Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois had the pleasant duty of opening the new Rayleigh Town Museum recently, as the culmination of a process which has been some 10 years in the making.
Mark, who is the Patron of the new museum, was assisted at the opening by Lorna Rolf, the new High Sherriff of Essex; Councillor Julie Sawford, the Chairman of Rayleigh Town Council, and Mike Davies, the Chairman of the Friends of the Museum Group, who has led the new museum project from the outset.
Local historian Mike Davies had the dream some 10 years ago or so to create a history museum for Rayleigh which could help display the heritage of the town, that goes back to the Norman period when Rayleigh was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Mike got together a group of “Friends of the Museum” (which now has over 600 members on its books) and applied for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to convert the top floor of 91-93 on the High Street – which now has Pizza Express below it at ground level – into a museum.
Initially the bid to the HLF was turned down but, partly encouraged by Mark, the team dusted themselves down and reapplied and at the second time of asking they were successful. The £90,000 grant provided by the HLF enabled the conversion of the upstairs room into a suitable museum space which now displays maps and other artefacts representing Rayleigh’s history down the ages. Speaking at the launch, Mark said:
“I would like to commend the Friends of the Museum, in particular their Chairman, Mike Davies, for all the wonderful work that they have done in order to make this dream a reality. The motto of Rochford District Council is “Our Heritage: Our Future” and this new museum is an embodiment of exactly that. I hope the museum will be a great success and will help those living in Rayleigh and indeed further afield to understand the history and heritage of our town.”