Vestry House Museum

Vestry House Museum Vestry House Museum (Police cell, c1860) Vestry House Museum (1940's room)

Vestry House Museum is housed in the former Walthamstow workhouse, constructed in 1730. A stone plaque above the entrance is inscribed "if any would not work neither Should he eat".

 

The workhouse closed in 1840, when the new West Ham Union workhouse opened at Leytonstone. The Metropolitan Police occupied part of Vestry House from 1840-1870, and a police cell can still be seen. The building was a private house from 1892 until 1930, when Walthamstow Borough Council took over the property for use as a local history museum.

 

Vestry House Museum now serves as the centre for the collection, preservation and interpretation of the past and present story of the people of Waltham Forest. Additionally, it houses Waltham Forest Archives and Local Studies Library, and an outstanding collection of photographs of Waltham Forest dating from the 1860s.

Click here for Google map
Vestry House Museum
Vestry Road
Walthamstow
E17 9NH
51.583463,-0.012213
Email:
vestry.house@walthamforest.gov.uk
Website:
www.lbwf.gov.uk
Telephone:
020 8509 1917
Admission:
Free
Open:
Museum: Thurs-Fri 12noon-4pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm. Archive and Local History Search Room: Thurs-Sat 10am-1pm, 2-5pm
Underground:
Walthamstow Central (Victoria line) then W12 bus or a 5-minute walk
Buses:
W12
Rail:
Walthamstow Central then W12 bus
Parking:
There are no designated parking spaces for the Museum, which is in a controlled parking zone (CPZ). The CPZ does not operate on Sundays. The nearest public car park is in Selborne Road, beyond the bus station (charges apply).
Borough:
Waltham Forest