Maldon District Council's Planning and Implementation team hosts five free Heritage Winter Talks annually.

Each hugely popular talk focuses on different aspects of local heritage or history.

The Timetable

All events are held at the Friends Meeting House, Butt Lane, Maldon. Doors open at 7pm with talk beginning at 7.30pm and ending at approximately 9pm.

No pre-booking required. Free Admission.

• December 3, 2024: Joe Bispham

 62 years as a Carpenter and Joiner: From indentured apprenticeship to historic buildings consultant

This talk will start from Joe's first day at work in January 1962. He was given a 6-month trial after which he signed his apprenticeship papers (indenture) which bound him to a master for 5 years to learn the craft as a carpenter and joiner. Joe will talk about some of the contracts he worked on and people that he met on his journey over the next 10 years. He will then illustrate and describe his work over the last 45+ years; the wonderful historic buildings that he has had the privilege to repair and the various interesting owners and professionals he has encountered.  

• January 7, 2025: Rob Cullum

Excavation of a Bronze Age and Iron Age Settlement in North Heybridge

In this talk archaeologist Rob Cullum will present the results of the archaeological investigations undertaken in advance of the residential development of a large swathe of land to the north of Maldon, now known as Westcombe Park. The work revealed a high density of late prehistoric archaeological remains spanning the Early Neolithic to Iron Age periods, including Bronze Age enclosures and longhouses and several enclosed Iron Age settlements. Artefacts recovered include a Neolithic axe, Bronze Age amber jewellery and the remains of a Bronze Age timber revetted watering hole.

• February 4, 2025: Stephen Nunn

Barges on the Blackwater

An illustrated talk on the historic link between Maldon and the Thames Sailing Barge. This is a study of some of the surviving barges that can still be seen at the town's Quay, sailing on the River Blackwater and taking part in the annual Blackwater Sailing Barge Match. The story of Maldon's barges – past and present

• March 4, 2025: Douglas Kent 

The Old Sun Inn, Saffron Walden: Then and Now

The Old Sun Inn is a captivating Grade I-listed building dating from the 1300s with 17th-century decorative external plasterwork - or 'pargeting' - that is among the best in the country. Originally medieval houses, then later an inn, the property has subsequently been in mixed commercial and domestic use. The Old Sun Inn is currently undergoing a project of major conservation in line with the principles of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), which, by an interesting twist of fate, once owned the building. Douglas Kent, the present owner who is, by coincidence, also the Technical and research Director at the SPAB, will explain the history of the building, including the latest findings, and speak about the ongoing work and plans for the building's future.