Chippenham Museum

31/08/2026

We conclude our exhibition spotlight series with a final fascinating loan featured in 'Wiltshire and the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge'.

🌟 This week’s spotlight comes from The Provost and Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford.

Aubrey bought his copy of Euclid’s 'Elements' second-hand in Oxford in 1648, when he was just 22 years old. Euclid was a Greek mathematician who lived around 300 BCE, and his 'Elements' was one of the most influential works of mathematics ever written. Aubrey loved it and would lie down at night imagining its diagrams.

Aubrey later had it bound with another book, and some of his scribbled notes. These notes date from around 20 years later, when he had his portrait drawn. Ever the polymath, his notes reveal he was thinking about lots of different topics. He is doing mathematics, trying to copy medieval script, writing verses, and attempting a lyrical description of a summer morning at Easton Piercy. Medieval monks at Bradenstoke Abbey who are ‘skilled in Astronomie’, the clock at Wells Cathedral and its automata, and the poet Sir Philip Sidney seized by inspiration on the Wiltshire Downs, all get a mention.

🖼️ John Aubrey’s copy of Elementorum Euclidis libri tredecim, 1620, edited by Henry Briggs, London, The Provost and Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford

This exhibition is open until Saturday 19 September. Chippenham Museum is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and entry is free.

30/08/2026

Join us in the historic Yelde Hall for Heritage Open Days as we celebrate the completion of the Chippenham - Our History Project.

Chippenham – Our History is a year-long, collaborative celebration of Chippenham’s people, places and stories, linked to the publication of Volume 20 of the Wiltshire Victoria County History. Bringing together local heritage organisations, creative practitioners and the wider community, it explores more than 1000 years of history through events, exhibitions, talks, walks, research, blogs and creative responses.

As part of Heritage Open Days, we're bringing together the results of the community projects that have taken place this year. Highlights include John Aubrey-inspired ‘brief lives’ created by pupils at local primary schools, 3D house models made by young crafters, creative writing from Chippenham Museum’s writing clubs as part of ‘Cabinet of Curiosity’, and a special performance of ‘The Twelve Stories of Chippenham’ by Allsorts Community Choir at 11am.

📍 Yelde Hall
📅 Saturday 19 September
🕘 10.30am - 3.30pm
🎟️ Free, drop-in

29/08/2026

Join us for Heritage Open Days and discover the everyday stories of the people who lived and worked at 9-10 Market Place before it became the home of Chippenham Museum.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the museum’s official opening in its current location, our Young Curators Group have uncovered the extraordinary story of the site, from the Jurassic period to the present day.

Over 1500 years of history are wrapped up in the fabric of the two Grade II listed Georgian town houses that are now home to the museum’s galleries and collections. From the location of a hunting lodge used by the Saxon kings of Wess*x to a doctor’s surgery and registry office, the site has had many uses and been home to a wide variety of people.

Bring this history to life through free creative activities and a special opportunity to view ‘A Chip Through Time’, an animation created by our Young Curators Group.

📍 Chippenham Museum
📅 Saturday 19 September
🕘 10.30am - 3.30pm
🎟️ Free, drop-in

This event has been researched and organised by Chippenham Museum’s Young Curators Group and forms part of the Timber Street Through Time programme of events and the Chippenham - Our History Project.

For more information about joining our Young Curators Group, please get in touch. Email [email protected] or call 01249 705020.

28/08/2026

Today, we were joined by Chippenham Twinning Association with members from Friedberg, Germany.

During their time with us, they explored the Grade I listed medieval Yelde Hall, and spent time in our Museum, exploring two floors of galleries, and our temporary exhibition, 'Wiltshire & The World: John Aubrey & The Quest for Knowledge'.

We greatly enjoyed being able to share a bit of Chippenham, and its history, with representatives from our twin town.

Chippenham Town Council

28/08/2026

27/08/2026

Today's Art UK theme is 'dogs', inspired by yesterday's International Dog Day! 🐕

Natasha Michaels explores and responds to conventions in classical subjects from art history. 'Young Woman With Dog, Proxy' references Portrait of a Young Woman by 18th-century artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

Of the painting, Michaels has said: "I wondered for whom she was being painted and who she had become through years of being looked at. She is so well known as a painting but as a person she is invisible."

Celebrating, while also subverting these images, Michaels reimagines the sitters as fictional, cartoon-like characters. Through the lens of celebrity and social media, she examines historic and contemporary notions of power, identity, status and artifice.

This work is on display in our ground-floor gallery, 'Bon à tirer'. Eagle-eyed visitors will also notice that it forms part of our free gallery trail inspired by John Aubrey, where we ask you to take a closer look at the artworks to see which animals you can find!

🖼️ Young Woman With Dog, Proxy, 2022, Natasha Michaels, photopolymer gravure, edition 7/20, Golder-Thompson Gift

26/08/2026

John Aubrey has been in the spotlight on BBC Wiltshire! 📻

As we mark 400 years since the birth of one of Wiltshire’s most fascinating figures, John Aubrey’s remarkable life and quest for knowledge were explored throughout last week on Ben Prater’s Breakfast Show, with historian Louise Ryland-Epton.

Want to catch up? You can listen back on BBC Sounds, with the features appearing at:

🌍 Monday 17 August - 41:28 & 1:48:42
🔭 Tuesday 18 August - 50:49 & 1:27:33
📜 Wednesday 19 August - 1:20:37 & 2:24:27
🏛️ Thursday 20 August - 1:19:47 & 2:21:34
🧭 Friday 21 August - 1:19:25 & 2:19:12

Find the episodes here 🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p00zjk6p

A huge thank you to Ben Prater for visiting Chippenham Museum and to Louise for bringing Aubrey’s story to life throughout the week. It was fantastic to see his story reaching BBC Radio Wiltshire listeners across the county.

You can discover more about John Aubrey in our exhibition, 'Wiltshire and the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge', at Chippenham Museum until Saturday 19 September.

📅 Monday - Saturday
🕒 10am - 4pm
🎟️ Free entry



📸 Ice House Design / Bath

25/08/2026

📣

Join us this week, on Tuesday 25 and Thursday 27 August, for the fifth and final week of our themed creative activities for the summer holidays!

This week's theme is Glittering Grottos, where you can design your very own secret 3D grotto.

Please note that the same activity will take place on both days. See below for more details and timings 👇

Get inspired by John Aubrey this summer!

From flexible hexagons to mixed-up mythical creatures, join us every Tuesday and Thursday during the summer holidays for our series of creative activities inspired by our summer exhibition, 'Wiltshire and the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge'.

Here's what you can get up to each week:

🔷 Week 1: Hexaflexhibition
Have some mathematical fun with flexible hexagons.

🦋 Week 2: Butterfly Bonanza
Craft your own beautiful paper butterflies.

🐉 Week 3: Frankenwyvern
Designed by our Young Curators Group, make your own mixed-up mythical creature.

🧩 Week 4: People in Pieces
Create your own quirky mosaic portrait.

✨ Week 5: Glittering Grottos
Design a secret 3D grotto for your shelf.

📅 Tuesday 28 July - Thursday 27 August
🕥 10.30am - 3.30pm
🎟️ Free, drop-in

Our creative activities can also be enjoyed in a quieter session before the museum opens, for those who may find the busy nature of our drop-in sessions overwhelming or who simply prefer a calm, relaxed environment.

📅 Tuesday 28 July - Thursday 27 August
🕘 9.00am - 10.00am (last entry 9.45am)
🎟️ Free, booking essential

For more information or to book your Quiet Time session, please contact Chippenham Museum. You can email us at [email protected] or call 01249 705020.

Please note that the same activity will take place on both Tuesdays and Thursdays each week.

We look forward to welcoming you to the museum for some creative fun this summer! 🧑‍🎨🎨

24/08/2026

We continue our exhibition spotlight series with another fascinating loan featured in 'Wiltshire and the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge'.

🌟 This week’s spotlight comes from Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.

This is a list of books owned by Aubrey’s close friend, Lady Dorothy Long. Long was intellectually curious. Her bookshelves held translations of Italian and Portuguese epic poetry, French novels, classical history, and political satire. She also owned books on natural philosophy, including Robert Hooke’s 'Micrographia', and early literary works by women, such as the poetry of Katherine Philips and the first romance published by an English woman, Lady Mary Wroth. Copies of Philips' 'Orinda' and Hooke’s 'Micrographia' can be seen in the exhibition.

Women were excluded from formal education, yet Long’s list reveals a mind ranging freely across European literature and science. Long was more than just a reader, her papers also reveal she collected coins from across the world; Roman, Arabian, Venetian, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, and even Japanese. In an era when women’s knowledge was mostly hidden, these lists make it visible.

In 1683, the same year the institution opened, Long donated a magnificent ivory crosier head to The Ashmolean Museum. The museum's Book of Benefactors records:

'The most noble of ladies, Dorothy, wife of that most generous and learned of men, Sir James Long, Bart, of Draycot Cerne in the county of Wiltshire, was the pride and joy of her family and her s*x, and showed a deep interest in primitive religions and antiquities. Her piety and great good will to this University led her to give a carved ivory crosier which had belonged to Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, to this museum to be placed with the other treasures.'

The crosier in fact dates to the thirteenth century, rather than the fourth century of Saint Augustine of Hippo. The metal mounts are likely later additions, possibly in the 16th century. The crosier can be seen on display in The Ashmolean Museum’s England 400-1600 gallery.

🖼️ ‘Books to put into ye High Shelfe’, 1704, Dorothy Long, Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

This exhibition is open until Saturday 19 September. Chippenham Museum is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and entry is free.

24/08/2026

📣

This week we're showcasing the work of St Peter's Academy! On display in our exhibition until Sunday 30 August.

Here at Chippenham Museum, we've been getting inspired by John Aubrey's 'Brief Lives' mini biographies through a number of special projects and activities.

With funding from the Chippenham Borough Lands Charity, we have been working with local schools on the project. With the help of writer and tutor Lesley, the museum ran workshops with Year 5 students to create modern-day brief lives based on adults they know, including teachers and school staff, family members, and sports and club leaders. Together, these form a snapshot of local lives and the community today.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing some of the work produced so far. The work will be displayed on screen in our exhibition, 'Wiltshire and the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge'. Each school's brief lives will be showcased on a weekly basis, as follows:

✍️ Redland Primary School, on display from Monday 3 August
📖 King's Lodge School, on display from Monday 10 August
🖋️ Ivy Lane School, on display from Monday 17 August
📜 St Peter's Academy, on display from Monday 24 August

Thank you to all the schools who got involved, as well as our work experience students, English Language Course participants, Young Curators, and the Creative Writing Group, who also contributed brief lives.

Find out more about the school project and our 5-week creative writing course for 16 to 18 year olds here 🔗 bit.ly/InspiringYoungWriters