A 19th century magistrates’ order banning a town centre gathering is one of the many items hidden away in Braintree’s museum archives.

Hundreds of paintings, pictures and artefacts which date from the early 1800s are safely stored in locations across the town.

One of the most valuable pieces, which the museum has asked the identity of to be kept secret, is insured for a quarter of a million pounds.

But museum and town hall manager, Robert Rose, believes it would be worth a tiny fraction of that to anyone who tried to steal it.

He said: “The items are owned by the council and have enormous local and social historical values but have little financial value.

“We can’t have them on display all the time.

“With all the photos and the paintings the longer they are out of the light the better as eventually they will deteriorate.”