Museum News
What's been going on at Halstead Museum? - Summer 2026 - by John Walmsley
We were gifted a bank cheque along with a piece of pottery from a small studio based in a backyard in Parsonage Street. The cheque dated 1922 came from the Halstead Brewery, that had been Adams. Sadly it had been cashed!
I was able to purchase for only a few pounds a postcard of the back garden of The Croft, on the High Street (Daniel Robinsons). It would likely only be us that would be interested this scene. The gardens were laid out formally, including a folly, as was the fashion in Victorian times.
An Australian, who once was a Halstead resident has returned to the town to deal with his father’s estate. He has donated his father’s Evans Electroselenium sporting trophies, along with his grandfathers (Walter Smith) silver long service award from the Halstead Brewery (dated 1920).
I spent £10 of the museum’s money at a boot sale, where I purchased an original Morton Mathews print dated 1889. Although it is not of Halstead, it is still of great interest to us. We have a photograph of Mr Mathews standing next to his printing press in his own classroom at the Halstead Council School.