Vale and Downland Museum

About the museum

The Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage presents the heritage of the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire. The idea of a town museum began in 1958, when the Urban District Council appealed for objects to start a local collection. The response was so positive that the growing collection was shown first in the Civic Hall and then in a gallery in the Market Place.

In 1972 the Vale & Downland Museum Trust was formed, and it persuaded the newly created Vale of White Horse District Council to buy the Old Surgery building in Church Street and lease it to the trust. After conversion works the museum moved into the building in 1975.

The galleries cover subjects from fossils and Anglo-Saxon life to Victorian Wantage, with a gallery on King Alfred the Great, who was born in the town in 849, and displays on the Wantage Tramway, local trades and the Lockinge Estate. The museum has been praised as an outstanding example of community partnership and also offers a changing programme of exhibitions and talks, a coffee shop with a terrace and garden, and a research library.

Highlights

• King Alfred Gallery with an Anglo-Saxon home and the story of Alfred’s birth in Wantage
• New Arrivals Gallery with 10,000 years of local settlement, including an Anglo-Saxon skeleton
• Wantage Tramway display with a replica tramcar interior
• Ormond Gallery on a local family of apothecaries
• Auditorium films, two narrated by Sir David Attenborough
• Coffee shop with terrace and garden

Permanent exhibitions

• King Alfred Gallery – An Anglo-Saxon home tells the story of King Alfred the Great, born in Wantage in 849, and includes a facsimile of Asser’s biography of the king.
• New Arrivals Gallery – Evidence of settlement and working life across 10,000 years, with an Anglo-Saxon skeleton, feely boxes and a touch-screen information hub.
• The Wantage Tramway – The first steam-powered passenger tramway in the UK to run beside a public road, with a replica tramcar interior and a video journey.

Founded

1975

Operated by

Vale & Downland Museum Trust

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the galleries is free; a donation of £5 is suggested. Guided group tours and talks cost £7.50 per person.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Most areas, including the toilets, are accessible, and a stairlift gives access to the main galleries. A wheelchair can be borrowed. Because the building is historic, the Research Library and Mezzanine Gallery are not accessible to wheelchair users. Audio displays have an induction loop, and there are videos, interactive displays and handling objects. A visual story helps visitors prepare. Guide, hearing and medical assistance dogs are welcome throughout; pet dogs are allowed only on the café terrace.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities

Free gallery trails, feely boxes and dressing-up clothes, family days in school holidays, high chairs, a children’s lunchbox in the café, and a baby changing facility in the accessible toilet. The museum was shortlisted for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Award in 2017.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in Church Street, tucked behind the Market Square and opposite the Church of St Peter and St Paul.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Coffee shop with a terrace and garden serving soup, jacket potatoes and cakes; gift shop with books, toys and souvenirs.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit