Swaffham is a Georgian market town located in Breckland, Norfolk. It is famed for its 800-year-old Saturday market, its history, folklore and for one past MP who is the shortest-serving prime minister in our country’s history.
The town’s legend, The Pedlar of Swaffham, is a local tale about a pedlar who dug up two pots of gold after following a dream. To learn more about him and the town’s history, the place to go is the Museum of Swaffham.
Golden finds
The Pedlar’s story may be true as a 15th century pedlar, John Chapman, miraculously came up with money to repair the town church. And if you venture into the St Paul and St Peter Church across from the museum, there is a wood carving of the Pedlar.
Tutankhamun’s golden face mask is also celebrated at the museum in the Carter Gallery. The room, a favourite with children, is dedicated to Howard Carter, who is probably the most famous archaeologist in the world. The display charts Carter’s journey from his family home in Swaffham to his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun which is replicated in the museum. Visitors can listen to Howard’s voice as he describes the discovery, and they can look at an impression of that chamber where, using a candle, he first saw those “wonderful things”.
War and railways
While the Tutankhamun room has been a draw, the new War Room at the museum is creating a lot of interest. Opened in 2025, this new gallery features stories of people from Swaffham during periods of conflict, from the English Civil War, through both World Wars to modern day struggles, with the missile installations and the campaign for nuclear disarmament.
The photographs of the serving soldiers from Swaffham and the Royal Norfolk Regiment who were Japanese prisoners of war, are especially poignant. Captured at the Fall of Singapore in 1942, they were forced by the Japanese military to build the infamous 415km Thai-Burma Railway – a tale of death and brutality.
Closer to home, the museum records the sad closure of the Thetford railway branch on 15 June 1964, and the closure of Swaffham station on 9 September 1968.
Lives, past and present
Monique Slaven, a past volunteer at the Museum, spent 20 years searching the fields around nearby Sporle with her metal detector. Her finds, displayed in the museum, shine a light into more than 2,000 years of life in the neighbouring village.
One of the finest corestones in the country was unearthed on Swaffham Heath. These cores were used throughout the Stone Age to create flint tools and weapons like the ones on display. Another reference to past lives is the clock from the Swaffham Union Workhouse, opened in 1836, housing 405 impoverished inmates, as well as the museums massive collection of posters. These remind visitors of the multitude of whist drives and musical concerts held during the Second World War, as well as the fun had at the many, many events that took place in Swaffham through the centuries.
Children play an important part in the museum. We welcome local school groups who enjoy creative events associated with Swaffham’s local history. There is also an outreach service available to local schools. We are entirely staffed by volunteers, there are no paid workers. The museum relies on donations and a modest entrance fee, supplemented with an income from the well-stocked gift shop. We hope you will visit us soon.
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