Annual Lecture 2025: Belcombe Court – the house and the history
Friday 31st October 2025, 7:30pm, Holy Trinity Church, Bradford on Avon
This year’s Bradford on Avon Museum annual fundraising lecture will be given on Friday 31st October at 7.30pm (bar opens at 7pm), at Holy Trinity Church, Bradford on Avon.
Our speaker is Matthew Slocombe, director of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, and...
Read MoreTalk: Eric Walrond, a Caribbean writer in Wiltshire
Friday 24th October, 2pm, in the Library Meeting Room
Eric Walrond by Clifton Powell, courtesy of Wiltshire MuseumDavid Dawson, Director of Wiltshire Museum, will talk on Eric Walrond, a Harlem Renaissance writer who lived for some years in Bradford on Avon and later in Roundway Hospital, Devizes. This talk has been organised in partnership between...
Read MoreTalk: What lies beneath – the Roman Villa at St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon
The last talk in our 2025 series celebrates the quarter century since the villa was discovered and will explain the importance, and summarise what has been learnt since.
Sophie Hawke is the Finds Liaison Officer for Wiltshire and a former Museum trustee of twenty years.
Venue: United Church, St Margaret’s Street.
Date / Time : Thursday 9th October,...
Read MoreTalk: The Beckfords and the Transatlantic slave trade
Lansdown Tower / Beckford’s Tower
The penultimate talk in our series of six, on 11th September by Dr Amy Frost, is The Beckfords and the Transatlantic slave trade.
The Beckford wealth, built upon enslavement of African people, enabled the younger Beckford to create extravagent buildings filled with beautiful objects. This talk reveals the...
Read MoreTalk: Civic Splendour – The Story of Wiltshire’s Old Town Halls
Civic Splendour – Wiltshire’s Town Halls talk
The fourth talk in our series is by James Holden on Thursday 14th August; Civic Splendour – The Story of Wiltshire’s Old Town Halls.
Town Halls are amongst our finest buildings. This talk will describe not only the buildings themselves but the rivalry and pursuit of power...
Read MoreTalk: Behind the Scenes at the Saxon Church
The third talk in our series is by Rob Arkell and will be held on the 10th July at 7.30pm at the United Church in St. Margaret’s Street. Doors open 7.00pm.
The talk describes the history and structure of the Saxon Church of St Laurence and the restoration which followed its rediscovery, examining the relationships between Canon Jones, the vicar, and the Trustees and...
Read MoreNEW Opening Times for June 2025
Please note that for June 2025 the Museum’s opening hours will be:
Monday: 10am – 4pmTuesday: ClosedWednesday: 10am – 4pmThursday: 10am – 4pmFriday: 10am – 4pmSaturday: 10am – 4pmSunday: Closed
Read MoreTalk: Keeping it simple – making moving toys and automata
Photograph by Marc Hill / 07.06.2004 – Artist Robert Race on Chesil Beach with his Seaside Machine, constructed from driftwood and other debris washed up on the Dorset beach.
The second talk in our series is by Robert Race and will be held on the 12th June at 7.30pm at the United Church in St. Margaret’s Street. Doors open 7.00pm.
Bob Race’s work has ranged from...
Read MoreTalk: Landscapes & Gardens in the novels of Jane Austen
The first of Bradford on Avon Museum’s series of joint talks with Bradford Preservation Trust. Professor Timothy Mowl of Bristol University, leading expert on garden history, will talk about Jane Austen and her remarks on landscapes and gardens in her novels, in this 250th anniversary of her birth.
The talk is on the 8th May at 7.30pm at the United Church in St....
Read MoreMuseum AGM 2025
The Museum’s Annual General Meeting for 2025 will take place on Thursday 3rd April at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room. All are welcome.
Links to the Agenda for the 2025 AGM, and Minutes of the 2024 AGM, are given below:
Annual General Meeting 2025 Agenda (PDF – opens in new tab)
Annual General Meeting 2024 Minutes (PDF – opens in new...
Read MoreNew Museum booklet
As a follow-up to his previous 2021 booklet Bradford-on-Avon Probate Inventories 1550-1700, Ivor Slocombe has now gone on to compile the list for the next century. Inventories of the possessions of people who had died were required for a while in order to complete probate. They give a room-by-room account of what the assessors found and their valuation of each item or group of...
Read MoreWinter closure 2024-5
The Museum has now closed for its customary short winter period. As usual, we hope to do some deep cleaning, touching up the paintwork, replace worn or tattered labels and generally refresh the Museum. This is also the only real opportunity in the year in which it it is possible to get things out, spread them about and think about what needs to be done.
We hope to see you after...
Read MoreDiscussion Group talk: Somersetshire Coal Canal – An update on the origins, recent past and current restoration.
A summary of the history of this interesting local canal and work in progress, led by Derrick Hunt
Wednesday 4th December 2024 at 7.30pm in the Library meeting room.
Discussion Group covers a wide range of subjects, and if you haven’t been along to a session yet, do try it out.The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month except January and August, at...
Read MoreDiscussion Group talk: A history of Bradford floods
Bradford has probably always been afflicted with flooding of the River Avon. Danny O’Callaghan will lead the November Discussion Group talk on the subject on Wednesday 6th November.
The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, and are FREE to members. Non-members can attend one session before being asked to join. If you...
Read MoreDiscussion Group Talk: Thomas Fuller, designer of Bradford on Avon Town Hall & national architect of Canada
Julian Orbach, architectural historian and Museum Trustee, will be delving into the life and works of architect Thomas Fuller (1823-1898), including Bradford’s Town Hall and Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa.
Wednesday 4th September 2024 at 7.30pm in the Library meeting room.
Discussion Group covers a wide range of subjects, and if you haven’t been...
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Discussion Group talk: The Study of Medieval roof tiles and other roof furniture.
Jane Mann and Becky Clarke have been studying medieval ceramic roof tiles and other parts of roof-coverings from archaeological sites around Wiltshire. Not Just plain tiles, but the more complex tiles that lined the ridges of roofs, usually ornately carved and glazed. They will be joined by historian Martyn Whittock who will give a short history of the medieval Clarendon Palace near...
Read MoreSpecial Exhibition: Eric Walrond, a Harlem Renaissance writer in 1940s Bradford on Avon
Saturday 16th March – Sunday 7th April, 10am – 4pm daily at the West Barn, Barton Farm Admission free
Bradford on Avon Museum, in conjunction with the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust, is pleased to announce our special exhibition for 2024: Eric Walrond, a Harlem Renaissance writer in 1940s Bradford on Avon.
Regarded as a major literary figure of...
Read MoreOpening again for 2024
From 14.00 on Wednesday 17th January 2024 Bradford on Avon Museum resumes its normal timetable of opening. There has been the usual programme of deepish cleaning, replacing of some dog-eared and out-of-date labels, a lick of paint here and there and the hundreds of glass bottles in the old pharmacy shop have been been dusted ready to receive visitors.
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Museum’s winter break
Bradford on Avon Museum has closed for its usual annual break and will re-open on Wednesday 17th January 2024 at 2pm. In the meantime it will be having a spruce-up and a bit of re-arrangement.
We wish you all a very merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New...
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