Panacea Museum — Attraction in England

Weird, but charming museum about a religious cult.

Probably not worth a large detour, but if you're visit the Higgins Museum an Gallery (literally 1 mins walk away), the I'd definitely visit here too. The Panacea society were a strange religious cult who were based in this house from the Victorian period. apparently they believed things like Bedford was the original garden of Eden (it's a lovely town, but that might be a step too far!) and planned for Jesus, when he returned to earth, to come and live in Bedford. The cult were very secretive, and were active until about ten years ago. (I grew up in the area in the 80s and had no idea they existed). The museum has basically frozen the house in time from the early 20th century, so is worth a visit if a) You are interested in weird, religious cults hidden in suburban England b) Interior design in the Victorian/early 20th century c) Just want to visit somewhere a bit unusual.

I loved it, my kids loved it, you probably don't need to spend more than an hour here to see everything. There are handy guides, maps and videos, and the volunteers were very welcoming and helpful. and no, they didn't try to recruit me - as the cult stopped operating when the last members died a...

Excellent - highly recommended.

After 20+ years as a local resident, we finally visited on Saturday - spurred into action after reading "The Rapture" novel, set in the society. Our visit definitely exceeded expectations.

Apart from the beautifully preserved period furnished rooms, gardens, and well presented displays, for me the real value was the way that the [often bizarre] activities of the society were presented in the context of their times, vital in helping to make sense of what would otherwise feel pretty inexplicable. Although it seems the 24 Bishops were never persuaded to come to Bedford to open the box, the social wider impact of the marketing and publicity efforts of the society in the interwar period seems to have been really remarkable. Who knows what they'd have managed had social media been around at the time.

Sadly we were too late to sample the refreshments in the tea room, but there are some really collectable souvenirs for sale (based on some of the society's...

We are so lucky to have some many places of interest in Bedford, UK. The Panacea Museum is a fascinating bit of history that many Bedford folk don't know about! The museum is free to visit you can make donations and support them by having something from the Café or buying a plant or the odd vegetable from a stand in the Garden of Eden...that's right, Bedford is home to a Garden of Eden.

The staff are wonderful, super friendly and helpful.

The café has simple snacks such as crisps, prepacked cakes and flapjacks and biscuits. My daughter was able to have a gluten free flapjack and a packet of gluten free custard creams. Altogether got two cups of tea, 1 carton apple juice, 2 flapjacks and custard creams and it all came to £6.50 AMAZING!

Will defo go back again if passing even if just for the café and some peace...