 minute read
What’s What in Seaford Museum?
by Fran Tegg
As we re-open to the public after an exceedingly difficult year, we ask the question: have you ever actually been in the museum?
It is always surprising to find just how many local people have never ventured inside the Martello Tower No.74 (the last in the long chain of defensive towers built around the south coast). Walking across the recently installed bridge and stepping inside is like entering a different world… many people liken it to a Tardis.
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It is so much bigger inside than it looks from the outside. Take a few steps up to the roof where you can see for miles and view the cannon at close quarters. Our flag is flown from here and, on special occasions such as the Queen’s birthday, we raise the Union Jack.
The main collection is downstairs below the promenade, and our lift makes this easily accessible. You will find so many different things down here, something for everyone. We house the second-largest collection of Neolithic flint tools ever found in the UK. These were dug up in the High Street when essential services were being installed. The history of Seaford is on show together with a record of the changes to the path of the river Ouse and coastline over the centuries.
We have an astonishing collection of domestic equipment, radios, televisions, telephones and much more. Our Edwardian shop is being rebuilt but is nearing completion when it will re-join our other displays: a Victorian kitchen; the Ritz cinema, an air-raid shelter, Camerons, Wynns, our bathing huts and much more besides. Our wartime kitchen features a kitchen dresser that was bought at the Ideal Home Exhibition in 1936, then exported to Germany with its owners who had to leave it behind when they left Germany in a hurry! Amazingly, when they returned after the war they found that their house had been used by German officers and their dresser was still there in good order. It was used by the family for many years. We have a large collection of local drawings by the local artist H.H. Evans, who managed to draw the most amazingly accurate pictures of local houses and landmarks despite having only one arm! An amazing feat.
There are many stories behind so many of our displays. As stewards will tell you, the most commonly overheard remark is ‘My mum had one of those’. It really is a stroll down memory lane.
We have had to make a number of adjustments due to COVID-19 but every care has been take to keep people safe. Come on down – it really is an amazing place! Open Wednesdays 2 -4pm, Saturdays and Sundays 11-4pm.
