Vale and Downland Museum

The Vale and Downland Museum stands in Wantage, a market town in Oxfordshire. It occupies the Old Surgery, a timber-framed building from the late 17th century opposite the Church of St Peter and St Paul. The original structure was remodelled in 1780 and later linked to a modern extension and an 18th-century barn from East Hendred. The museum opened in 1983 after the trust formed in 1972 and underwent refurbishment in 1999. An extension added in 2012 provided space for a cafe kitchen, office and collection store. The museum preserves the cultural heritage of the Vale of White Horse region. Its galleries include a Victorian kitchen, an Anglo-Saxon skeleton and a life-sized bronze statue of Lester Piggott. A Williams Renault FW16B Formula One car driven by Damon Hill was displayed in the barn until 2025. The King Alfred gallery recreates an Anglo-Saxon home and features a facsimile of Asser’s manuscript about Alfred’s life. The Market Place gallery highlights Wantage’s tanning and rope-making industries, while the Ormond gallery traces the family’s apothecary trade and local clockmaking. Visitors find two floors of exhibits, a research library and an auditorium with short films narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The Barn gallery houses a 28-foot model railway depicting Wantage Road and Challow stations in different eras. The Wantage Tramway gallery displays a tram passenger car replica with a history video. Monthly music sessions for pre-schoolers and family days during school holidays add to the community programme. A cafe provides refreshments, and the museum won a Green Growth award for its environmental work.