Epping Forest District Museum holds a small but significant art collection reflecting the history and geography of the District.

The collection was begun in 1969 by Chigwell Urban District Council and passed to Epping Forest District Council on its creation in 1975. The majority of our paintings either illustrate local scenes, events and residents or are by artists with strong links to the area, although we also hold some modern and abstract work by artists from the wider county, purchased from the Artists in Essex exhibitions, which we hosted until 2000.

Most of the works have been donated by local residents or acquired with the help of grant aid bodies, whose generosity allows us to continue collecting.

Many artists have been drawn to the locality and our collections include 'The Garden, Epping' by Lucien Pissarro, pieces by Walter Spradbery and Haydn Mackey and 'Burial of King Harold at Waltham Abbey, October, 1066' by Henry Pearce Bone.