Abingdon County Hall Museum’s aim is to present the history of Abingdon and the surrounding locality in the most informative, exciting and accessible way possible.
We will continue to develop the museum in line with visitor comments and town activities with the intention to create exhibitions combining importance to the locality, people, educational significance and interest for as broad an audience as possible.
The County Hall, completed in 1682, is on the south side of Abingdon Market Place. It was built by stonemason Christopher Kempster, who worked with Sir Christopher Wren on rebuilding churches in London after the Great Fire of 1666.
Originally used as a courtroom for the Berkshire Assizes, the County Hall has also been a venue for entertainment and since 1761 the venue for the traditional ‘bun throwing’ to commemorate royal events. A museum was first set up in the building in 1919. The museum re-opened in 2012 after extensive building restoration work and redisplay of the museum collections as part of a Heritage Lottery Fund project.