Abingdon County Hall Museum facts for kids
View of the County Hall building that houses the museum.
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| Established | 1678–1683 (building) 1919 (museum collection) |
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| Location | Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Type | Local museum |
| Collection size | Local history |
| Owner | Abingdon Town Council |
The Abingdon County Hall Museum (also called Abingdon Museum) is a local museum in Abingdon, England. The Abingdon Town Council runs the museum. It also gets help from Abingdon Museum Friends, which is a charity. The building itself is very old and important. It is known as a Grade I listed building.
The Museum Building
This amazing building was first built to be a county hall for Berkshire. Abingdon was the main town for Berkshire back then. It was used as the main place for judges to meet and manage the county.
The building was designed in the Baroque style. This style is known for being grand and dramatic. Christopher Kempster designed it. He learned from Sir Christopher Wren, who designed St Paul's Cathedral.
The building stands on large pillars. There is a covered area underneath. This space was used as a market or for other town events. The building was finished in 1683.
Nikolaus Pevsner, a famous expert on buildings, said it was the "grandest" of its kind in England. It had a courtroom for trials until 1867. After that, trials moved to Reading.
After a big repair project, Queen Elizabeth II visited the town hall. She signed the visitor's book and showed a special plaque in November 1956.
Museum Collections and Exhibits
The museum started collecting items in 1919. It has permanent collections that are always on display. It also puts on special temporary exhibits several times a year. There are also smaller exhibits about local topics that change every month.
One interesting item is The Monks' Map. This map shows the River Thames around Abingdon in the 1500s. It has been kept at the town's Guildhall since 1907.
The museum also displays a copy of the Anglo-Saxon Abingdon Sword. The original sword was found in the river at Abingdon. It is now kept at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
In December 2011, something very cool happened. The very last MGB Roadster sports car was put on display. This car was made in Abingdon in 1980. It had to be lifted 30 feet up through a window to get it into the main gallery!
From 2010 to 2012, the museum building had a two-year restoration. This was partly paid for by the National Lottery. The museum unofficially reopened in July 2012. Martha Howe-Douglas, an actress from the TV show Horrible Histories, helped open it. The Duke of Gloucester officially reopened it on March 8, 2013. A new museum café was also opened in the basement.
See also
In Spanish: Abingdon County Hall Museum para niños
