10 objects of local and global significance in

Kent Museum Collections

Throughout 2010 the Eden Valley Museum will be exhibiting one of the 'top ten' objects from Kent Museums:

A gift from the enemy for a Kent Land Girl.

Further information

The box, its maker and the recipient

Made by a German prisoner of war called Christoph who was working at Stonewall Home Farm, ( formerly and presently known as Brookers Farm) at Chiddingstone Hoath. It was made for Peggy Chapman, a land girl, as a Christmas present.

Peggy tells us that Christoph, a German prisoner of war had been captured in Russia, sent to America, then transported back to a PoW camp in Tonbridge, Kent. From the camp he went with a colleague, Herman, to live on a farm at Chiddingstone Hoath.  Here they worked alongside Peggy Chapman who was serving her country on the home front in the Women’s Land Army, hand milking 60 cows each day. From their different backgrounds they were all working to ensure the British people didn’t run out of food after WW2.

Peggy, now Mrs Peggy Leppard, settled in the area when she married in January 1949.

This object was chosen to join the other nine objects from Kent Museums because of its local and global significance.

The Museum

The Eden Valley Museum is a small local history museum housed in a medieval farmhouse. The appeal of our displays and exhibitions is the very personal nature of the stories we tell.

It is run by volunteers and we have full Accreditation from MLA. The collection consists of objects, documents and photographs that have been donated by local people to tell the story of the land and people of the Eden Valley in West Kent. We are very much a community museum. We were set up and have been run for 10 years by people from the Eden Valley.

The object that has been chosen from our collection for A History of the World is one of several beautiful objects we hold made by prisoners of war and given as gifts to local people. We welcome this opportunity to explore the stories behind these objects in more depth.

Many objects from our WW2 collection, including the material from ‘Doing Our Bit’ Memories of WW2, our extensive 2005 exhibition, are on display in the galleries.

If anyone has any further gifts of this kind in our collecting area, TN8 and TN11, we would be delighted to hear from them.

Opening Hours:

Wed & Fri 2.00pm till 4.30pm

Thu & Sat 10.00am till 4.30pm

Sundays in June, July & August

2.00pm till 4.30pm

Eden Valley Museum

Church House

72 High Street

Edenbridge

Kent TN8 5AR

Tel: 01732 868102

www.evmt.org.uk

curator@evmt.org.uk