Valence House Museum

“What a lovely place, we are lucky it survived. Staff and volunteers are all delightful. We particularly enjoyed the Asian Zodiac hunt and the leek and potato soup. Would like to see more of the family portraits on display.”

“I came here on the weekend, to see the park and the museum. There is no charge to enter and I was surprised to find the amount of detail and exhibitions displayed here. The ground floor has some information and models of the house. Upstairs has more information of specialised interest. I particularly liked seeing the artefacts of Vera Lynn, alongside a piece where you can hear some of her songs by just pressing a button. There are also some secondary sources of people speaking about work back I the day, or about their evacuation experiences during the Second World War. I thought it was very nice here, they have a room with a gallery of oil paintings and elsewhere there are plenty of old fashioned items you can have a look at. They closed for lunch between 12-1pm, but a staff member gave me a bookmark with a QR code in which I could use to have a look at whenever (it leads to the website with more information). I thought that was very appropriate, as I didn't bring a bookmark that day and had just started a new book. The bookmark even has a picture of a skull (I like that) 💀”

“Such a fantastic little gem of a museum. We love local museums like this because they tell the story of the area so perfectly. Love that the Dagenham Idol is there on display as well. Highly recommend if you’re interested in the history of the area or if you’re looking for a little day out for the littles as there’s a lovely playground next door, a neat little garden, and a yummy cafe.”