Marconi Heritage Group

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Introduction

In 2014 there was a real possibility to get a sustainable and viable presentation of Marconi Heritage content in the original Marconi factory in Hall Street in Chelmsford.

In 2014, part of this original Marconi site, the whole of which had originally been sold to become a housing complex (see here and here), comprising the actual factory building was sold on and a new application for planning permission to convert it to a mixed residential/commercial use was made. Following a period during which many comments were made on the City Council planning site and in the press and broadcast media regarding the recognition of its historical associations as the first wireless factory in the world and therefore of significant national and international significance to justify support as a site of special heritage interest. The application was finally approved but enough impetus had been generated for there to be a feasible option to use the commercial side for a community/heritage asset.

As a result negotiations with the owners were opened with a view to acquiring the ground floor for the creation of a community/heritage asset, and the Marconi Heritage Group worked with the Moulsham and Central Chelmsford Community Trust (Moulsham First) to get this underway and to raise finance for this opportunity. Both groups were convinced that a successful application can be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund, but matching funding and initial payment of the costs to set up a trust body to carry out the necessary work had to be found - the full amount required for preparation, purchase and fitting-out was of the order of £1.5 million - and to start the process a fighting fund of a few thousand was needed, and then a mechanism to raise substantial contributions to the full amount.

Those involved therefore planned on launching both national and worldwide appeals for support, as from the earliest days the Marconi companies traded in an international market, and they set up an online crowd-funding site to collect donations. Unfortunately the target funding was not achieved so the initiative failed. 

However, there was still confidence of gaining a facility to ensure the deserved and continued recognition of the work of our founder coupled with that of the many thousands who served in the companies as researchers, skilled tradesmen, professional engineers and operators, which laid the foundations of the modern world, so discussions have continued.

This resulted in the invitation to organise a Marconi Exhibition from March 2016 in Hall Street open to the public for 3 months. It included rare photos and videos from the archives, some artefacts, and talks by notable speakers. This volunteer-led initiative was organised and staffed by Chelmsford Civic Society and the Marconi Heritage Group in collaboration with BBC Essex. Details can be found on <facebook.com/marconiscienceworx> and <facebook.com/chelmsfordcivicsociety>. The event was a huge success and attracted many hundreds of visitors with all talks completely sold out, additional material being found and donated including a replica of the Titanic radio room.  

To the disappointment of all concerned at the conclusion of the Exhibition the continued use of the ground floor space was not forthcoming and despite the previous planning permission proviso it was given permitted development into two additional flats and so the possible reincarnation of a Marconi presence vanished for ever.

In 2018 an initiative of the Chelmsford Civic Society in association with the Marconi Heritage Group, the Marconi Veterans Association and Chelmsford City Council resulted in the creation of a Hall Street Historical Information board using funds raised at the Hall St. and Titanic exhibitions. It is installed opposite on the wall of the Woolpack highlighting the world's first wireless factory - residents would not allow us to put it on the actual building. Peter Turrall of the Marconi Veterans Association unveiled it on 13th September - he revealed that in one of the photographs there was a picture of his grandfather! This is a collage of pictures of the event and there is a video here.

Marconi Heritage Group

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