The Story of Chelmsford exhibition takes the visitor on a journey in the Chelmer Valley from the Ice Ages to the present day, taking in the major archaeological monuments and sites in the district, as well as more recent history.

These include:

• Ice Age mammal remains
• the Neolithic cursus at Chelmer Village
• the Bronze Age earthwork at Springfield
• Celtic and Roman gold coinage
• the Roman fort and Town of Caesaromagus (with its mansio) at Moulsham
• the foundation of the Norman new town of Chelmsford in 1199, shortly afterwards established as the County Town with the Assizes
• the medieval Dominican Friary at Moulsham
• Pleshey Castle
• King John's Hunting Lodge at Writtle
• the dominance of the Mildmay family
• Chelmsford Cathedral 
• the Incorporation of the Borough of Chelmsford

The opening of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in 1797 and the coming of the Railway in 1843 paved the way for the town's new industrial basis, which saw firms established like the Christy Brothers, Colonel Crompton's Arc Works, Hoffmanns ball bearings; and especially Marconi's Wireless Telegraphic Company.