Little Chester Heritage Centre

Volunteer-run local history centre in the side aisle of St Paul's Church, telling the story of Little Chester, the oldest part of Derby.

Opening hoursFree admission

Directions

About the museum

Little Chester, also called Chester Green, is the oldest suburb of Derby and stands on the site of the Roman fort of Derventio. The heritage centre grew out of a local history group formed in the 1980s from the residents' association. In 1986 the group held an open-air exhibition on life in Roman Britain, and by the mid-1990s it needed a permanent place to show its collection.

In 2000 the new vicar of St Paul's Church offered an empty side aisle of the Victorian church, and the centre was set up there; one listing gives September 2001 as its opening date. It is run entirely by volunteers.

The displays are arranged by theme rather than by date. They include pinboards and cabinets of letters, documents, china and coins, archaeological finds, a display on the Derby Co-operative Provident Society, costumed mannequins and scale models of Roman and Anglo-Saxon burial sites, a Roman fort and a villa. Flood-defence work in the area has produced new finds, and the centre has also hosted small exhibitions on the history of flooding.

Highlights

Displays on the Roman fort of Derventio and Anglo-Saxon burials
Scale models of a Roman fort and villa
Archaeological finds from Little Chester
Display on the Derby Co-operative Provident Society
Set in the side aisle of a Victorian church

Permanent exhibition

Little Chester and Roman Derventio – Thematic displays on the history of Chester Green, with archaeological finds and models of a Roman fort, villa and burial sites.