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 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 MoreSummer Talks 2025
A series of talks has been arranged by Bradford on Avon Museum in conjunction with Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust
Six lectures will be held in the United Church, St Margaret’s Street, at 7.30 pm on the second Thursday of each month. Doors open from 7.00 pm. Tickets £7 for members of the Museum Society and Preservation Trust and £9 for non-members, available from Ex...
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 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: 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 Village of Holt
Rob Arkell, who is a resident of the village and has carried out archaeological investigations there, will talk about some aspects of Holt.
Wednesday 3rd July 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...
Read MoreDiscussion Group talk: An update on the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wiltshire
Sophie Hawke, the Finds Liaison Officer for the County and a former Trustee of this Museum, will tell us about some of the interesting archaeological finds that have been submitted for recording.
Wednesday 5th June at 7.30 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...
Read MoreDiscussion Group talk Cancelled -speaker unwell
The topic for the May meeting, led by Roy Canham, will be the excavations at Horton House in Church Street that were carried out by the late Adrian Powell in 2000 and the beginnings of Saxon Bradford. Work on writing up these excavations has been undertaken by the Museum Research Group and Roy would like to take this opportunity to summarise progress to date. Hope you can join...
Read MoreDiscussion Group: list of talks for 2024
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 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 know of someone who isn’t a member, do bring them along –...
Read MoreDiscussion Group: A selective history of Broughton Gifford
Wednesday 7th February, 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room
Our speaker for this meeting is Discussion Group regular, Rob Arkell. Rob’s talks are always fascinating and thoroughly researched. Following on from the success of last year’s ‘A Selective History of Monkton Farleigh’, in this session, Rob will be leading us through ...
Read MoreAnnual Fundraiser Guest Lecture: Analysis of human remains from archaeological sites
Time Team and Wessex Archaeology osteologist Jacqueline McKinley will present this year’s lecture at St Margaret’s Hall, Bradford on Avon on Wednesday 22nd November. She is one of the leading experts in this country on osteoarchaeology, the study of human remains and on burial rites, with experience in the field dating back to 1977.
The bar opens at 7.00 pm and the talk...
Read MoreNovember Discussion Group meeting: Bearfield Church
Robert Beesley will present a summary of his work at Bearfield Church, where he has been examining the burial ground and baptism records. He will also outline the history of the church and its congregation.
7-30pm on Wednesday 1st November, in the Library Meeting Room as usual.
We hope you can join...
Read MoreDiscussion Group: Researching and portraying the development of local landscape, both rural and urban
Wednesday 6th September, 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room
Our next Discussion Group meeting will be led by Roy Canham, former Museum trustee, former County Archaeologist for Wiltshire, and regular Discussion Group contributor, and I know it will be full of Roy’s trademark energy, enthusiasm and knowledge.
The topic will be the Development of the...
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