Vale and Downland Museum and Visitor Centre

The Museum is housed in a converted 17th century cloth-merchant's house - a fine example of local vernacular architecture. Behind it, in a new extension with 20th century wooden crucks spanning two floors, are the visitor facilities. The collections held at the Museum contain geological, natural history, archaeological, social history and contemporary objects that reflect the Vale of White Horse today. The Museum has audio visual presentations and multi-media programmes developed in-house.

The Main Gallery includes an auditorium, changing displays about the heritage of the Vale, the story of Wantage Town and Victorian Rural Life in the Vale to the present. The museum's Upper Gallery is available for hire by local artists and craftsmen to exhibit their work. The aim is to provide quality exhibitions which will be of interest to museum visitors as well as helping to raise funds towards the running costs of the Museum. The Squire's Room provides the opportunity to display exhibitions of a thematic or local history context. Many of these exhibitions are part of the temporary exhibitions programme of Oxfordshire County Council.

The Children's Discovery Area houses three interactive computer presentations: Wantage Market Place, the Wantage Tramway and the White Horse. Brass rubbings can be produced with materials available from the museum's reception. A video macroscope, which magnifies up to two hundred times, enables visitors to see small objects on a monitor. A library sets the scene for a quiet area. This part of the museum is, unfortunately, not accessible to wheelchair users.

General Information: