St Neots Market Square, 1900s

Collections

Explore articles about the historical items in our collections about the rich past of St Neots

Fathers Day Poster by Paine’s Brewery

St Neots Derailment

The Great Train Crash

In November 1895 a Great Northern Railway Scottish express from Kings Cross encountered a broken rail and derailed at St Neots killing one and injuring six passengers.
St Neots Museum

Quarter stater of King Cunobelin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.
paper mill little paxton

History of the paper mill, Little Paxton

There was an active mill on the site in Little Paxton since the monks of St Neots priory owned a water-powered medieval corn-grinding mill called Okestubbe.