Chelmsford Museum awarded VisitEngland Gold Accolade

Chelmsford Museum has been awarded a 2024 VisitEngland Gold Accolade. The accolade is testament to the museum’s high standards, with Gold status awarded to visitor attractions that achieve the highest scores in VisitEngland’s annual quality assessments.

Recognising England’s best visitor attractions

Introduced in 2014, VisitEngland’s Visitor Attraction Accolades acknowledge the very best of England’s tourism experiences, from museums, farm attractions, and historic houses to churches, cathedrals, and country parks.

The accolades are awarded based on VisitEngland quality assessments, customer feedback direct to VisitEngland and online customer reviews.

This is the third time Chelmsford Museum has received a VisitEngland accolade in recent years. In 2022 the museum was awarded Best Told Story, while in 2021 the museum’s Hive Café received the Quality Food and Drink Accolade.

The Gold Accolade was officially presented to Museum Manager, Sarah Davies, and Museum Operations Manager, Kieran Bacon, earlier this week during a VisitEngland awards event at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire.

Cllr Jennie Lardge, Cabinet Deputy for Cultural Services, says the award is another brilliant achievement for Chelmsford Museum:

“

“In recent years Chelmsford Museum has received a number of awards for its exceptional visitor experience and storytelling. This latest VisitEngland Gold Accolade is a particularly prestigious award, recognising the very best visitor attractions across the country.

“The award is confirmation to residents and visitors that they can expect the very best experience when visiting our city museum. I’d like to congratulate the staff and volunteers at Chelmsford Museum for another well-deserved award and thank them for their continued dedication to telling Chelmsford’s story.”

Cllr Jennie Lardge, Cabinet Deputy for Cultural Services, Chelmsford City Council

Museum builds on 2023 quality assessment scoring

This year, the museum increased its scoring in its annual VisitEngland quality assessment, achieving a personal high of 95% in 2024, compared to 92% in 2023.

The scores are based on visits from trained VisitEngland assessors, who review the entire visitor journey, scoring aspects such as parking, exhibits, retail offer, food and drink, cleanliness, and staff.

Chelmsford Museum’s assessor this year particularly praised the museum’s regularly refreshed collections and its current temporary exhibition ‘Restless Brilliance: The Story of J.A. Baker and The Peregrine’, which provide returning visitors with new content to explore.

The assessment noted how the museum’s permanent exhibits flow well into different time periods, effectively telling the story of Chelmsford’s past through attractive and informative displays. It also commended the interactive activities that children regularly engage with, and the friendly and knowledgeable staff who take the time to interact with visitors.

The museum's helpful staff and engaging interactive displays were praised by a VisitEngland assessor.

The museum’s high score for 2024 meant it became eligible to be nominated for the prestigious Gold Accolade, which it later won.

Sarah Davies, Museums Manager, is delighted her team’s hard work has been recognised:

“

“It’s truly wonderful to know that, not only has Chelmsford Museum comfortably met VisitEngland’s expectations for a quality visitor attraction, but also exceeded these expectations with an outstanding score in this year’s assessment and a Gold Accolade.

“This award is fantastic recognition for my entire team, who invest a great deal of effort into ensuring there’s always something new to look forward to exploring here, whether that’s a refreshed display, new retail products to browse, or another educational trail for children to embark on. I’m thrilled that their hard work to make this a great place to visit has paid off with a VisitEngland Gold Accolade.”

Sarah Davies, Museums Manager, Chelmsford Museum

VisitEngland Accolade follows fifth Essex Mums Award earlier this year

It’s been a great year for awards for Chelmsford Museum. The VisitEngland accolade comes after the museum was voted Best Museum for the fifth time in the Essex Mums Awards.

The Essex Mums Awards are voted for by the public, with 32 awards presented annually to family-friendly businesses across the county. The Best Museum award recognises Chelmsford Museum’s varied interactive activities for families. Children can enjoy explorer trails; an illusion of an Anglo-Saxon burial; and lots of hands-on activities, including Roman mosaic making and dressing up.

Keep up to date with Chelmsford Museum’s upcoming exhibitions and other news by following them on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribing to their enewsletters.