Chiltern Open Air Museum

02/10/2023

This Friday at 11:30am we'll be having a special talk from Three Rivers Museum about farming history. Book online now to visit on Friday and you can get a tea and cake add-on for only £2 https://coam.digitickets.co.uk/category/27838

17/09/2023

Book online to visit on a Monday or Friday until 20th October and you can take advantage of our £2 tea and cake add-on.

17/09/2023

1 week to go until our Sewing Workshop. Unlock your sewing potential and conquer your machine with confidence at Sewing MachinEase – the ultimate 1-day sewing machine workshop for beginner sewers. where you’ll learn to thread, stitch, and adjust your machine, and create a beautiful apron project to take home! The session is led by experienced tutor - an experienced a costume maker who leads our volunteer sewing team. Find out more and book your place at

Unlock your sewing potential and conquer your machine with confidence in our Sewing Machine Workshop at Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire.

16/09/2023

Our new sheepdog Bang is keeping a very close eye on the COAM chickens. She doesn't want them getting loose ahead of our Harvest Festival. Good girl Bang! 🥰🐾

15/09/2023

Our Dig for Victory allotment is looking amazing in the late summer sunshine! We've been growing huge onions, plentiful tomatoes and giant pumpkins ready for our Harvest Festival at the end of this month. You'll be able to see produce from the gardens at COAM on display in our Henton Mission Room on 30th September and 1st October along with more harvest themed events. To book your tickets go to https://coam.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/41301?catID=27838

14/09/2023

Did you grow up in a room like this? Our Haddenham Croft Cottage was lived in until 1977 and one of the upstairs bedrooms is decorated to celebrate the decade. We'd love to hear your stories of growing up in a room like this - get in touch in the comments.

13/09/2023

This weekend at the museum you'll be able to see demonstrations of natural dyeing techniques. To book your admission tickets visit https://coam.digitickets.co.uk/category/27838

12/09/2023

Coming up on Sunday 24th September. Unlock your sewing potential and conquer your machine with confidence at Sewing MachinEase – the ultimate 1-day sewing machine workshop for beginner sewers. where you’ll learn to thread, stitch, and adjust your machine, and create a beautiful apron project to take home! The session is led by experienced tutor - an experienced a costume maker who leads our volunteer sewing team. Find out more and book your place at

Unlock your sewing potential and conquer your machine with confidence in our Sewing Machine Workshop at Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire.

11/09/2023

We're having some special talks on site this autumn. This Friday at 11am - come and chat to local bee keeper Gordon Cutting about the bee hives on the COAM site. Full details of all the talks we've got coming up are on our website https://coam.org.uk/events/autumn-talks/

11/09/2023

Our Bodging Area showcases the work of the skilled wood-turners who worked in the beech woods on the chalk hills of the Chilterns. They cut timber and converted it into chair legs by turning it on a pole lathe, an ancient and very simple tool that uses the spring of a bent sapling to help run it. Their equipment was so easy to move and set up that it was easier to go to the timber and work it there than to transport it to a workshop. The completed chair legs were sold to furniture factories to be married with other chair parts made in the workshop.

Come along to our Harvest Festival on 29th Sept and 1st Oct for a fantastic family day out. There'll be loads of activities for kids including apple tasting & pressing, saying hello to our animals, finding out about Bodgers & blacksmiths with our volunteers, playing on the adventure playground and watching our sheepdog at work with Oxford Down sheep.

10/09/2023

Our heritage apple orchard has many different apple varieties. We'll be celebrating Apple Day early at our Harvest Festival weekend on 30th September and 1st October. Sometimes our sheep can be seen grazing in the orchard so we hope they don't eat too many of the apples before we can harvest them!

Find out more about our Harvest Festival and book your tickets here... https://coam.org.uk/events/harvest-festival/

10/09/2023

Don't forget we have a special offer on our experience days this autumn. Book online for a day that takes place this autumn and save 10% when you use code AUTUMN10 at the checkout. https://coam.digitickets.co.uk/category/13126

09/09/2023

Looking for an unusual wedding venue? We have three barns and four historic buildings that are licensed to perform civil ceremonies so you could tie the knot at our beautiful site. Find out more at https://coam.org.uk/weddings/

09/09/2023

The museum hosts many different craftspeople who practice or demonstrate traditional techniques - from blacksmithing to natural dyeing, spinning and candlemaking. Earlier this week we were visited by members of . They were experimenting with different outdoor firing techniques including building their own kiln out of clay, experimenting with a smoke kiln and creating some spectacular raku pottery. We can't wait to see the rest of their creations!

08/09/2023

The best thing about working at COAM is that we get to say hello to our lovely sheepdog Bang. She's in training with Rachel on our estates team and is busy getting ready for our harvest festival at the end of the month.

07/09/2023

Our Astleham Manor Cottage garden is inspired by Gertrude Jekyll. Her prolific writing of books and articles saw her become perhaps the most influential Arts & Crafts garden designer of the early 20th century.

Visit our museum and gardens on a Monday or Friday before 20th October and you can add-on a tea or filter coffee and a piece of cake for just £2 when you book online.

View General Admission from Chiltern Open Air Museum.

06/09/2023

This weekend we'll have spoon carving demonstrations on site. See a simple stick being transformed into a useful spoon using traditional techniques.