Ongoing until 13 September: Lee Miller: A Woman at War exhibition at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO), Woodstock. The display (which follows a major retrospective of Miller’s work at London’s Tate Gallery) includes her photographs of American nurses stationed at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford in 1943, her first wartime assignment for Vogue. There are also many other iconic images taken in Britain and in Europe, where Miller was a war correspondent on battle grounds and at the liberation of concentration camps. Further information here.
Ongoing until March 2027: The new special exhibition opened at the Museum of Oxford in July 2026, Sounds of the City. From indie rock to electronica, folk to reggae, and classical to punk, Oxford was home to a vibrant grassroots music scene in the 1990s. The spirit of this multi-genre scene has had an enduring impact on both local and worldwide stages. Marking 30 years since Oxford was crowned BBC Radio 1 Sound City in 1997, the exhibition highlights iconic bands, gigs, venues, festivals, and record labels that all energetically shaped Oxford’s unique sound. A programme of events will run alongside the exhibition throughout the summer and autumn of 2026 and into 2027, with live music performances, lunchtime talks, walking tours, film screenings, and museum lates. Find out more here.
Thursday 27 August, 1-2pm: Oxford local historian Mark Davies will give a talk at the Bodleian’s Weston Library entitled A Jericho Scrapbook: 200 years of Oxford’s culturally diverse, ‘dangerously hospitable’ suburb. The talk will explore Jericho’s history, its notable landmarks and its characters. It is based on a compilation of reminiscences, photographs, sketches, and ephemera compiled in 1955 by former St Hilda’s Hall student Constance Hawtrey. A full transcript, with detailed notes, is published as A Jericho Scrapbook by the Jericho Living Heritage Trust (copies available in the Bodleian shop). The talk is free but booking is required.
Wednesday 9 September, 1-2pm: Photographer and local historian Martin Stott will give a talk at the Museum of Oxford entitled Bartlemas: Oxford’s hidden sanctuary. Bartlemas hamlet and leper hospital were founded 900 years ago, meaning that they pre-date the university. The talk will explore Bartlemas’s origins, turbulent history, its focus on outcasts, the dispossessed, and the stigmatised of the times, and the healing, care, and sanctuary it offered. Tickets only £6; book your place here.
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September: The annual celebration of Oxford’s heritage, Open Doors, organised by Oxford Preservation Trust. As always, visitors will have access to hundreds of venues (many not normally open to the public), tours, demonstrations, performances and events, all for free: a great opportunity to be a tourist in your own city. New attractions for this year include showings of Making Cars, a ground breaking Channel 4 documentary from 1983, which tells the story of the Morris Motors and Pressed Steel factories at Cowley through the voices of the people who worked there; a chance to explore some of the thousands of building plans held in the archives of the Town Hall; and walking tours of Osney Island celebrating 175 years since the area was first developed. Start planning your weekend here.
Saturday 19 September: Special all-day event, Flora’s Fringford, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Flora Thompson, author of Lark Rise to Candleford, a vivid picture of Oxfordshire village life at the end of the 19th century. It will be in Fringford, the village near Bicester where Thompson lived in the 1890s and which she fictionalised as Candleford Green. The day will include an exhibition, videos, a photographic display, lace making and spinning and weaving demonstrations, and a guided historical walk. Free and open to all; further information here.
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September: Abingdon Heritage Weekend. There will be guided walks, talks, exhibitions, and free visits to dozens of buildings including almshouses, a tithe barn, and the former gaol. Find out what’s on here.
Throughout the summer 2026: Oxford Preservation trust (OPT) is running monthly tours of three of its historical sites: the 17th-century Conduit House in North Hinksey, the Elizabethan Painted Room in Oxford, and the Medieval Merchant’s House in Abingdon. Further information, dates and booking here.
Saturdays and Sundays from May to September: North Leigh Roman Villa near Witney is considered to be one of the largest villas in Roman Britain with a history of occupation spanning five centuries. At its most extensive in the early 4th century AD it included three bath suites, sixteen mosaic floors and eleven rooms with under-floor heating. The site of the villa is accessible at all times and the villa’s extraordinary 4th-century mosaic floor will be open to the public from 11am to 5pm on 8 and 9 August, 22 and 23 August, and 19 and 20 September. There are more details about access to the site and its history here.
Sundays June to October: Wheatley Windmill is an 18th-century tower mill of an unusual octagonal shape. The mill was lovingly restored by volunteers between 1976 and 2010, and in June 2012 flour was milled there for the first time in nearly a hundred years. The Wheatley Windmill Restoration Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and members will open the mill to the public on the following Sunday afternoons: 9 August, 13 September, 11 October. There will be free tours of the mill (donations gratefully received); refreshments; and a chance to buy a bag of Wheatley flour. Find out more here.
Saturdays August to November: Botley Cemetery in Oxford contains 156 burials from the First World War and 516 from the Second World War. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) offers excellent free tours throughout the year. Dick Richards, a knowledgeable guide who has done extensive research on the cemetery and on those buried there, will explain the history of the site, outline the work of the CWGC, and reveal the stories of some of the servicemen for whom Botley is the final resting place. Tours will take place on the following Saturday mornings starting at 10:30am from the Chapel of Rest: 8 August, 5 September, 3 October, 7 November. Further information and booking here.
Throughout 2026: The year-long Warneford 200 – Mental Health Through the Ages project, marking 200 years of mental health care at the Warneford Hospital in Oxford, launched in January. The Warneford, which opened in July 1826, is the oldest psychiatric hospital still in clinical use in the UK. The Warneford 200 projects reflects on its long and complex history, recognising the experiences of patients, families, and staff whose stories have shaped the evolution of mental health care. Events running throughout 2026 include a short film, a travelling exhibition (currently at the Museum of Oxford until Saturday 21 March), an on-line exhibition, a theatre production, workshops, public lectures, and a garden installation, and a new trail around the hospital grounds, the Warneford Walk, which explores the history, buildings and stories of the site. Read more on the project website.
Ongoing: The Museum of Oxford continues its popular series of free gallery tours, Stories of Oxford, led by knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers. From football to fairgrounds, marmalade to Morris Motors, patron saints to pubs, barges, bones, and all types of quirky customs, there’s something to interest everyone. Further information and booking here.
Saturdays, ongoing: tours of Oxford’s magnificent Town Hall take place twice a month on Saturdays at 11am. These are a great opportunity to see behind the scenes and to learn about the building’s fascinating history. Find out more here.
If you know of any relevant events which could be advertised on this page, please send details to: membership@olha.org.uk
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