Valence House Museum
What Visitors Say
A amazing museum and lovely place to visit packed with information and loads of history on Barking and Dagenham. I highly recommend it and the staff and friendly and will tell you a bit about it. It also is a decent size and has a toilet and a cafe next to it where you can also buy a souvenir.
I came here on the weekend, to see the park and the museum. There is no charge to enter and I was surprised to find the amount of detail and exhibitions displayed here. The ground floor has some information and models of the house. Upstairs has more information of specialised interest. I particularly liked seeing the artefacts of Vera Lynn, alongside a piece where you can hear some of her songs by just pressing a button. There are also some secondary sources of people speaking about work back I the day, or about their evacuation experiences during the Second World War. I thought it was very nice here, they have a room with a gallery of oil paintings and elsewhere there are plenty of old fashioned items you can have a look at. They closed for lunch between 12-1pm, but a staff member gave me a bookmark with a QR code in which I could use to have a look at whenever (it leads to the website with more information). I thought that was very appropriate, as I didn't bring a bookmark that day and had just started a new book. The bookmark even has a picture of a skull (I like that) 💀
What a lovely place, we are lucky it survived. Staff and volunteers are all delightful. We particularly enjoyed the Asian Zodiac hunt and the leek and potato soup. Would like to see more of the family portraits on display.
Such a fantastic little gem of a museum. We love local museums like this because they tell the story of the area so perfectly. Love that the Dagenham Idol is there on display as well. Highly recommend if you’re interested in the history of the area or if you’re looking for a little day out for the littles as there’s a lovely playground next door, a neat little garden, and a yummy cafe.
What a wonderful place to visit,from the warm greeting as I walked in to all the historic items dating back over 2000 years ago up till 1960's it's a really a informative museum about the development of the local area from Manor houses to the urban place it is today.it has lots of examples of different times of Barking and Dagenham history..
Highlights
Local Time Tunnel
Tracks the area from prehistoric finds to the modern borough—clear, family-ready storytelling.One place, many Londons.
Main galleries in the house
Dagenham Idol Stop
An iconic prehistoric wooden figure gives the borough a deep-time anchor.A face from thousands of years ago, found in local soil.
Archaeology section
Garden, Café & Breaks
Outdoor seating and green space make it easy to pace a visit with kids or multigenerational groups.Museum + park = low-stress learning day.
Rear gardens and onsite café
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
The site interprets everything from river trade to car manufacturing—local history with global ripples.
A linked archive and regular family activities make it a community hub, not just a display space.
The historic house sits within accessible gardens, so you can mix indoor galleries with open-air time.
