Eden Camp Modern History Museum is a large

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-related museum near Malton in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It occupies a former Second World War

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

of 33 huts. After the prisoners left, the camp was used for storage and then abandoned. Its grounds then became overgrown. As the museum was being set up, much clearing, as well as repair and renovation of the buildings, was required. One of its buildings contains three

human torpedo Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. ...

es and a "Sleeping Beauty"

Motorised Submersible Canoe The Motorised Submersible Canoe (MSC), nicknamed Sleeping Beauty, was an underwater vehicle built by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. It was designed to enable a single frogman to sabotage enemy ships, ...

.The museum has fully restored a

Super Sherman The Sherman M-50 and the Sherman M-51, both often referred to abroad as the Super Sherman, were modified versions of the American M4 Sherman tank that served with the Israel Defense Forces from the mid-1950s to early 1980s. The M-51 was also ref ...

(M50) to its original working classic, amongst many other military vehicles which are now on display in the Heritage Hall - a new purpose built events and exhibition centre. The museum also has a reproduction V1.

Timeline

Original Use *Early 1942: The

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

identified and requisitioned the site from Fitzwilliam Estates. Tents were established inside a

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

enclosure. * Mid-1943: A permanent camp was completed and the first

Italian prisoners of war Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

were moved in. * End of 1943: The Italian prisoners of war were moved out. * Early 1944: The camp provided accommodation for Polish forces amassed in the North Yorkshire area in preparation for an invasion of Europe. * Mid-1944: The first

German prisoners of war German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

arrived at Eden Camp. * Early 1949: The last German

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

left the camp. * 1950 to 1955: Eden Camp was used as an agricultural holiday camp where guests paid for board and lodgings to work on local farms. School children stayed at Eden Camp during school holidays to learn more about the countryside and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. * 1952: It was used as a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries depot. * 1955: The site was returned to Fitzwilliam Estates who leased it to Headley Wise and Sons who owned Malton Minerals. The huts were used for drying and storing grain and rearing

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

s on grain. * 1985: Stan Johnson bought the site intending to set up a

potato crisp Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until c ...

factory. But three Italian ex-Eden Camp prisoners of war approached him seeking permission to look around the camp, and thus the idea of preserving the camp and opening it as a museum was born. By then the site had become severely overgrown with wild vegetation, which had to be cleared. Museum Use * 21 March 1987: Eden Camp Museum opened to the public. It was billed as the world's first Modern History Theme Museum and ten huts were used for display. * 1990: Hut 24, the first of a series of five huts designated to display the military and political events worldwide between 1919 and 1945, opened. * 1992: Eden Camp won the Yorkshire Tourist Board's 'Visitor Attraction of the Year' and came second in the England for Excellence English Tourist Board's Awards for Tourism. * 1995: The last remaining empty hut opened and was dedicated to coincide with the 50th Anniversary

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

celebrations. The museum also won its second Yorkshire Tourist Board 'Tourism for All' award. * 1996: It won the award again. * 1998: Eden Camp won the Yorkshire Tourist Board's 'Visitor Attraction of the Year' award. * 1999: Hut 13 opened to cover military conflicts which

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

forces have been involved in since the end of the Second World War up to the present day. * 2000: Hut 11 opened to include the events of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. * 2001: Eden Camp was voted runner up attraction to the

London Eye The London Eye, originally the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid Tourist attractions in the ...

by the readers of Group Travel Organiser magazine. * 8 November 2002:

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

visited the museum. * 2002: Start of refurbishment of Hut 10, which now houses a comprehensive collection of P.O.W artefacts * 2006: Medal Room set up. * 2009: Completion of redevelopment of Hut 22, Forces Reunion, where hundreds of photos of personnel can be seen. *2021: Eden Camp announce redevelopment of Hut 5's Blitz Experience, by Technically Creative. *2022: Following closures during the pandemic, the museum invested approximately a quarter of a million pounds into refurbishing in the camp. New roofing, doors and windows were installed on the 80 year old building, the front of site was re-landscaped, and the museum launched its Green Policy with an aim to become Carbon Neutral by 2030. Multiple wild flower sites were sown across the site, and a new toilet block with self sufficient solar panels was erected. In addition the Museum replaced the diesel generator with a new electricity cable, reducing the annual carbon footprint by over 77%. *April 2022: The new BLITZ EXPERIENCE was launched, using historic artefacts and modern technology. The new Heritage Hall was also launched to house the restored military vehicles on site. The Hall also doubles a
a wedding and events space, available to hire
It houses a stage, bar and full AV equipment. *January 2023: Eden Camp acquired its ceremony license to hold Wedding ceremonies as well as receptions from January 2023. There have been more changes since January and more are coming soon.

References

External links

*
Museum website

Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum entry on Culture24
Retrieved 9 December 2009.
BBC North Yorkshire information

Underwater Heritage Trust information
{{Prisons in Yorkshire and the Humber Defunct prisons in North Yorkshire History museums in North Yorkshire Military and war museums in England Prison museums in the United Kingdom World War II museums in the United Kingdom World War II prisoner-of-war camps in England Italian prisoners of war Malton, North Yorkshire

Timeline

See also

References

External links