Tiptree Jam Museum in Tiptree, England

If you have stayed in hotels in the UK, you likely got a mini jam from Wilkin & Sons at your breakfast buffet. In a converted barn on the grounds of the Wilkin & Sons preserve factory in an Essex village, the Tiptree Jam Museum tells the story of one of Britain's most beloved jam brands. The entrance is marked by a long, retro-looking pole which was in fact the Tiptree Jam Factory's chimney from 1984 to 2021. The museum collection began informally in the 1970s when a member of the founding Wilkin family started rescuing old equipment and documents that had been destined for the scrap heap. It was not opened to the public until the 1990s. From a Victorian farm into an internationally recognised name, all set against the backdrop of the fruit fields where the famous strawberries are still grown today, the real charm of the museum lies in its curiosities. Displays pair the expected old preserving machinery, packaging through the decades, and maps charting how the village and factory grew. Together with this is the delightfully unexpected, including a taxidermied four-legged chicken displayed alongside historic railway planning documents, photographs of the Queen, a diary entry of a airship that went down near the factory, a Prussian war helmet, and much more. One especially prized artefact connects the jam to a moment of political history: a letter from Prime Minister William Gladstone, whose 1883 speech is said to have inspired the founder to establish the original preserve-making company, which promptly sent him a jar from its very first batch. Tiptree Jam museum is worth a visit, and you will likely smell strawberry in the air while driving or walking past it, depending on the season. Next to the museum is a shop and a tea room where you will be able to round off your visit.

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