Sunday 24 May, 2:00pm: As part of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC)’s War Graves Week, free tours of Botley Cemetery in Oxford. The cemetery contains 156 burials from the First World War and 516 from the Second World War. A knowledge guide will explain the history of the cemetery, outline the work of the CWGC, and reveal the stories of some of the servicemen for whom Botley is the final resting place. Further information and booking here.
Monday 25 May: The Morris Motors Museum in Long Hanborough (part of the Oxford Bus Museum) will hold a special Morris Day. Bring your classic Morris car, artefacts, or stories of working at the car factory in Cowley, or just come along to enjoy the displays. The Morris Motors Museum traces the development of the Nuffield empire, founded by William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) from its humble beginnings as a bicycle workshop in East Oxford to become one of the world’s major vehicle manufacturers. Find out more about Morris Motors and the museum here, and about the special Morris Day here.
Ongoing until 31 May: The current exhibition at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) in Woodstock, Oxfordshire’s Military History in Fifty Objects, has been extended until the end of May. Combining old favourites from the archives with some of the most recent donations to the museum’s collections, the display illustrates milestones in the history of the two county regiments – the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars – as well as the impact that conflicts have had on the people of Oxfordshire. Find out more here.
Wednesday 10 June, 1pm: The Museum of Oxford’s popular series of lunchtime talks continues with historian Victoria Bentata speaking on Einstein and the Refugee Scholars in Oxford. The talk will discuss Einstein’s visits to Oxford in the 1930s, his reception and significance. It will evaluate the role played by Oxford University, its departments and colleges, and the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning, in saving scholars fleeing from the Nazis, and will explore the lives, contributions and legacies of the refugee scholars themselves. Further information and booking here.
Saturday 20 June, 10am-4pm: The popular annual Oxfordshire Past conference (organised by the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society) will take place at The Chantry House in Henley. This is a chance to hear all the latest updates from around the county, with talks on recent and current archaeological work in Oxford city, research for the Victoria County History in west Oxfordshire, the latest finds recorded by the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and the recent work of the Oxfordshire Buildings Record. Tickets for the full day are only £10; find out more and book your place here.
Ongoing until 28 June: An exhibition at the Abingdon County Hall Museum celebrates the 70th anniversary of the MGA, one of the most successful MG models. The MG (Morris Garages) factory in Abingdon produced cars for 50 years and was employing 1,100 people when it closed in 1980. The new temporary exhibition is in addition to the County Hall Museum’s permanent MG exhibit, which includes one of the last MGB Roadsters to leave the production line.
Ongoing until 4 July: An exhibition at the Museum of Oxford, Community Became Home, celebrates the project to transform a former football club’s changing rooms in Marston into a temple, cultural centre and community space for Oxfordshire’s Hindu community, estimated at more than 10,000 people. Over the past 20 years, a dedicated group has worked to realise this dream, and through photographs, personal stories, and objects, this exhibition explores this collective effort. There will be a special event to celebrate the exhibition on Friday 15 May, 6-8pm, including traditional music and Bharatanatyam dance performances, henna art, and the chance to explore all the museum galleries and shop after hours. Free and open to all, but booking required.
Saturday 11 July: Newcomen – The International Society for the History of Engineering and Technology – will hold a conference entitled Industry and Innovation in Oxford. The day will include talks on the history of car making in Oxford and the rise of the Cowley factory; Combe Mill, the workshop for the Blenheim Estate; how engineering came to Oxford University; printing in Oxfordshire; John Allen’s Oxfordshire Steam Ploughing Company; and watermills of the Oxfordshire Thames. The event will take place at the Department of Engineering, Parks Road, Oxford. Further information and booking here.
Wednesday 15 July: A team of young people from Cheney School’s Rumble Museum will run an oral history collection afternoon at St Mary & St John Church in East Oxford to gather stories about people’s experiences of the church. Whether you have visited SS Mary & John once or many times, they would love to hear your story, and see any related photographs and objects. All ages are warmly welcome to this free event, and there will be refreshments. Find out more here.
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.
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.
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 30 and 31 May, 27 and 28 June, 25 and 26 July, 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.
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, at locations all over Oxfordshire. 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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