The Museum's seeks to encourage and promote further interest, understanding and involvement in the rich historical heritage of Winchcombe and the surrounding area. We are fortunate to be in a prime town centre location in Winchcombe's historic Victorian Town Hall. Through the support of the Winchcombe Town Trust, the building has been extensively updated in recent years without losing its charming original features.
Eleanor Adlard, the founder of the museum in Winchcombe
A brief history of the Museum
Winchcombe Museum began life in 1928 in the Parvis Room above the porch at St Peter’s Church. Eleanor Adlard started her collection with a donation of important documents saved by the former High Bailiff, Edmund Thomas Browne. In 1983 Ross Simms, whose extensive collection of police memorabilia was housed in the court room of the old Town Hall, invited the Museum to share the premises, and its artefacts were brought to the downstairs room. Since 2016 the Museum has focussed on the history of Winchcombe, though a small police section still exists. In 2021 the Museum received a donation of fragments of the Winchcombe Meteorite, and a dedicated Meteorite room was added.
The Museum holds some substantial family collections in addition to a wealth of information about the town and its people. For family history research it has many resources which can be used. We have over 3,000 items in the collection plus 1,500 digital pictures spanning over 1000 years of history. Our database has over 85,000 mentions of Winchcombe people. The Museum also stages many talks and over 700 people attended in past 12 months
We look forward to welcoming you!