What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 3pm Thursday 10am - 3:30pm Friday 10am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 4pm

Wycombe Museum

Name: Wycombe Museum
Address: Wycombe Museum, Priory Avenue, Bucks, High Wycombe, HP136PX, GB
Telephone: +441494957210
Price range: $
Rating: 4.5

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Wycombe Museum

Family-friendly museum that explores the history of Wycombe district through seven hands-on gallerie Charity no: 1155456
Company no: 0878 3933
(2)

Wycombe Museum is managed by Wycombe Heritage and Arts Trust.

07/01/2025

From as little as £3 a month, you can help make sure that Wycombe's history and stories are kept alive.

Become a Supporter and you’ll receive a newsletter twice a year on what’s happening behind the scenes, be invited to two exclusive Supporters-only events annually, and can claim a welcome pack of museum-themed goodies.

Become a Supporter now:
➡️ https://support.wycombemuseum.org.uk/

05/01/2025

To kick off Chair of the Month in 2025, we’ve gone a little different.

Chair of the Month for January is not actually a chair at all - it's a template for making chair backs. It was used by the factory of Piercey Biggs and Rackstraw of Desborough of High Wycombe, and it has a label that includes a sketch of the complete chair design together with measurements and instructions for making the chair.

Piercey Biggs and Rackstraw made reproduction antique furniture until they closed in about 1996. Several Wycombe companies were known for making furniture inspired by antiques. Frederick Parker even built up a large collection of antiques for his company to copy and adapt. His collection survived and is now looked after by London Metropolitan University.

This chair template can be seen in The Art of the Chair Exhibition at Wycombe Museum, which is open for just a few more weeks. See it before it closes on 2nd February 2025. The exhibition includes other chair designs from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.

➡️ See our Chair of the Month Archive https://bit.ly/ChairOfTheMonth

03/01/2025

🖼️ From the art collection:

Flint Cottage, High Wycombe, June '94,
Watercolour by Anthony Mealing,
1994

This thiry year old view is little changed. Since this view was painted, the pub became the Bootlegger for some years, but has returned to it's old name, The Flint Cottage.

It is believed that the Flint Cottage was once the gatehouse to Castle Hill House - now Wycombe Museum. Both buildings do have the same flint-faced exterior! Before the cutting for the railway line was made, Castle Hill House's land extended all the way down to the parish church, and up in the what is now The Haystacks and The Greenway.

02/01/2025

Looking for something new for 2025? Could you be our new Visitor Services Coordinator?

This role is all about people. We are looking for a friendly, enthusiastic and organised person to make sure each of our visitors has a great experience at the museum and that our volunteer team is well looked after.

📅 Applications close 15th January 2025
➡️ See full info: https://bit.ly/WMAreHiring

30/12/2024

As we wave goodbye to 2024, we at Wycombe Museum want to say thank you for making it a great year for us! Here are some of the things that made it so fantastic.

🪑 The Chilterns Chairs Festival: one of our biggest successes this year. We loved throwing this celebration. Almost 8,000 people participated in our events, exhibtions, and tours. The festival was in partnership with .
🪑 We revamped 'The Chair Museum' - We spent July giving our furniture galleries some TLC - you can now discover the daily life of Albert the Apprentice and his family, and become a Windsor chair expert in our Chair Lab.
🏆 We won some awards! Our volunteers won Outstanding Group at the Proud of Bucks awards, and we were a finalist in Bucks Sparks Awards for the Best Cultural Collaboration for the Chiltern Chairs Festival.
✨ We launched the Supporters scheme - set up a recurring donation to us to become part of the club! https://support.wycombemuseum.org.uk/
🪑 We released the Here, Chair & Everywhere Heritage Walking Trail to help you see Wycombe's town centre through new eyes. https://bit.ly/ChairTrail
🎟️ 4000 people enjoyed events we ran - from adult craft workshops to toddler storyime, town tours and history talks.
🎒 We taught nearly 1000 school children - Chairmaking in the Chilterns, Victorian Wycombe, the Romans and more.
🪑 We've conserved all of our chairs in storage. Our Assistant Curator and Collections Volunteers have spent the year caring for, cleaning and conserving all of our chairs to make sure they're in top condition.
🖼️ We put on four new exhibitions - The Art of the Chair was our special exhibition this year, and hosted community exhibitions for the John Hampden Society, the High Wycombe Choral Society, and a research exhibition to prepare for the Chair Festival.
🤝 We partnered with groups in our community. Students from Alfriston School helped with our garden, young adults from Talkback and MacIntyre School helped in our cafe and shop. We've hosted Wycombe Refugee Partnership to welcome refugees to the local area.
🪑 We created a Wycombe Furniture Forum - launched as part fo the Chair Festival we set up the Forum to bring together local furniture stakeholders to keep Wycombe's furniture making heritage alive, and leave a legacy for the project.
⌛ Our volunteers donated over 3000 hours of their time. They help run every single part of the museum, and we truly could not do it without them.

28/12/2024

🖼️ From the art collection:

Farmyard Scene, Park Farm, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire
By Walter John Stamps (1876–1964),
Oil on canvas.

Walter Stamps was the Head of the Wycombe School of Art from 1911. His students included furniture designers Robin Day and also Edwin Clinch, who designed the Utility furniture range of the Second World War.

Every year he took his family on holiday to Cornwall. In the early 1900s Cornwall was popular with artists who painted the picturesque fishing villages and stormy coastline.

Stamps helped pay for the holidays by selling his paintings.

24/12/2024

Give the gift of your support this Christmas! Become a Supporter and be a part of Wycombe Museum’s continuing story.

Make a recurring donation from as little as £3 a month and you’ll receive a newsletter twice a year on what’s happening behind the scenes, be invited to two exclusive Supporters-only events annually, and can claim a welcome pack of museum-themed goodies.

Become a Supporter now:
➡️ https://support.wycombemuseum.org.uk/

23/12/2024

In the run-up to Christmas in 1953, crowds gathered to watch the judging of the Christmas Fatstock Show, held in the Cattle Market off Bellfield Rd in High Wycombe.

The "Fatstock" referred to animals that have been fattened up for market, particularly those intended for meat production. Fatstock shows celebrated the best in local farming, with farmers bringing their best livestock to compete in various categories in the shows.

Credit to SWOP & BFP for the image.

22/12/2024

Christmas Raffle Fundraiser tickets are only available until 5pm today!

Win prizes kindly donated by Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, The Massage Company, Wycombe Rye Lido, Rebellion Brewery, Asda High Wycombe, and more!

From just £1.50 a ticket, you will be helping support Wycombe Museum as an essential local charity, and protecting Wycombe's history for years to come.

Get your tickets and check out prizes here: https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/blog/christmas-raffle-fundraiser-2024

21/12/2024

Tomorrow is our final day of opening in 2024! Come along to make a decoration for your tree. Tickets are available in advance - or buy on the door!

Create that perfect hand-made touch to your tree ahead of Christmas Day - or give them as a gift to a loved one!

✨ Best for children aged 4 - 11
🎟️ Tickets £4.75 per child
🎄Book here: https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/blog/christmas-2024

20/12/2024

✨Wycombe Museum is hiring for a Visitor Experience Coordinator. ✨

This role is all about people! We are looking for a friendly, enthusiastic and organised person to make sure each of our visitors has a great experience at the museum and that our volunteer team is well looked after.

📅 Applications close 15th January 2025
➡️ See full info: https://bit.ly/WMAreHiring

18/12/2024

Christmas Raffle Fundraiser tickets are only available for a few more days!

Win prizes kindly donated by Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, The Massage Company, Wycombe Rye Lido, Rebellion Brewery, Asda High Wycombe, and more!

From just £1.50 a ticket, you will be helping support Wycombe Museum as an essential local charity, and protecting Wycombe's history for years to come.

Get your tickets and check out prizes here: https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/blog/christmas-raffle-fundraiser-2024

17/12/2024

We've made a very exciting addition to our collection recently. This violin was made by renowned violin and viola maker Clifford Hoing. The museum has had artefacts relating to Hoing and his violin making for many years - but until now we have not had a Hoing violin.

So, what makes this violin so special?

Born in High Wycombe in 1903, Clifford Hoing worked in the local furniture industry as a wood carver before using his skills to take up trade as a violin maker in the mid 1930s. His years of work in the furniture industry had given Hoing an exceptional understanding of different types of timber, and led to him producing violins of excellent quality. Due to the care an attention needed in their production, he would only make around eight violins a year.

Hoing's instruments were award winning. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and earned more awards than any other English instrument maker. In a blind sound test where ten violins were played behind a screen by famous Russian violinist Stanislav Frydberg, Hoing's violin won second place based on its quality of sound. It beat highly famed traditional makes including Stradivarius, Guarnerius, and Gabrielli. He also won a silver medal for an instrument of 'Outstanding Artistic Character' beating 130 makers from sixteen different countries.

Clifford Hoing lived in the High Wycombe area until his death in 1989.

This violin was kindly donated to us by a Ms Particia Harris. Born in 1933 in High Wycombe, Harris was twelve years old when she was encouraged by her father to learn to play the violin. They went to visit Hoing, who Patricia's father knew through work in the furniture industry. Patricia remembers the violin that hung in his window - one of the very few forms of advertising Hoing did. They bought this violin, which Patricia has kept ever since. It has a maker's mark inside that says 'Clifford A. Hoing, 1932'. Patricia believes it to be one of the first - if not the very first - Hoing ever made.

Ms Harris has donated this instrument to us with the hope that future generations will get to enjoy seeing one of the finest of hand-crafted violins.

Clifford Hoing museum items pictured:
1 - Our new Clifford Hoing violin
2- The Clifford A. Hoing makers' label on the inside of the violin
3 - Photograph of Clifford Hoing carving the body of a violin
4 - Templates & items used by Hoing for making violins and violas
5 - Photographs taken by Hoing, including of what was claimed to be the smallest functional real violin in the world that he made and displayed at the High Wycombe Trades Exhibition in October 1938
6 - Hoing's business card, outlining the instruments he made
7 - An advert for Hoing's work

You can learn more about Clifford Hoing in this wonderful Bucks Free Press article, written by Mike Dewey, about Hoing's life and work - which was the source of much of this information.
➡️ https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/11092242.violin-maker-instrumental-in-putting-wycombe-on-music-map/

15/12/2024

Come along with your little ones to Wycombe Museum for a Christmassy 'Babes in the Wood' Forest School session for toddlers on Thursday 19th December!

Nature's Jewels will be joined by the lovely Vicky of Fox and Cubs Forest School for this extra special morning of fun, food, exploration and creation. A session not to be missed!

As always, you can book for this session and for sessions in 2025 on the Museum's website.
🎟️ https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/babes-in-the-wood

14/12/2024

This shot shows the early stages of the construction of Abbey Way, taken from St Mary's Street in September 1966.

You can see the entrance to the yard of Murrays department store in the foreground. Murrays was the iconic Wycombe department store in years past, with their famous clock. This 60s town centre redevelopment disruption for the Murrays store, along with many others in the town.

13/12/2024

We're unfortunately needing to close this Sunday 15th December. We'll see you again from Tuesday 17th December.

12/12/2024

Buy a ticket for our Christmas Raffle Fundraiser!

Win prizes kindly donated by Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, The Massage Company, Wycombe Rye Lido, Rebellion Brewery, Asda High Wycombe, and more!

From just £1.50 a ticket, you will be helping support Wycombe Museum as an essential local charity, and protecting Wycombe's history for years to come.

Get your tickets and check out prizes here: https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/blog/christmas-raffle-fundraiser-2024

Address

Wycombe Museum, Priory Avenue, Bucks
High Wycombe
HP136PX

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 3pm
Thursday	10am - 3:30pm
Friday	10am - 3pm
Sunday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+441494957210

Website

http://www.wycombemuseum.org.uk/

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Videos

Exploring mills on the river Wye!

In our latest Explore session for home educators, we made our own water wheels and learnt about the history of milling along the River Wye. Coming up next month, we’ll be taking a walking tour around the town to discover the furniture making history of High Wycombe. ➡️ https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/explore-oct24 #HomeEducation #buckinghamshire

Go back in time to the 1600s! See the campsite of Civil War soldiers as they complete their musket shooting drills and do hand-to-hand combat demonstrations. Try on armour and have a go. ⭐ Watch displays of shooting drills by the Musketeers ⭐ See pike demonstrations from armoured Pikemen, the hand to hand combat soldiers during the Civil War ⭐ Displays of crafts and skills from the Civil War ⭐ Try on armour and see 'Show and Tell' displays on weapon and armour of the Civil Wars ⭐ 'Children's Drill' - be instructed by officers on how to be pikemen for John Hampden's Greencoats! ⭐ Quiz for children to fill out as they investigate the campsite and talk to the soldiers - including local Civil War history facts Plus more! ➡️ Pikemen & Musketeers Family Fun Day 📅 Sunday 7th April, 10am - 4pm 📌 At Wycombe Museum 🎟️ Book tickets: https://wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/pikemen-musketeers

Pikemen & Musketeers Family Fun Day at Wycombe Museum

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Our Story

Wycombe Museum is an independent charity managed by Wycombe Heritage and Arts Trust, proud to protect Wycombe District’s heritage and culture, and a collection of over 20,000 items. From humble beginnings in 1932 as a small collection of objects housed in High Wycombe Library, moving to our current home at Castle Hill House in 1962, to our transfer from Wycombe District Council to becoming an independent charity in 2016, Wycombe Museum will always be your Museum. Charity no: 1155456