About
Elstree & Borehamwood Museum on Shenley Road celebrates the remarkable and somewhat unlikely heritage of a commuter town in southern Hertfordshire that became one of the most important centres of British film and television production in the world. Opened in 2000 by a not-for-profit charitable trust, the museum occupies a converted former fire station and chronicles both the fascinating story of Elstree Studios and the broader history of the twin communities of Elstree and Borehamwood from their rural origins to the present day.
The studio story is extraordinary. What are now the Elstree Studios — established in the 1920s and substantially expanded through the twentieth century — have served as the production base for some of the most celebrated films and television programmes ever made. Star Wars and the original Indiana Jones trilogy were filmed at Elstree, along with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, The Shining, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and dozens of other landmark films. For British television, the studios produced EastEnders (the BBC's long-running soap opera), The Bill, Strictly Come Dancing, and many other enduring productions. The museum's film and television heritage displays celebrate this remarkable creative legacy, exploring how a small Hertfordshire studio lot became synonymous with some of the most iconic entertainment of the twentieth century.
Alongside the studio story, the museum provides a thorough account of the communities themselves — from medieval Elstree as a rural Hertfordshire village, through the Victorian expansion prompted by the Great Northern Railway, to the interwar development of Borehamwood as a planned working-class housing estate, and the postwar transformation of the area as London's commuter belt expanded northward. Social history displays document the lives of ordinary residents through objects, photographs, and oral history recordings, creating a portrait of a community whose identity has always been shaped by its proximity to London.
The museum is run almost entirely by volunteers whose enthusiasm and knowledge of local and studio history make it an unusually personal and engaging cultural institution. The intimate scale and community focus distinguish it from larger civic museums and give it the character of an enthusiast-driven heritage project — warm, detailed, and full of unexpected stories.
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Annual Visitors (2019)
6,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday
💡 Saturday morning when most of the museum's collections are accessible and volunteer staff are available to share their knowledge
💡 Visitor Tips
- This is a small volunteer-run museum with very limited opening hours — Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (14:30–16:30) and Saturday mornings (10:00–16:00). ALWAYS check the website or phone ahead before visiting. The museum can be closed unexpectedly when volunteers are unavailable.
- The museum is exceptionally accessible from London — Elstree & Borehamwood station is on Thameslink with direct trains from London St Pancras in about 25 minutes. This makes it a feasible half-day trip from London for film history enthusiasts, especially when combined with other local attractions.
- The volunteers are the museum's greatest asset — knowledgeable, passionate, and keen to share detailed stories about both the studios and the local community. Budget time for conversation rather than just viewing displays. The personal engagement with volunteers transforms the experience from a conventional museum visit into something more intimate and revealing.
- The film heritage displays focus on the studios' history rather than on the films themselves — this is primarily a local and industrial history museum, not a film museum of the British Film Institute's type. Visitors seeking hands-on film experiences should manage expectations accordingly and appreciate the historical and documentary focus.
- The Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders, and various other TV programmes are still being produced at Elstree Studios today — the museum's film heritage is not purely historical but connects to active contemporary production. Studio tours may be available separately through the studios' own arrangements.
- Saturday visits are recommended for the best experience — the museum is more fully staffed and the full range of displays is accessible. Weekday afternoon visits are shorter but still worthwhile for the film heritage displays in particular.
- Donations are genuinely important for this museum's survival — it operates on a very small budget and relies entirely on volunteer effort and community support. A donation at the end of your visit directly supports the preservation and development of the collections.
Highlights
Elstree Studios — Star Wars and Beyond
The centrepiece of the museum's film heritage displays is the story of Elstree Studios' transformation into a global production centre, reaching its peak when George Lucas chose the studios for the filming of Star Wars in 1976. The studio complex's soundstages housed the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star corridors, and the cantina sequence that became some of cinema's most iconic images.
The Indiana Jones trilogy followed, with Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade all filmed at Elstree.
The museum's displays explore how the local studio lot became the backdrop for global blockbusters, using production photographs, behind-the-scenes accounts, and artefacts related to the studio's history.
The display captures the peculiar reality of a Hertfordshire suburb being simultaneously a mundane commuter town and the production base for some of the most watched films ever made.
EastEnders and British Television
Elstree has been as significant to British television as to cinema, serving as the production home of BBC's EastEnders — the country's most watched soap opera — since its launch in 1985. The museum's television displays cover this long history of studio television production at Elstree, from the early days of ITV series through the various BBC dramas and series produced here to the continuing EastEnders production.
The Strictly Come Dancing BBC series is also produced at Elstree, adding another dimension to the site's contemporary cultural significance.
Photographs, production materials, and accounts from local residents who worked as extras or in production roles provide personal perspectives on the television industry that shaped both local employment and national popular culture for decades.
The Stanley Kubrick Connection
Stanley Kubrick, one of cinema's most celebrated directors, made Elstree Studios his base for decades, using the studio facilities for The Shining (1980) and other productions. Kubrick's famously meticulous approach to filmmaking, combined with his reluctance to travel to Hollywood, made Elstree his preferred production home.
The museum documents this connection with materials relating to Kubrick's Elstree productions, accounts of life on his sets from local crew members and technicians, and the unusual legacy of a major Hollywood director who chose to base himself in a Hertfordshire suburb.
The Kubrick-Elstree connection adds artistic credibility to a studio history already remarkable for its commercial blockbusters.
Borehamwood History — A Planned Community
The growth of modern Borehamwood is one of the more interesting stories in twentieth-century suburban history — a planned expansion of a small Hertfordshire village into a substantial working-class housing estate built in the 1920s and 1930s to house Londoners displaced by slum clearance. The London County Council and Hertfordshire County Council cooperated to create new communities at Borehamwood and other sites around London, building thousands of council houses to modern standards with gardens, community facilities, and good transport links.
The museum traces this transformation, with photographs, planning documents, and personal accounts from families who moved from London's East End to what felt like the countryside.
The display illuminates how the relationship between London and its surrounding towns was consciously managed during the interwar period through planned suburban expansion.
Collections
The Elstree & Borehamwood Museum holds collections relating to both the film and television heritage of the Elstree Studios and the social history of the local communities. Film heritage collections include production photographs, promotional materials, studio documentation, and artefacts related to films and television programmes made at Elstree.
Local history collections encompass photographs of the community from the 1900s onwards, maps and planning documents, social history objects, and records of local organisations and businesses.
An archive accessible by appointment provides detailed research resources for family and film history. The collections are actively developed through community donations.
Lights, Camera, Action — Elstree Studios Story
The history of Elstree Studios from 1920s origins through the Star Wars and Indiana Jones era to contemporary television production, with Star Wars, Kubrick, and EastEnders as key elements.
📍 Film Heritage Gallery
Our Town — Elstree and Borehamwood Through the Ages
Local history from medieval Elstree village through Victorian expansion and interwar planned development to the present suburban community.
📍 Local History Gallery
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.