Hollytrees Museum
Georgian townhouse museum in Colchester’s Castle Park with hands-on displays on family life and childhood, toys, costume and a clock gallery.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Hollytrees is a Georgian townhouse in Castle Park, in the centre of Colchester. A London builder, Thomas Blagden, built it in 1718 for Elizabeth Cornelisen on the site of an Elizabethan house. It is best known for Charles Gray, an attorney, magistrate and Member of Parliament, who lived there from 1727 until his death in 1782. He restored Colchester Castle, laid out the grounds and planted the trees that gave the house its name, and added a west extension in 1748.
In the nineteenth century the house belonged to the Round family, who were major local landowners. Colchester Corporation bought it in 1920, after it had already acquired the western grounds in 1892 to form Castle Park. The house was converted to a museum between 1926 and 1929 and opened as a museum of medieval antiquities and later bygones. It was redisplayed in 1964 and, after a heritage lottery supported redevelopment lasting 14 months, reopened in 2001 with a lift and new visitor facilities.
Today the displays centre on domestic life and childhood in Colchester over the last 300 years. They include a Running the Home gallery with hands-on items, a dolls’ house, a childhood gallery and the Bernard Mason Clock Gallery of clocks made in the town. The museum is also the place where the nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is said to have been written, and it houses the town’s Visitor Information Centre.
Highlights
- Hands-on Running the Home gallery on family life of rich and poor households
- Dolls’ house and displays on childhood and toys
- Bernard Mason Clock Gallery with clocks made in Colchester
- Georgian townhouse from 1718 set in Castle Park
- Dinosaur skeleton in the Discover: Museum Wonders exhibition
Permanent exhibitions
- Running the Home gallery – Hands-on displays on domestic life for rich and poor households, including old washing equipment and servants’ costume.
- Bernard Mason Clock Gallery – Clocks made in Colchester, from long case clocks to lantern clocks.
- Childhood gallery – Displays on toys and childhood in Colchester, with a dolls’ house.
- Founded
- 1929
- Operated by
- Colchester and Ipswich Museums
Admission & discounts
| Adults | £5 |
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| Reduced | £4Registered D/deaf or disabled visitors, people receiving welfare benefits and serving military personnel; proof may be requested. |
| Children & teens | £3.50Ages 4 to 16. |
| Seniors | –Seniors pay the adult price. |
| Visitors with disabilities | £4companion free · Each disabled visitor ticket includes free entry for one carer. |
| Students & apprentices | £4 |
| Groups (12+ people) | –Groups of 12 or more should book in advance. |
| Families | £15Saver ticket for 2 adults and 2 or 3 children; cannot be combined with reduced or student rates. |
| Saver ticket (1 adult and 3 or 4 children) | £15 |
Prices apply from 1 April 2026. Day tickets are sold on arrival, and an annual pass gives unlimited visits for a year. Temporary exhibitions may carry a small extra charge.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The approach and entrance have steps or a gentle slope and a cobbled surface. A lift serves all floors, but it is small, with a 90-degree turn, so it may not suit larger wheelchairs, mobility scooters or double buggies, and only one wheelchair user is allowed in the building at a time. The two small unisex toilets have heavy doors, and there is no Changing Places toilet; the nearest is at the Castle Park café, about three minutes away. A hearing loop is at reception, some staff are trained in basic British Sign Language, and sheet magnifiers can be borrowed. A sensory story and sensory map are available, and a quiet space can be requested. Eleven Blue Badge spaces are on Museum Street, about 200 metres from the entrance. Assistance dogs are welcome.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Family ticket | £15 · Saver ticket for 2 adults and 2 or 3 children; cannot be combined with reduced or student rates. |
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- Family tours & workshops
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
- Hands-on stations
Children can try a dolly peg and dress up as a servant in the Running the Home gallery. The 50 Ways to Play challenge sheet covers Hollytrees, the Natural History Museum and Castle Park. A play kitchen, wooden puzzles and twiddlemuffs are available.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Colchester Town station · 10-min walk
Colchester Town station is about a 10-minute walk, up Queens Street and St Botolphs Street. Colchester North station is about a 20-minute walk. The main bus station on Osborne Street is about a 10-minute walk away.
By car
Parking available · 200 m to the entrance
There is no car park at the museum. Priory Street and Britannia car parks are a few minutes’ walk away. Eleven Blue Badge spaces on Museum Street are about 200 metres from the entrance, and more are on the High Street.
- Accessible parking
For satellite navigation use CO1 1UG; from the A12 leave at junction 27 and follow signs to the city centre. Taxis can drop off by the cenotaph, on the High Street or at the park gates on Museum Street. Bike racks are outside the Castle Park gates.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café: not available
- Museum shop
There is no café and food is not permitted inside; water bottles can be refilled. The shop sells local jams, Colchester prints, vintage toys and books. The nearest baby changing is at the play park next to the building.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Good to know | Children must be accompanied by an adult, with at least one adult for every ten children. Guided walking tours of the town start from the Visitor Information Centre in the museum on Saturdays and are booked through Visit Colchester. |
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