Uncovering the history of an ancient village
Eynsham Museum and Heritage Centre (EMHC) was established in 2021. Our aims are: to showcase some of the wonderful objects that bring to life Eynsham’s long and distinguished history; nurture pride in the community for its roots; and provide inspiration for future generations.
In March 2023, Eynsham Parish Council granted EMHC a lease on the Bartholomew Room in the Market Square. In autumn 2023, we held our first exhibition, Eynsham’s Lost Railway, which was so popular that it needed an extended run.
Our next exhibition, Rural Eynsham, ran from 13 July to 27 October 2024, and was very well-received by villagers and visitors to Eynsham alike. Alongside this, our popular photographic exhibition, Eynsham Past and Present, gave a fascinating glimpse into the changing face of the village. We reopened both exhibitions on 5 April 2025, and they ran until the end of August 2025.
At the end of September 2025, we opened our permanent exhibition in the upstairs gallery, Eynsham from Prehistory to the 20th Century (see below). This runs alongside our permanent photographic exhibition, Eynsham Past and Present, in the downstairs gallery.
The museum’s opening hours are weekends and bank holidays from 11am to 4pm. Entry is free; donations are very welcome.
The museum is now closed until spring 2026.
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News
January 2026
We wish all our visitors and supporters a happy and peaceful 2026.
While museum may be closed for the winter, work behind the scenes never stops! Tasks are many and varied. Every year, we need to compile and submit our annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission, and are also preparing materials for the 2026 Annual Parish Meeting in March. We are continuing to secure support and donations from local businesses. We are hugely grateful for a very generous donation from a local resident, which will help us a great deal in completing our permanent exhibition.
We are, of course, always creating new displays and updating existing ones for our permanent exhibition. Additionally, we are researching aspects of Eynsham’s history with a view to holding possible future temporary exhibitions.
We are hoping to reopen the museum on the second weekend of April. We will confirm this as soon as we can. We will look forward to welcoming you again to our exhibitions, Eynsham from Prehistory to the 20th Century and Eynsham Past and Present.
And here is a firm date for your diary! On 25 April, we will be holding a cake and book sale fundraising event. More details to follow.
Remember, our Objects of the Month are changed monthly – now a few days into each month, rather than specifically on the 1st. There is so much to learn from these – and from other parts of the website, too, including: a brief history of Eynsham here; information about previous and current exhibitions, with video material, here; and the museum’s news archive, here/
If you would like to sign up to our newsletter, which comes out every two months, please email newsletter@eynshammuseum.org.uk.
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** For previous news items, please go to the News archive. **
Object of the month
For more about Object of the Month, click on the next link (date heading).
- January 2026A Codd bottle, sometimes called a Codd-neck bottle, was a type of bottle that was designed in 1872 specifically for carbonated drinks by a maker of soft… Read more: January 2026
