East Grinstead Museum

East Grinstead Museum stands in Cantelupe Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex. The building was designed for its purpose and opened in 1995 after grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and local donations. It replaced an earlier museum that had operated from 1926 to 1955 in the tower of St Swithun’s Church under the care of Reverend Golding Golding-Bird. A temporary town museum ran from 1976 in three rooms at East Court until the present site was ready. The museum gained accredited status in 1995 and moved to its current home in September 2006. The museum holds important collections that tell local and wartime stories. Its most notable material relates to the Guinea Pig Club, formed by patients who had plastic surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital during the Second World War. The club’s archive includes medical drawings by Mollie Lentaigne, whose work documented the pioneering reconstructive treatments carried out there. Visitors find displays arranged across the modern building. Rooms show objects and documents about East Grinstead’s history and the Guinea Pig Club’s legacy. The museum also presents the work of Mollie Lentaigne through original sketches and notes. The setting is quiet and easy to reach on Cantelupe Road, close to the town centre.