Braeside School story told in new museum exhibitionoNlin

The Community Showcase Programme encourages individuals and groups to take part in curating a display.

This offers a unique experience to see what it’s like to work behind the scenes at a museum and providing individuals and groups the opportunity to tell the story of their chosen subject through objects, photographs and any other medium of their choosing.

Braeside School for Girls was set up when in 1943, children returned after being evacuated (Image: EFDM)

The newest display, curated by former pupils Cllr Louise Mead and her daughter Daisy-Mae, tells the history of Braeside School for Girls in Buckhurst Hill.

After 12 children returned from the evacuation scheme in 1943, their parents were eager for them to have stability, education and hope for the future.

In response, Marjory 'Molly' Wakefield, a Quaker and a firm believer in the importance of education, rented two rooms in Palmerston Road to teach these children and, in 1944, moved to Braeside House at 103 Palmerston Road.

By 1948, demand to join the school was so high that Miss Wakefield purchased Hill House in Palmerston Road, which would later become the Junior School, followed by the lease of Ellerslie House on 130 High Road, Buckhurst Hill in 1950, which would later become the senior site.

Amy Stock reveals who the Loughton Boys were in an exhibition at the Epping Forest District Museum (Image: EFDM)

Through the expansion of the school, Miss Wakefield’s guiding principle of 'Semper Perseverans' (Always Persevere) remained a strong motto for the girls that attended Braeside, becoming the spirit of the school itself.

Teaching generations of girls from four to 16, the small school fostered close relationships, and its traditions created lasting memories.

In 2015, Braeside was taken over by Oak Tree Group and became co-educational, but the school sadly closed its doors 10 years later in July 2025.

The exhibition is on until August 13 (Image: EFDM)

The display shows a variety of uniforms owned and worn by former Braeside students, as well as newspaper clippings, documents, photographs and a copy of the Braeside book A School, Two Houses and Perseverance: A History of Braeside School, Its Founder and Buildings by Frances Francis, a former teacher and director of Braeside School.

The display will be available to view until August 13, 2026, in the Museum’s Core Gallery on the Second Floor.

The Museum is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10am until 4pm. Entry is on a pay-what-you-can basis.

• Amy Stock is collections officer at Epping Forest District Museum (efdmuseum.org.uk).