The Lynn Museum, King’s Lynn, Norfolk

The star of the Lynn Museum originally hit the headlines in 1998 when a local man discovered a circle of split tree trunks embedded in the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea on the north Norfolk coast.

Closer examination revealed it to be an early Bronze Age structure, unique in Europe. In a short time it had captured the public imagination and with the press christening it "Seahenge", hundreds of people were flocking to see it and threatening the site itself and the fragile ecological balance of the area.

But just as the sea had revealed the 4,000-year-old timbers, so it also began to damage and erode them, and questions began to be asked about what, if anything, should be done. Local protesters were joined by druids and others in calling for it to be left to decay naturally, while archaeologists recognised the enormous potential the site held for increasing our understanding of Bronze Age life.

Others expressed concern that it might end up on display in London rather than Norfolk. English Heritage's decision to excavate the site and remove the timbers sparked sit-ins and court writs, while a Time Team Christmas Special later that year fuelled the controversies by felling a 100 year-old oak to build a reconstruction of the site.

This background, combined with the important insights offered by the excavation, presented an exciting challenge to the project team from the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service. Ten years later, after much careful conservation work at the Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre and the Mary Rose Trust, the Seahenge timbers have gone on display as part of the newly refurbished Lynn Museum.

The Seahenge gallery, just off the museum shop and reception, is a calm, darkened and very atmospheric space, a far cry from the bustle of King's Lynn bus station outside. Instead of immediately presenting us with the timbers, we are invited to explore a full-size reconstruction, with a Bronze Age figure to guide us.

Clear and informative text panels, paintings and video reconstructions explain how the site was originally on saltmarsh up to 30 miles inland. With a huge upturned oak stump at its centre, the circle may have been intended to house an "air burial" of an important tribal chief or priest.

Turning the corner to where the timbers are displayed, I was struck by how fresh they look. Many still have the bark intact, as well as the marks of the axes used by the people who cut and shaped them in the spring and summer of 2049 BC.

A wall-sized backdrop of the beach at Holme is reflected around the semicircle of display cases and, with the sounds of gulls and sea, brings something of the expanses of the Norfolk coast to this enclosed space.

By bringing Seahenge together with Bronze Age axeheads, spears, pottery and other finds from Norfolk's archaeological collections, the exhibition weaves a comprehensive picture of the lives of the people who built and used it. Work on the timbers has informed understanding of these existing collections while raising a number of fascinating questions.

For example, laser scanning of the axemarks on the timbers has shown that up to 50 different axes were used during its construction, yet the scarcity of axehead finds had meant that metal tools were thought to have been rare at the time.

The displays are rounded off by a wonderful interactive tabletop model that reinforces the exhibition's messages about Seahenge's original context, while the voices of Bronze Age people and archaeologists on the free audio guide enhance the gallery interpretation.

A resource desk displays press coverage of the find and a selection of interesting books about the site. It also includes information about some of the alternative explanations of its importance.

With all the excitement of such an important exhibition, it would be easy to dismiss the rest of the museum. Visitors emerge blinking from the experience of the Seahenge display to find the remainder of the refurbished exhibition area light and welcoming. Fresh, informative and artefact-rich displays bring the story of the area from the Bronze Age up to the present.

Originally built as a Baptist church in 1859, the building became a museum in 1904. Restoration of the interior has removed the false ceilings to reveal a timber roof, with the new space used to display a series of artworks, reminiscent of trade union and regimental banners, and created through a collaboration between artists and local community groups.

Six themes take us from the Romans to the present, exploring King's Lynn's strong agricultural connections as well as its importance as a maritime centre until the river silted up in the mid-1800s.

The tall Edwardian display cases are packed with objects and interpretation is restricted to a single large text panel in each, allowing the objects to steal the show. New freestanding panels follow the same themes, but offer an excellent way into the rest of the displays. A well-used resource area with books and electronic resources provides a comfortable stopping-off point.

The Lynn Museum brings together objects that document how people have shaped, and been shaped by, the landscape of this part of north Norfolk, from the Seahenge saltmarsh to fields of leeks and broccoli.

Hopefully this exhibition will go far to convince those who objected to the Seahenge excavation of the power of museums to show how finds, when placed in their archaeological and social context, are so much more than the sum of their parts.

Liz Hide is the museums development officer at the University of Cambridge