Hertford Museum

Hertford Museum stands in the heart of Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. It occupies a 17th-century town house with a Jacobean-style knot garden outside. The ground floor galleries show early museum history with objects like exotic animals, fossils, and Japanese armour. The first floor focuses on the town and its people through local, military, natural and social history collections. Archaeology, fine art, and geology are also represented. The museum holds about 5,000 toothbrushes from the Addis Collection. The Addis factory on Ware Road was once a major employer until it closed in 1996. After closure, the museum received photographs, documents, and oral histories from former workers. Educational projects with schools are part of its work, such as a pilot with Little Munden Primary School. They created an exhibition about their locality from 1830 to 1930. Visitors find a mix of displays across two floors. The knot garden outside adds a period touch to the setting. Photographs and documents from the Addis factory archive are on view. Oral histories bring the town’s industrial past to life. School projects show how local history is studied and shared. The building itself, with its 17th-century style, frames the collections well.