ERITH MUSEUM GROUP

Our Mission

To become a well-loved and well-used community resource for the study and display of local history. And, By the use of relevant items in the Bexley Museums Collection and other local items, data and media to encourage community involvement and to give the local people, new and established, young and old, a common sense of belonging and ownership of their environs.

Our Values

Our Heritage

Our Proud sense of History

Our Community Spirit

Our strong local involvement

Our People

These values are encompassed in the following extract from an early guide to our museum:-. "A museum may be said to be part of the response to the need which man has for quality in his life as well as quantity; it helps satisfy an artistic and cultural need, it is intended to appeal to, and to stimulate the sense of beauty, the sense of curiosity, and, above all, the sense of continuity with the past. Its function is a highly educative one, for by means of its exhibits it induces in the mind a desire to take an interest in the subjects illustrated"

Our Aims

Improve public availability

Involve Erith community in what the Museum offers

Give local people, new and established, young and old ,a common sense of belonging

Increase schools usage of Museum as an educational resource

Encourage the recording of oral history

Promote living history discussions ( and re-enactment)

Promote local history talks

Investigate if more appropriate premises and location are available

Our Boundaries - Physical and Notional

Our physical area of interest, on which displays are and will be concentrated, is the old, pre 1965, Borough of Erith. This includes the population centres of Erith, Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Thamesmead. It also includes the Erith & Belvedere Marshes, and our interrelationship with the Thames. Our area of historic interest encompasses anything and everything related to the above defined area throughout history.