New museum Discover Box supports Chelmsford schools to explore local history
The Baddow History Box provides opportunities for local schools to learn more about the Great Baddow Coin Hoard.
A new History Discover Box for schools has been developed by the Museum of Chelmsford in collaboration with local school pupils and teachers.
The Baddow Discover Box is supporting primary school children to learn more about Chelmsford’s prehistory as they explore the Great Baddow Coin Hoard – a collection of 935 Iron Age gold coins unearthed in Great Baddow in 2020. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, it’s part of the Timeless Treasures project, which aims to share the hoard’s story with local communities.
Containing 21 activities themed around the Iron Age, the box offers rich and engaging opportunities for school pupils to explore prehistory through a real, local archaeological discovery.
Resources within invite pupils to explore like archaeologists—handling replica artefacts, examining evidence, and building their own interpretations about who buried the Great Baddow Coin Hoard and why.
Classroom resources shaped by local school
To deliver this brand-new box, the museum teamed up with creative practitioner, Hannelore Smith, and Beehive Lane Community Primary School in Great Baddow to design eight engaging lessons suitable for Key Stage Two students.
The partnership saw Hannelore and museum staff host several workshops at the school during autumn term 2025, in which they spoke to children about the Great Baddow Coin Hoard and tested potential activities for the box.
Beehive Lane Community Primary School pupils use mini metal detectors to find metal objects and then log their finds in the classroom.
Students tried their hand at creating clay vessels, a mini archaeological dig, and designing their own coins before voting for their favourite activities. Beehive Lane teachers also provided valuable advice to help shape each resource into a strong educational aid.
Pupils also tried their hand at designing and crafting their own clay vessels.
Councillor Jennie Lardge, Deputy Leader of Chelmsford City Council and Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, highlighted the importance of museums working with local schools to design engaging classroom resources:
““The benefits of museums partnering with schools to nurture curiosity in young children is abundantly clear. Working with students and teachers in Great Baddow – where the hoard itself was discovered – the Museum of Chelmsford has managed to create something that is all at once fun, inspiring and educational, with activities designed to develop creativity, critical thinking and social skills.
Councillor Jennie Lardge, Deputy Leader of Chelmsford City Council and Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure
“For local schoolchildren, this box will also help invoke a sense of pride in our shared history and support them to better understand how their own community fits into the bigger historical picture.”
As part of the project, Beehive Lane students were also invited to the museum for a very special experience. In October 2025, a class of Year 3 pupils from the school became the first members of the public to see the Great Baddow Coin Hoard in person.
Beehive Lane pupils see the Great Baddow Coin Hoard for the very first time. Image by Be Inspired Photography.
Later in July 2025, Beehive Lane teachers, pupils and their parents were invited back to the museum to attend the Timeless Treasures: Unlocking the Great Baddow Coin Hoard exhibition opening. Each child was also gifted a souvenir coin magnet to remember their involvement in the project.
Beehive Lane Community Primary School teacher, Sally Baker, said of the project:
“"The Baddow Discover Box was an invaluable resource that made local history exciting, real and relatable for our pupils. The activities, artefacts and other resources provided in the box brought history to life for our pupils in a way that books alone cannot. The project sparked genuine curiosity and excitement, with pupils becoming highly invested in discovering more about the history of Great Baddow and the story of the Great Baddow Coin Hoard."
Sally Baker, Beehive Lane Community Primary School
New box available for schools to loan now
Following further testing in early 2026 by other Chelmsford schools including Westlands Community Primary School and Moulsham Junior School, the Baddow Discover Box was rolled out for schools to hire half termly. Beehive Lane Community Primary School was the first to officially loan it from September to October 2026. The next availability for the box is from January 2027.
The box is designed for Key Stage Two students and can be delivered as eight individual lessons or combined to create an immersive Iron Age Day. Although developed with local schools in mind, schools located outside of Chelmsford and Essex will also find it a useful resource for enhancing prehistory lessons as part of the national curriculum.
Some of the objects that can be found in the box.
If your class is currently exploring a different period in history, you can also hire boxes covering other parts of the national curriculum, including a Romans Discover Box, Victorian Toys Discover Box and Suffragettes Discover Box. More information and prices can be found on the Museum of Chelmsford’s website.
Museum’s Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation renewed
For schools looking to book some immersive learning outside of the classroom, the museum’s Stone Age to Iron Age learning sessions also offer a great opportunity to discover more about Chelmsford’s prehistory. Plus, the chance to see the Great Baddow Coin Hoard in person!
This year, the Museum of Chelmsford has once again been awarded with a Quality Badge by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC). The badge recognises the museum’s engaging schools offer and provides assurance to teachers and parents of high-quality learning experiences. Find out more about school visits on the museum website.
