[1] The house was designed by Charles Pertwee for Frederick Wells, a director of the Chelmsford Brewery, and completed by 1865.

A major £5 million extension and redevelopment scheme opened in January 2010 and the museum now includes exhibits and interactive displays focusing on the engineering pioneers R.E.B.

Crompton, Guglielmo Marconi, and Hoffmann Ball Bearings, as well as illustrating the development of the town and city from prehistory up to modern times.

[4] It also holds pottery including Castle Hedingham ware and that made by the Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.

[2] Highlights of this collection include the French Imperial Eagle captured by the 2nd Battalion of the 44th Regiment of Foot from the French 62nd Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812, as well as The Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at Gundamuck, a painting by William Barnes Wollen depicting the 1842 retreat from Kabul in Afghanistan.