Discover the amazing story of the unique religious community that created its own Garden of Eden in the centre of Bedford
The Panacea Society, a fascinating religious society founded in the early twentieth century, is the subject of this museum. The Panacea Museum is located in ‘Castleside,’ a lovely Victorian mansion that once served as the community’s headquarters. It chronicles the storey of the Panacea Society and other religious organisations like it. The Panacea Society, a fascinating religious society founded in the early twentieth century, is the subject of this museum. Members of the society lived, worked, and worshipped God quietly in their neighbourhood for 90 years. Despite their efforts to keep their identities hidden from outsiders, the society’s name became known to many people outside of Bedford as a result of their national advertising campaign to open “Joanna Southcott’s Box,” a peculiar cultural icon of interwar Britain. During the 1920s and 1930s, the group developed to about 70 members residing in and around Albany Road in Bedford, with another 2,000 scattered over the world. Over 130,000 people applied to obtain the Society’s water-based treatment procedure, which they called a “panacea” for all illnesses. The Panacea Museum is located in ‘Castleside,’ a lovely Victorian mansion that once served as the community’s headquarters. It chronicles the storey of the Panacea Society and other religious organisations like it. Several other structures that made up the original community’s “campus” are also included in the museum, which is placed within the gardens. A modest café at the museum sells tea, coffee, soft drinks, and a variety of pastries and snacks.