<< Our Photo Pages >> Valence House - Museum in England in Greater London

Submitted by Andy B on Saturday, 09 February 2019  Page Views: 5289

MuseumsSite Name: Valence House Alternative Name: Dagenham Idol
Country: England County: Greater London Type: Museum
Nearest Town: Barking  Nearest Village: Dagenham
Map Ref: TQ4803386569
Latitude: 51.558583N  Longitude: 0.134042E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 5 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Dagenham Idol Valence Park Museum Image copyright: BlackDaffodil, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Valence House is the only surviving manor house in Dagenham. It dates back to medieval times and is partially surrounded by a moat. The musuem is currently home to the strange and fascinating Dagenham Idol on long term loan and display from Colchester Museum. The Idol has been dated to the late Neolithic, see the comments on our page for more about the idol.

The museum was voted by the Guardian as one of the 50 best free things to do in London. Its galleries tell the story of Barking and Dagenham and its people throughout the ages.
Tranquil herb garden and Dig for Victory plot.
Research local and family history in the Archives and Local Studies Centre.
Light refreshements in the Oasis tearoom also a gift shop.

Free Admission
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday (10am-4pm)

Becontree Avenue,
Dagenham, RM8 3HT
020 8227 2034

Official Web Site: https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/valence-house
and view the collections online at
http://valencehousecollections.co.uk/
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Valence House
Valence House submitted by Thorgrim : The Dagenham Idol was found in the Thames mud when the Ford factory was built in the 1930's. Languishing almost forgotten since then, he is now on display in Valence House museum, on loan from Colchester Castle Museum. Contemporary with the oldest timber circle at Holme and about 300 years older than Seahenge. It has been suggested that such figures may have topped the posts at Seahenge, but I ... (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Soap idols and Dagenham Idol Not my photo, taken on a phone and shared with me. Why we were there -- close encounter with the Neolithic Dagenham Idol Image copyright: DavidSankey (david sankey), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Forms in wood. The Dagenham idol and The World's End beater. An alder wood reproduction of a beater from 5,530-5,340 ybp. Attaining fibres from flax or bramble, opening chestnut outer casing and pounding tanning leather are all potential uses for this beater made from a softish wood that indicates that its purpose was not intense hammering. The original was found in pieces as the Thames passes C... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Andy B : Ray Harryhausen Hydra prop / model in Valence House, Dagenham, 19/05/2018 Image copyright: flambard (Tony Jones), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Ray Harryhausen skeleton prop / model in Valence House, Dagenham, 19/05/2018 Image copyright: flambard (Tony Jones), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Ray Harryhausen Gorgon / Medusa prop / model in Valence House, Dagenham, 19/05/2018 Image copyright: flambard (Tony Jones), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (2 comments)

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Prehistoric / palaeolithic hand axe etc, in the museum Image copyright: DavidSankey (david sankey), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Miniture sculture of Dagenham Idol In the grounds of Valence House Museum, Dagenham. May 2010 Image copyright: Valence House Musuem (Borough Archivist), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Representation of The "Dagenham Idol" outside Valence House. Image copyright: raymond6030, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : A bronze Ford Capri car sculpture, parked up outside the Archives and Local Studies Centre Image copyright: diamond geezer (diamond geezer), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Valence House
Valence House submitted by Flickr : Valence House, Valence Park Becontree Avenue Museum & Local Studies Centre. Image copyright: Traxcitement, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Valence House
Valence House submitted by thecaptain : The Dagenham Idol while on display at Colchester Castle Museum in 2008. Found in the Thames mud when the Ford factory was built in the 1930's, and dated to 2250BC. (5 comments)

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 3.2km NNW 344° St Chad's Well (Chadwell Heath)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ4706389580)
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 10.8km NNE 26° Unhenged* Modern Stone Circle etc (TQ5240696410)
 10.8km E 101° St. Cedd's Well (North Ockendon)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ587848)
 11.0km E 100° Seven Springs (North Ockendon) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ590850)
 12.6km NNW 332° Loughton Camp* Hillfort (TQ418975)
 12.6km NE 52° Weald Park Hillfort Hillfort (TQ578946)
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 13.8km NNW 331° High Beach* Artificial Mound (TQ410985)
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 14.1km SSE 155° Dartford Borough Museum* Museum (TQ5431773920)
 14.5km NNW 345° Ambresbury Banks* Hillfort (TL438004)
 14.5km WNW 283° St. Eloy's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ338895)
 15.2km NNE 22° Stanford Rivers Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL533008)
 15.2km S 174° Joyden's Wood Ancient Village or Settlement (TQ501715)
 15.5km SW 225° Hilly Fields Stone Circle* Modern Stone Circle etc (TQ374752)
 15.6km WSW 250° St Olave's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ335807)
 15.8km WSW 250° All Hallows by the Tower* Museum (TQ3337380695)
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Pagan London Episode 4: The Dagenham Idol by Andy B on Saturday, 09 February 2019
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Pagan London Episode 4: The Dagenham Idol
Londonist's 12-part documentary series exploring London’s historical, mythical and contemporary pagan connections.

In episode four, we meet one of the oldest representations of a human, or possibly a god, found in Britain. For four thousand years it lay quietly under Rainham Marshes.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e75-D3-_dQ
[ Reply to This ]

The Dagenham Idol by Andy B on Saturday, 09 February 2019
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From the webpage of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham:

The most remarkable object from the Neolithic period (between c4000 and 2000 BC) is the Dagenham Idol, uncovered in 1922 in marshland just south of Ripple Road. It is carved from Scots Pine and is around 4,300 years old, making it almost 1,000 years older than Stonehenge and one of the earliest examples of human representation in Europe.

The idol was found beneath a layer of peat 3m below ground in the marshland mud on the north bank of the Thames, during excavations for sewer pipes for the new Ford Car works that was being built.

The Idol is believed to have been an offering to the gods to increase the fertility of the land. Buried beside it was the skeleton of a deer, possibly sacrificed for the same reason.

The Dagenham Idol is currently on loan to Valence House Museum from Colchester and Ipswich Museums, so why not visit Valence House and see it for yourself.

Source: http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/MuseumsAndHeritage/LocalHistoryResources/Pages/EarlyHistory.aspx
[ Reply to This ]

Soft-play area inspired by the Dagenham Idol opened in 2015 by Andy B on Saturday, 09 February 2019
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“I wanted to make the kids’ soft play area a bit more bling and glam than usual, and a bit sinister, too,” says artist Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, the creator of the curious climbing frame that stands as the eye-catching centrepiece of Barking and Dagenham’s new £14m Abbey leisure centre.
More:
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146414238
[ Reply to This ]

Fake News about The Dagenham Idol being stolen by Andy B on Saturday, 09 February 2019
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There is a strange story circulating on the internet that the Idol was stolen from the museum in 2009 - to quote a site which shall remain nameless:

In November 2009 the idol was stolen by Nigel Bunt, a US Citizen who was born in Dagenham. He claimed that the "Idol spoke to me, as soon as I saw it I felt its power, its hard to describe" and took the idol to his home in San Francisco. In January 2011, San Francisco Police Dept were alerted to a disturbance where Bunt was dancing naked and chanting loudly around a 2m replica of the idol that he had made in his back yard with a chainsaw. Bunt’s wife gave the police the idol and told them it was the source of her husband’s distress; he added "When I came back to San Francisco strange things began to happen, I soon felt my life spinning out of control and I knew it was the power of the Idol."

This entire story is made up - see here
https://dispatchesfromtheformernewworld.com/2016/06/02/the-dagenham-idol/
Source of the made up story
http://botschaftdergotter.blogspot.com/2011/01/missing-neolithic-dagenham-idol-turns.html

Read the made up comments allegedly made by the museum curator - do they ring true?
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