Bradford on Avon Museum

05/04/2024

You have just a few days left to see our Eric Walrond: a Harlem Renaissance Writer in 1940s Bradford on Avon exhibition.

We’ve had over 900 visitors so far and lots of lovely comments:

“Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for this - it’s so interesting.”

“Loved to hear more about Walrond. hope the exhibition gets to be seen by more people.”

“Very easy to read and I enjoyed the video and music.”

Come down to the West Barn anytime between 10am and 4pm. We’re open until the end of Sunday 7th April.

16/01/2024

Discussion Group: A Selective History of Broughton Gifford
Wednesday 7th February, 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room

Our speaker for this meeting is Discussion Group regular, Rob Arkell. Rob’s talks are always fascinating and thoroughly researched. Following on from the success of last year’s ‘A Selective History of Monkton Farleigh’, in this session, Rob will be leading us through ‘A Selective History of Broughton Gifford’.

Discussion Group covers a wide range of subjects, and if you haven’t been along to a session yet, do try it out. The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, and are FREE to members. Non-members can attend one session before being asked to join.

https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/17723

15/01/2024

This free online talk by Eric Walrond's biographer has been arranged by Wiltshire Museum to complement their current exhibition.

Walrond lived in Bradford on Avon from 1939 to 1952 and we will be hosting our own version of the Eric Walrond exhibition in Spring (more details to follow). In the meantime, do sign up for Wiltshire Museum's talk to find out more about the extraordinary story of a Caribbean writer in Wiltshire.

ONLINE LECTURE: Eric Walrond: A Caribbean American Writer in Exile in Wiltshire
25th January 2024- 7:30pm
Listen to biographer James Davis describe the peripatetic career of fiction writer and journalist Eric Walrond.

This presentation is an introduction to a reclusive but prolific Caribbean-American author who lived and wrote in Bradford on Avon and, for a time, in the Roundway Psychiatric Hospital in Devizes.

Tickets Free- Book online on
https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/?event=online-lecture-eric-walrond-a-caribbean-american-writer-in-exile-in-wiltshire&event_date=2024-01-25

15/01/2024

ONLINE LECTURE: Eric Walrond: A Caribbean American Writer in Exile in Wiltshire
25th January 2024- 7:30pm
Listen to biographer James Davis describe the peripatetic career of fiction writer and journalist Eric Walrond.

This presentation is an introduction to a reclusive but prolific Caribbean-American author who lived and wrote in Bradford on Avon and, for a time, in the Roundway Psychiatric Hospital in Devizes.

Tickets Free- Book online on
https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/?event=online-lecture-eric-walrond-a-caribbean-american-writer-in-exile-in-wiltshire&event_date=2024-01-25

31/10/2023

Announcing our Annual Fundraiser Guest Lecture:

Analysis of Human Remains from Archaeological Sites

Time Team and Wessex Archaeology osteologist Jacqueline McKinley will present this year’s lecture at St Margaret’s Hall, Bradford on Avon on Wednesday 22nd November. She is one of the leading experts in this country on osteoarchaeology, the study of human remains and on burial rites, with experience in the field dating back to 1977.

The bar opens at 7.00 pm and the talk commences at 7.30 pm. Tickets are available from Ex Libris Bookshop, from Kate Turnbull (telephone 01225 866328) or on the door at £7 for Museum members and £10 for non-members.

05/09/2023

CANCELLED
Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel the Bradford on Avon Town Walk on Saturday and Sunday 9th/10th September, because of the forecast of record high temperatures. Taking a large group for a walk in temperatures that might hit 30°C no longer feels like the safe and responsible thing to do.
We’re very sorry for cancelling at short notice. We hope to be able to reschedule the walks for cooler days. Thank you for your support and understanding.
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For Heritage Open Days in 2023, Bradford on Avon Museum will be offering two free guided walks around Bradford on Avon, highlighting the town’s architecture and other features, and bringing its history to life. Sat 9th Sept, 10am-12pm, and Sun 10th Sept 2pm-4pm. Places are limited and need to be booked in advance on Eventbrite: https://bradfordonavonmuseum.eventbrite.com
More info on the Bradford on Avon Museum website here:
https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/17562

30/08/2023

Next Discussion Group meeting will be Wednesday 6th September, 7:30pm in the Library Meeting. Roy Canham will be leading the session on Researching and Portraying the Development of the Local Landscape, both Rural and Urban.

Discussion Group is free to Bradford on Avon Museum members. Non-members can attend one session before being asked to join. If you know of someone who isn’t a member, do bring them along – it’s a great introduction to the Museum.

https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/17582

01/07/2023

Join us for Discussion Group on Wednesday 5th July at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, where James Holden will be discussing:

Chapel Delights – The architectural pleasures of nonconformist chapels, an illustrated talk with examples from Bradford on Avon and across Wiltshire.

James is the author of “Wiltshire Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting Houses”, as well as “Wiltshire Gate Lodges”, and if you remember James’ talk for Discussion Group on Gate Lodges then I know you’ll want to come along on 5th to hear his latest talk. I do hope you’ll be able to join us there.

Discussion Group covers a wide range of subjects, and if you haven’t been along to a session yet, do try it out.

The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, and are FREE to members. Non-members can attend one session before being asked to join. If you know of someone who isn’t a member, do bring them along – it’s a great introduction to the Museum.

31/05/2023

Discussion Group: A Selective History of Monkton Farleigh

Our next Discussion Group will be on Wednesday 7th July, 7:30pm, in the Library Meeting Room.

Our speaker for this meeting is one of our Discussion Group regulars - Rob Arkell. As any of you who have been to one of Rob's talks before will know, Rob is a great speaker and always brings us a thoroughly researched, fascinating topic. Next week will be no different, when he talks about 'A Selective History of Monkton Farleigh'.

Discussion Group covers a wide range of subjects, and if you haven’t been along to a session yet, do try it out.

The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, and are FREE to members. Non-members can attend one session before being asked to join. If you know of someone who isn’t a member, do bring them along – it’s a great introduction to the Museum.

https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/17519

24/04/2023

Join us for Discussion Group next Wednesday 3rd May at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room, when Sophie Hawke will be talking about Recent Finds from The Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Discussion Group is FREE to members; non-members can attend one session before being asked to join.

https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/17505

23/02/2023

Discussion Group: Wiltshire Follies, led by Jonathan Holt.

Join us on Wednesday 1st March at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room for a talk on Wiltshire Follies by Jonathan Holt. These Discussion Group sessions are free for Bradford on Avon Museum members. If you are interested in becoming a member, please do come along to one of these talks and enquire about membership.

Wiltshire is full of follies which can take many forms – towers, summer houses, grottoes, shell houses, eyecatchers, mock ruins, temples, hermitages, obelisks, pagodas, rustic seats…the list goes on. The stories behind them are many and various – built out of passion, megalomania, artistry, sh...

31/01/2023

Join us on 1st February at 7:30pm in the Library Meeting Room for the first Discussion Group meeting of 2023. The topic is The Medieval Deer Parks of the Bradford Hundred, led by Rob Arkell.

Discussion Group is free to all members of Bradford on Avon Museum. If you're not already a member, feel free to come along to this meeting and ask us about membership.

29/10/2022