Online Exhibitions

Let's Talk About Food Food fulfils our basic daily needs. But it is also capable of provoking related memories and stories. In this display, our collections help us to travel back in time from the early to late 20th century, by looking at historic local bakeries, groceries and domestic food culture.
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Forging Art: Thames Ditton Bronze Foundry We celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Thames Ditton Bronze Foundry by looking back at its huge impact, both locally and across the world.
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MILK: The Milk Marketing Board and the 'milk crisis' In this exhibition, we chart the turbulent history of the Milk Marketing Board from its formation in 1933, through the 'milk crisis' and its closure in 1994, to the present day.
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Sickness & Health 2023 saw the 75th anniversary of the NHS – one of the most transformative developments in British social history. To mark this, we’re looking back on local sickness and health.
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Silent Services in Action Discover the remarkable history of the emergency services - police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers - and explore the photos, objects and memories linked to local people involved in these forces, and significant events they had to deal with.
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Back to School Whether good or bad, fresh or more distant, almost everyone has memories of their school days. And although schooling has changed dramatically over the decades, we sometimes have more in common with the schoolchildren of the past than we might have thought.
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Drawing Esher Explore the landscapes and characters of 19th century Esher through this array of fantastic sketches by Victorian illustrator, Robert Taylor Pritchett.
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Treasures of the Gill Family From dozens of surviving photos, paintings, letters and personal memoirs in Elmbridge Museum's collection, we can piece together the fascinating story of the Victorian Gill family who lived at Apps Court. Their tale is one of fortune, tragedy, formidable matriarchs and familial affection which spanned the ages - explore it here.
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Moving Art Discover an array of fantastic pieces by local artists aged 15+ in this yearly community arts exhibition run by Elmbridge Borough Council Arts Development and supported by the R.C Sherriff Trust, which re-launched in 2022 after a 3 year break.
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Everyday Heroines Everyday Heroines explores the experience of women in Elmbridge and commemorates their role in our history. This exhibition looks at women's roles in education, war, social advancement and the working world!
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The Mount Felix War Hospital This exhibition tells the fascinating story of Mount Felix in Walton during the First World War - a grand estate which acted as a hospital for New Zealand troops wounded in conflict. Explore the lives of the patients and nurses who stayed there through original museum photos and objects.
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Nothing About Us Without Us In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Elmbridge Museum has supported community partners to work with those who were, at times, extremely isolated. The project has seen us gather their thoughts in the form of oral histories, while also having their portraits painted by a professional artist. Click here to hear them in their own words.
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Climate Change Year 6 at Hinchley Wood Primary School have used items in Elmbridge Museum’s collection to learn about how our historic local environment differs from today. The result is 83 fantastic posters, which answer the key question: “Why does climate change matter?”
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Literary Elmbridge Elmbridge has been the birthplace of a host of famous authors and the inspiration behind many a classic novel. In this exhibition, we explore what the historic, practical and personal literature in Elmbridge Museum’s collection reveals about the time in which it was written.
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Elmbridge Museum at 30 2021 marked 30 years since Weybridge Museum became 'Elmbridge'. To celebrate, in this exhibition we take a look back at the key personalities, objects and events which have shaped our history since our formation in 1909. Click here to discover our story.
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100 Years of Remembrance Have you ever worn a paper poppy on Remembrance Day? Or taken part in a 2 minute silence? The Royal British Legion has remembered fallen war veterans in this way since 1921. In this collaborative exhibition to mark a century since its formation, Year 8 and 9 students from Hinchley Wood Secondary School have used historic items from our collection to reflect on what remembrance means to them.
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Historic High Streets What did your local High Street used to look like? With the help of a variety of contributions from our local community, this exhibition looks at both 'then' and 'now', tracking the evolution of Elmbridge's primary shopping streets from the 50s, 60s and 70s up to the present day.
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Objects of Empire The British Empire presents a challenging, contentious history. Local history, especially, might seem worlds away from the colonial landscape, giving many museums no incentive to delve deeper into the topic and uncover now hidden stories. Here, we have started by taking just 20 objects, using the research and commentary of expert historians to look at them from a new perspective - through the lens of the history of the British Empire.
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A Day At The Races The historic sport of horseracing not only holds a unique place in British culture, but in Elmbridge's landscape in particular. Discover the ups and downs in the stories of Sandown and Hurst Park over the ages here.
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Look Back In Anger From Digger occupation to Suffragette arson and beyond, discover the variety of ways Elmbridge has been used as a stage for popular protest movements over the ages.
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Elmbridge At War As the deadliest conflict in history, the Second World War had a huge impact on the country and Elmbridge in particular. Discover the stories of our Borough's resilient residents in this project, which was launched to mark the 75th anniversary of V.E. Day in May 2020.
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An Advertising Evolution From cereal packets with cartoon characters, to coronation-themed confectionary tins, this exhibition will make you marvel at the marketing of by-gone eras.
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The Wrens of Oxshott We revisit the remarkable lives and works of Denise and Rosemary Wren - hugely significant mother and daughter potters who lived and worked in Oxshott. Their works are both famous and trail-blazing in the world of pottery and women's history.
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Oatlands Palace: From Henry VIII's royal residence to First World War hospital Oatlands Palace was an impressive royal residence built for King Henry VIII in 1537. Little remains of the original building, except one of the restored archways on Tudor Walk in Weybridge. Here, we uncover Oatlands' fascinating hidden history.
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People of Elmbridge In 2018 Elmbridge Museum held a temporary exhibition at the Riverhouse Barn to celebrate the lives of significant local people. This online exhibition features some of the stories we told. Meet the past faces of Elmbridge and see how they helped to shape the borough that we live and work in.
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Roman Cobham In 1942, the remains of a Roman bath house were discovered at Chatley Farm, on the outskirts of Cobham. In this exhibition we explore local Roman life, work, culture and practices.
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Votes For Women! To celebrate 100 years since some women got the vote, we take a look back at how the Suffragettes of Elmbridge fought for their rights.
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Pulling Teeth: Walton's Dental History We're diving into Walton-on-Thames' dental past, examining dental tools made at Walton's famous factory and tracking the changes to a practice which terrifies many.
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Young Victorians: Childhood in Elmbridge 1837-1901 Childhood in Elmbridge has changed radically since Queen Victoria's reign ended in 1901. However, the themes of home life, education, and play have remained timeless. Here, we assess the changes and continuities within the lives of local children over more than 100 years.
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Cecil Hepworth: Cinema's Forgotten Pioneer Cecil Hepworth of Walton-on-Thames was a key player in the early development of cinema. We're taking a look at his life and work, which helped to develop filmmaking techniques that are still used today.
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Taxing Nature 'Taxing Nature' takes a fresh look at some of the creatures in Elmbridge Museum's collections. From real stuffed animals to furry cuddly toys, we question how animals have been depicted and appreciated over the last 150 years.
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A Century of Brownie Guides Here we celebrate over 100 years of the Brownie Guides, looking at what being a Brownie has meant throughout the organisation's history.
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Explore our Diggers Project