Founded in 1957, the Maldon Society aims to promote and preserve the historical heritage of this town and its surrounding area by encouraging civic pride in the area and promoting co-operation with other organisations.
The locations of the Cygnet Room and Maeldune Centre are shown below:
© Maldon Society 2020
Our mission statement
The Society seeks to preserve all that is best in local architecture and ensure that any future development is in keeping with the town's ambience and overall design.The Society aims to promote and preserve the historical heritage of this town and its surrounding area by:
- Encouraging civic pride in the area and promoting cooperation with other organisations
- Encouraging high standards of planning and architecture by liaising with Councils on planning applications
- Arranging well-advertised monthly talks of local interest, open to the public
- Managing an informative website (maldonsoc.org) and normally producing a twice-yearly newsletter
- Managing an archive of photographs, videos and drawings illustrating the history of the town, housed in the Maeldune Heritage Centre
- Developing an oral history Archive by recording memories and stories from local residents
- Being involved with Heritage Weekends and the installation of Blue Plaques
Research challenges the story of Edward Bright
Researcher Lynne Raymond achieved her ambition of correcting the famous story of Edward Bright, the ‘Fat Man at Maldon’, thanks to the help of the Maldon Society. Lynne began the project in 2013 by working with evidence found a few years ago. The biggest challenge was to correct the famous figure’s address.
Based on historical evidence from the 1890s, the original blue plaque had him living at Church House in Bright's Path. However, new evidence revealed it was his son, who shares his name, and his daughter-in-law who lived there instead. The 'Fat Man at Maldon' lived, with his family, at the building which was between 57 and 59 High Street.
The Maldon Society organised a replacement plaque for Edward Bright and his son, who was also a notable person in the town. Among those attending the unveiling were direct descendant Richard Bright, chairman of the Maldon Society Judy Lea, former district chairman Henry Bass and conservation officer Tim Howson.
Left to right: Abdul Hafix, Maldon Town Mayor, Wendy Howell, Secretary of the Maldon Society and David Ogg, Deputy Mayor at our stand during Heritage Weekend, September 2020.
In the summer, the Society organised a viewing of the Beeleigh Abbey gardens, exclusively for our members and their guests. Sixty people attended and our Chair, Judy Lea, gave a history of the Abbey to the attendees.
On the Listening Station are the voices of 15 Maldon residents speaking about their memories of Maldon in days gone by, including some of the ladies who worked on the adjacent Maldon Millennium Embroidery. Next time you are out shopping in the High Street, do please call in and give it a go; it’s very easy to use.
About the Maldon Society
Protecting our heritage
The Society seeks to protect that heritage from unnecessary or harmful change, for example by keeping an eye on planning applications, particularly in the conservation areas, and by participating in local area reviews.
Find out about our mission statement below
Sharing our history
Visitors to the Maeldune Heritage Centre (see map) are welcome to access the Society's archives which contain over thirty individual collections of photographs, videos and pen-and-ink drawings of the town and its people, ranging from the 1930s to the present day.
Find out more about our archives here
The adjacent oral history Listening Station is available to all visitors. Over 50 people have now been interviewed and recorded, providing a wide variety of memories about the town, from the 1930s onwards. There are stories about boat building and sail making, childhoods with freedom to roam all day, wartime events and learning to swim in the Promenade lake.
Listen to some 'Memories of Maldon' here
Installing blue plaques
We have an active programme of installing, updating and maintaining blue plaques around the town. You can visit them by following our Blue Plaque Walks guide.
Learn about the story of the Edward Bright plaque below
Promoting our town
When Covid recedes as a threat, we intend to restart our monthly talks on local buildings, people and events. These have previously always been open to the public as well as members with the intention of promoting an appreciation of our heritage as widely as possible. See the map below for location of the meeting venue.
Find out more about our talks here
Meanwhile we help to maintain the vitality of the town working closely with business representatives, with all other local heritage groups and both the Town and District Councils.
Pictured below left to right: Simon Fothergill from Bright and Sons, Richard Bright, Cllr Henry Bass, Mark Salisbury of Church House and Lynne Raymond with the Edward Bright replacement plaques.
Installing a new plaque at the former Maldon Workhouse on Market Hill.
Supporting Heritage Weekend at the Maeldune Heritage Centre.
Become a member of the Maldon Society
Those who share our aims can join the Society by paying a fee of £10 per person or £16 per couple.
The membership fee covers the period from 1st April to 31st March. A reduced fee is payable for those joining after 1st April.
For further information, please email maldonsociety@aol.com
To join the Society, click here to download a Membership form
Read all about it
Keep up to date with the latest developments in Maldon and find out what's happening in the Maldon Society by downloading our latest newsletter.
The locations of the Maeldune Heritage Centre and the Cygnet Room, where we hold our monthly meetings, are shown below.
© Maldon Society 2021
