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Museum Details
Abingdon County Hall Museum
Image: A Restoration period building, lit up by night, above a crowded street.
Abingdon County Hall Museum
The Market Place
Abingdon
OX14 3HG
Oxfordshire
England
Collection details
Archaeology
Architecture
Costume and Textiles
Decorative and Applied Art
Fine Art
Natural Sciences
Social History
Toys and Hobbies
Weapons and War
Facilities
Shop: yes
Study area: yes
Visual disability facilities: yes
No wheelchair access but Museum Guide at Town Council Offices at Information Point
Contact details
General information (Tel)
:
01235 523703
General information (Fax)
:
01235 536814
E-mail
:
abingdon.museum@abingdon.gov.uk
Abingdon Museum website
:
www.abingdon.gov.uk/tourism/museum_guide.shtml
The Abingdon Museum Friends
:
www.geocities.com/abingdonmuseumfriends/index.html
Open
Daily 10.30-16.00
Ring to check Bank Holidays
Closed
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday
Admission charges
Free Admission
Description
Abingdon County Hall Museum is located in a Grade 1* listed building in the centre of the town just opposite the Medieval Abbey. This beautiful, perfectly-preserved Restoration building overlooking the Market Place, is considered to be one of the outstanding market buildings in England, with vaulted cellars, undercroft, stair of c. 1700, Sessions Gallery with Minstrel Gallery, and roof open to visitors on Saturday from April to October with views of the Cotswolds, Chilterns and Downs.
Abingdon is considered to be the oldest continually inhabited town in Britain, and exhibitions include collections from the Iron Age oppidum, Roman town, the finest collection of Anglo-Saxon jewellery and personal items from Oxfordshire and outstanding Medieval finds. There are collections and displays relating to all periods of the town's history, which is summarised in a Time Line suitable for families.
In addition to the permanent collections and larger temporary exhibitions several times a year, smaller exhibitions on local themes change every month. The museum has a well-stocked shop for every age-group, and a coffee-bar tables and chairs. Families with pre-school children are welcome and there is a children's activity table with drop-in activities.
Collections description
A beautiful mirror frame carved by Grinling Gibbons, an embroidered smock shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and badges from Abingdon's own car company, MG, are just some of the objects forming a large and varied museum collection, some of which can be seen in displays which line the stairs (giving a brief introduction to the history of the town) and in the main museum gallery, the Sessions Hall, which was originally a court room in a magnificent 17th Century building, reputed to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Today the Sessions Hall is a spectacular setting for a varied programme of displays and exhibitions, concentrating on local history themes and contemporary crafts. The classically styled display cases that furnish the gallery were specially created by the renowned furniture designer, Erik de Graaff.
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Events
MG at Speed at Abingdon County Hall Museum
Exhibition
Boys' Brigade in Oxfordshire, 120 Years: 1888-2008, at Abingdon County Hall Museum
Exhibition
Archaeology Activities for Families and Children at Abingdon County Hall Museum
; Workshop (Event)
Summer Holiday Activities at Abingdon County Hall Museum
Workshop (Event)
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Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.