The museum is now closed until February 2022
Spring at the museum
Museum Walks
Join us for our Ghost Walks or the NEW Crime & Punishment Walks.
Digital Museum
Delve into our blog articles and educational videos
Support local makers and crafters in our museum shop.
Visit our gallery exhibitions
The story of St Neots gallery takes you from the 11th century Benedictine priory to the coming of the railway in 1851.
Visit our gallery exhibitions
Discover what Victorian life was like for our ancestors in the village hall gallery.

What’s on at St Neots Museum

We organise a variety of specialist and family events from walks, talks, one-day festivals, temporary and touring exhibitions.

Building St Neots

11 January 2022

In this brief blog, our curator takes a look at the history of building work in St Neots... January is often a time of new beginnings and new projects. Following the impact of the pandemic, this year…

‘Make do and mend’ – St Neots’ handmade Christmas

9 December 2021

Upcycling and reusing are now fully on trend, but turning old into new is not a recent phenomenon by any means... What sort of Christmas presents will you be giving this year? In line with a government…

5 historical misinterpretations that had quite the impact

30 November 2021

From biblical personalities sprouting horns to life on Mars, here's five instances that historical misinterpretations and translations have impacted history A few months ago, we wrote a blog post about…

A ‘sinister’ blog for Halloween

28 October 2021

We live among you, we go to your schools, share your offices, and shop in your supermarkets. We make up 10% of the population, and throughout history we’ve been considered as deviants and 'sinister'.…

Playtime at the museum

12 August 2021

This summer, the museum is bringing back the popular ‘Marble Mania’ installation! And, to tie in with the theme of play, we’ve also added a new toy display upstairs. Read on to learn more on the…

Weathering the weather – weather predictions in folklore

7 July 2021

“St. Swithin’s Day if thou dost rain, for forty days it will remain.” – or so says an old Scottish proverb... The 15th July marks the feast day of St Swithin (sometimes spelt St Swithun), an Anglo-Saxon…

We’re celebrating Longsands School’s 60th anniversary

22 June 2021

St Neots museum is marking the occasion with a dedicated exhibition on its history. Our curator's been busy collecting your memories of the school, so here she is with a few recollections from the school's…

St Neots Museum

Deciphering our Celtic coins

26 April 2021

From the realistic to the abstract, we take a look at how to decipher the imagery on our collection of Celtic gold coins. We’re planning on reopening our museum doors on Tuesday 18th May, and we’re…

Unicorns – a brief history

8 April 2021

From ferocious beasts to friendly rainbow spouting mascots, it turns out that unicorns have been around in some form or other from the earliest of civilisations. As April 9th marks National Unicorn Day,…

A428 Excavations Update

6 July 2021

Lead Archaeologist Steve Sherlock gives us a brief rundown of progress so far on the archaeological excavations taking place on the A428.

St Neots Museum

Curator’s Corner – Celtic Treasure

21 May 2021

Our opening exhibition for May 2021 is Celtic Treasure, featuring the stunning Kimbolton hoard of Iron Age stater coins. Join Curator Liz Davies, as she tells us more about the coins, their designs,…

Family crafts – Easter hat

26 March 2021

Have a go at making your very own Easter chick hat! Watch the video to see how it's done, and click on the links below to download the template and step-by-step instructions... Please Note: There's…

Toddler Time – Christmas

17 December 2020

Our Education Officer Lesley is back with a quick Christmas edition of Toddler Time! Join her as she goes on a search for some Christmas present ideas in the museum. There's also two Christmas poems…

Curator’s Corner – Our Medieval Skeleton

24 November 2020

If you've been to the museum, you'll have seen our human skeleton displayed in our Early History Gallery. Lots of people think that this is the skeleton of St Neot himself, but we're sorry to say they're…

Curator’s Corner – Ghosts of St Mary’s Churchyard

27 October 2020

Come along with us as we take a quick, ghostly tour around St Mary's Churchyard, with our curator Liz Davies. We've not been able to run our regular Ghost Walks this year, and so we've decided to do…

Curator’s Corner – Victor Ekins and the Battle of Britain

11 September 2020

Join our curator Liz for the latest edition of #CuratorsCorner. September 2020 marks the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and in this episode, Liz tells us all about local Battle of Britain…

Toddler Time – Behind the Scenes at the Museum

4 September 2020

It's Toddler Time once again! In this edition, we join Lesley as she takes a look behind the scenes at the museum, searching through the museum stores to find hidden treasures. As usual, we finish…

Curator’s Corner – Edwardian Police Cells

14 August 2020

Join our curator Liz for a quick tour around the Edwardian police cells that form part of the museum. See where the prisoners would have slept and exercised, and find out why the water cistern for…

St Neots Museum

Quarter stater of King Cunobelin

4 May 2021

A gold quarter stater of Cunobelin, who was the powerful king of the Catuvellauni tribe from around 10-40CE

St Neots Museum

The Kimbolton coin hoard

4 May 2021

68 gold coins, dated to about 100BCE-40CE. The coins were found close to the village of Kimbolton by a metal detectorist in late 2010, and subsequently identified as Iron Age ‘stater’ coins by the British Museum.

Anglo-Saxon silver coins

7 February 2019

Two Anglo-Saxon silver pennies of Aethelred II who reigned 978-1016 and minted at Huntingdon by the moneyer, Aelfric. The coins were discovered by a local metal detectorist and purchased through the National Treasure Scheme.

The Bank of St Neots

7 February 2019

A regency banknote issued by the short-lived bank of St Neots in 1824. Donated by a family who owned a pawn shop in Enfield, London, where it is believed the note was given in payment for a property.

John Bellingham at the Old Bailey

7 February 2019

A print of John Bellingham, a merchant who spent part of his childhood in St Neots, and later in life murdered the British Prime Minister, Spencer Percival. The print depicts Bellingham standing in…

Mammoth bone

7 February 2019

Most mammoths become extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, and this tooth from a full-sized male was discovered in Sandy Heath Quarry in 2003. Mammoths had an incredible 5 to…

The St Neots parish chest

14 April 2018

The St Neots parish chest has been on display in the museum since we opened in 1998 after being restored and preserved is a long-term loan from the parish church.

James Toller, the Eynesbury Giant

7 July 2017

James Toller was born in St Neots in 1798 and by the age of ten was already 5ft 5 inches tall. Sadly James died when he was only 20-years-old but we have some interesting stuff about his life.

Paine’s Brewery and the history of brewing in St Neots

7 July 2017

The first large-scale brewery in St Neots is thought to have been established by Samuel Emery who purchased The Bull Inn on the Market Square and the public house next door so that he could brew in larger quantities.

Objects

Galleries

First World War

Exhibitions

Spring at the museum

Museum Walks

Digital Museum

Visit our gallery exhibitions

Visit our gallery exhibitions

What’s on at St Neots Museum

Found something interesting?

St Neots Museum

Opening and admission

Find us online