The Panacea Museum

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 in the Garden.

Really interesting place to visit, once the headquarters of the Panacea Society and home of 'Octavia,' the daughter of God (according to the followers,!) The Society was a Southcottian sect that really established itself in the years following the Great War and when the last member died in the first decade of the 21st century the Society ended and a charitable trust took over the properties and opened them as a museum. It's a fascinating window into a movement that was very significant in the 1920's and 30's but has largely been forgotten now. The museum is a real time capsule and it's free to visit. Peaceful gardens, preserved interiors, an incredible story and knowledgeable staff and volunteers. If you're in Bedford it's a must!

Very interesting and such a lovely place to visit never knew it existed till a week ago amazing piece of local history

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 madder rules).

Fascinating museum that is bigger than it seems from outside

So unexpected and so fascinating.

A very interesting museum with really helpful staff. I definitely intend to visit again