Alexander Keiller Museum

Over het museum

The museum is named after Alexander Keiller, an archaeologist who inherited a fortune from the family marmalade business and used it to study Avebury. He began excavating along West Kennet Avenue in 1934 and dug at Avebury throughout the 1930s. He found many of the stones that had been pulled down and buried in the Middle Ages and set them upright again, so that the monument looks as it does today partly because of his work. He bought Avebury Manor and used it as a base, and in 1938 his collection of finds from Windmill Hill and Avebury was brought from his London address to Avebury.

The museum is housed in 17th-century stables. A threshing barn of the same period nearby holds a gallery on the history of Avebury, its monuments and the people linked with them.

The collection consists mostly of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age objects, with some Anglo-Saxon and later items, all from excavations in the area. One well-known exhibit is the skeleton of a child nicknamed Charlie, found in a ditch at Windmill Hill; after a request for reburial in 2006, it was decided in 2010 to keep it on display. The collections are owned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and managed by English Heritage, and they are on loan to the National Trust, which owns the site and runs the museum together with English Heritage.

Hoogtepunten

• One of the most important prehistoric archaeological collections in Britain
• Finds from Windmill Hill, Avebury and other monuments of the World Heritage Site
• Stables Gallery and the Barn Gallery on Avebury's monuments and people
• Skeleton of a child nicknamed Charlie from Windmill Hill
• Starting point for the stone circles, with guided tours most days

Vaste collectie

• Stables Gallery: the Alexander Keiller collection – Prehistoric finds from excavations at Avebury and other monuments in the World Heritage Site, mostly Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
• Barn Gallery – A gallery in a 17th-century threshing barn on the history of Avebury, its monuments and the people associated with them.

Beheerder

National Trust, in cooperation with English Heritage

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Prices are without Gift Aid; with Gift Aid the adult ticket is 7.70 pounds, the child ticket 3.90 pounds and the family tickets 19.30 and 11.60 pounds. Admission includes both the Stables Gallery and the Barn Gallery and is free for National Trust and English Heritage members. Visitors who arrive by bus receive a discount of 1 pound on the manor and museum with a valid ticket or bus pass. Parking in the pay and display car park costs 8 pounds all day or 5 pounds after 15:00, and is free for members and Blue Badge holders.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The museum, shop and Circles Café are accessible, with level access to the shop and café. Accessible toilets are behind Visitor Reception in the Old Farmyard, and Blue Badge parking is free in the High Street. Wheelchairs can be borrowed and a Tramper mobility scooter is available free of charge, first come first served. Induction loops are fitted at all visitor points, Braille guides and an accessible route map are available on request, and there is a visual story, an accessibility guide and a British Sign Language guide to visiting. Assistance dogs are welcome in the manor and the café; the stone circles have steps and uneven terrain in places.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Speurtocht, doeboekje of kinderaudiotour
• Doe- en voelstations
• Verschoonruimte

Free entry for under-5s. Families can use the free Wild Spotter trail sheet, a children's table with puzzles and colouring and a magnetic play table in the barn, and download the free mixed-reality game Ages of Avebury; extra activities run in school holidays. The café has a children's menu, there are picnic tables in the Old Farmyard and baby changing is available.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

Avebury is 6 miles west of Marlborough on the A4361. The Ridgeway National Trail and cycle routes NCN 4 and 45 pass nearby.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Restaurant: niet aanwezig
• Museumwinkel

Circles Café in the Old Farmyard serves light lunches, pastries, cakes and drinks, with a children's menu. The National Trust shop is in the Old Farmyard, and Cobblestones second-hand bookshop is by the High Street car park. Toilets with disabled access and baby changing are behind Visitor Reception.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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