Southend Museums Collections Centre - After Hours

Look behind the scenes at the brand new Southend Museums Collections Centre, as part of our Museum Lates series.

Look behind the scenes at our brand new 'Southend Museums Collections Centre', after hours this June.

Southend Museums Collections Centre (SMCC) officially opened in March 2026. Located on the 2nd floor of the Beecroft Art Gallery building, SMCC offers the community special, previously impossible access to the entire archaeology and social history collections, and a behind-the-scenes look into museum curation, conservation and research work.

The move from an offsite, inaccessible store to an in-house collections centre has been an opportunity to reorganize and redesign the way the collections are stored while improving accessibility for staff and visitors. Tens of thousands of objects making up the archaeological, natural history, and material culture collections have been moved to their new homes at SMCC – including a vast assortment of EKCO radios, artefacts from the Roman 'Wickford Well' excavation site, original stone from Prittlewell Priory, the full London shipwreck assemblage and much more.

Join us after hours on 18th June for a guided store tour led by a Southend Museums' curator, to explore behind the scenes of the museums service and get a closer look at our archaeological, material culture and natural history collections spanning a millennia of South Essex's heritage.

Doors open at 6pm, with half an hour for enjoying a drink and exploring the gallery downstairs. The tour begins at 6:30pm, lasts approximately one hour, and the event finishes by 8pm.

Prebooking is essential. This event is 18+ only. FAQs below.