Wiltshire Museum

The Wiltshire Museum sits in Devizes, a market town in Wiltshire. It occupies a row of Georgian buildings on Long Street, just south of the market place. The museum belongs to the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, which was founded in 1853. The society bought a former grammar school to house its collections in 1874. Later it expanded into the two Georgian houses next door, which remain its home today. The museum holds wide-ranging collections from Wiltshire’s past. Artefacts range from the Palaeolithic to recent times, including Neolithic, Bronze Age and Roman items. Some collections are recognised as nationally significant parts of England’s cultural heritage. Among the highlights are objects from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. The Bush Barrow finds, excavated in 1808, form one of the richest Bronze Age grave groups in the area. Visitors find two floors of displays. On the first floor, a stained glass panel by John Piper shows Wiltshire antiquities set in a landscape. The ground floor hosts the permanent Gold from the Time of Stonehenge exhibition, which includes thirty Early Bronze Age gold pieces. The museum also shows temporary exhibitions, such as a 2021–2022 display of works by Eric Ravilious.