Stanley Hills and the beginning of Mersea Museum
Mersea Museum opened in 1976 in a new local red-brick building in the High Street. Stanley Hills, a local builder, and a small group of helpers provided the building for the people of Mersea. Their work gave the collections a permanent home close to the parish church rather than relying on temporary exhibition space.
Building for the community
The museum's own account credits Hills and his helpers with the original premises. Local church records also connect Hills with the creation of the island surgery, working with Susan Luckham's husband. The two projects reflect practical building work for public facilities rather than a named architectural practice or a speculative biography.
A building that could grow
The original museum continued in use as its collections expanded. An additional wing was opened in 1992, followed in July 2010 by the Heritage Resource Centre. The latter £150,000 project added around 80 square metres of storage and research space, with support including a £45,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant and contributions from the Hervey Benham Trust and local donors.
The Resource Centre belongs to a later phase of the museum's growth, more than three decades after Hills helped establish the original building.
The museum he helped create
The trust and its volunteers have built collections of photographs, documents, recorded memories and artefacts relating to oyster fishing, boats, families and other aspects of island life. The museum's institutional history describes the expanding collection and Resource Centre; Hills's own place in that history rests principally on the original building.
Museum history and founding account · West Mersea parish church notes on local building work.