IRON and bronze age artefacts are among the treasure trove of items on show at a new museum set inside a chapel.

After months of preparation, the collection is finally ready to go on show at the Wivenhoe Chapel Museum, which is set to open on May 16.

The £3,000 Wivenhoe Town Council project came about after the dwindling number of funerals being held in the 100-year-old plus building which it owns.

Town councillor Robert Needham said: “It is a fairly isolated building in the middle of the cemetery.

“It was constructed in about 1906 and its original purpose was for funeral services.

“Over the years, things have changed and it is no longer the sort of thing people do – we are getting about one request for a funeral there a year.”

The chapel roof was replaced in 2013 and a town council steering group set about transforming the building, which sits between Belle Vue Road and Stanley Road, into a museum.

Mr Needham said: “We thought: ‘We have got a building with a new roof, but can we make better use of it?’ “We have worked on it since.

“It is one of those things where you have a spark of inspiration and we are beginning to see it come to fruition.”

The council asked the Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service to loan items, plus it has some of its own artefacts to go on show.

Residents also put forward items for the displays, which will go in wheeled cabinets, so they can be removed should anyone still wish for the chapel to be used for a funeral.

Essex County Council gave £1,000 towards the cabinets, while new doors have been fitted on to the front of the building, thanks to £750 from the Wivenhoe Society.

Exhibits include a Victorian school bell, which belonged to the former Phillip Road school, and a clock, which belonged to the Dutch East India Company’s Captain Matthew Martin, which he gave to St Mary’s Church early in the 18th century.

Wivenhoe-born Captain Martin achieved fame when he evaded capture by three French ships of war while sailing with a valuable cargo.

There are also items found at Wivenhoe sand and gravel pit in 1934, including a pottery loomweight, fragments of a bucket urn from the Middle Bronze Age and an Iron Age jar.

In addition, there is a section of an oak tree with a King George III two-penny piece embedded in it.

It was discovered in the early 20th century near Wivenhoe Hall.

It is hoped as the collection grows and changes, the museum will be able to house small exhibitions and be available to schools and researchers.

The museum will be open from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer.

People are being encouraged to donate or loan items and there is an appeal for museum volunteers.

To help, contact the town clerk on 01206 822864.

! A formal opening will take place at 11am on Thursday, May 14, by Wivenhoe’s mayor, Kevin Read.

The museum’s opening date to the public, on May 16, will coincide with Wivenhoe’s first day of its open gardens weekend.