Beecroft Art Gallery

The Beecroft Art Gallery is now open Tuesday - Saturday 10am-5pm. Come visit us in our new home in the old Central Library building on Victoria avenue, next to Central Museum.

Engaging Pupils with History and Science

Every object tells a story; in our educational sessions we tell stories using the objects and buildings, engaging the pupils with the subject matter in a way that helps to make history and science real.

'The London' Shipwreck Exhibition

Built in Chatham in 1656 for the Cromwellian Navy, The London was one of just three completed wooden Second Rate ‘Large Ships’, of the ten ordered for the Anglo/Dutch War, built between 1642 - 1660 and the only one now surviving. Now lying in two parts off of the end of Southend-on-Sea Pier, The London played a significant role in British history. In an attempt to end the anarchy following the death of Oliver Cromwell, the London formed part of an English squadron sent in 1658 to collect Charles II and restore him to his throne.

The London’s illustrious career as the flagship of the maverick admiral Sir John Lawson was cut short on the 7th March 1665, when she blew up at her anchorage at the Nore near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, the traditional fleet assembly point in the Thames Estuary. Various theories abound as to the cause of the explosion; the most popular of which being that the accident may have been caused as sailors reloaded old cartridge papers with gunpowder. An initial recovery attempt later that same year saw men descending in a diving bell to retrieve some of the more valuable items of the time.

All talks are suitable for Key Stage 2 (KS2) and are also available in forms suitable for KS3 & KS4. Most sessions can also be adapted to KS1 on request – contact us for details.

Although there are obvious curriculum links, for example Tudors ‘Daily Life at Southchurch Hall’ with Tudor Life under the History curriculum, there are also substantial cross curricula elements. For example, Design and Technology comes into The Round Sound Learning Show, which also relates to aspects of Victorian life. 

In 2005, during works in advance of the London Gateway Port development in Thurrock, Essex, The London was rediscovered. Subsequently, in October of 2008, it was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973) and immediately placed on English Heritage’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register, due to its fragile archaeological remains being exposed by shifting sediment levels on the sea bed.

Throughout the course of 2014 – 2015, English Heritage has commissioned Cotswold Archaeology to carry out an underwater excavation in order to find out just how much archaeological material survives. Divers will be excavating three trenches in bow of the wreck, designed to explore archaeological remains in the hold, the orlop deck where the anchor cables are, the main deck and the carpenter and boatswains store rooms. Steven Ellis, an experienced Thames Estuary diver, has been granted the Government Licence to dive the wreck, working closely alongside Cotswold Archaeology. Recovery will provide great insight into the English Navy during an unsettled time when Britain was merging as a global power, as well as aiding our understanding of life on board ship in the late 17th Century.

Southend Museum Service will curate all finds recovered from the site and has secured a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to develop a community project which will involve local people with the process of finds sorting, recording, conservation, storage, research and display.