The Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum Broadway will from 2017 become the Broadway Museum and Art Gallery. The changes planned for 2017 will enable the Community Museum to tell more of the rich history of Broadway. New exhibits will look at the village’s medieval roots and its role in the lucrative wool trade between 1327 and 1550, the coaching heritage which emerged between 1550 and 1850 and Broadway’s more recent history as an inspiration for artists in the late 19th and early 20th century. This will be in addition to the museum’s role in displaying artworks and visiting exhibitions loaned from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The museum is located in Tudor House one of the most prominent buildings on Broadway’s High Street. Originally built in the seventeenth century as a coaching inn, it has been extended and adapted over the centuries. It has also served as a private residence for various owners, including Benjamin Chandler who refurbished the property with the Arts and Crafts architect, CE Mallows, in 1908. For nearly 80 years, it was the headquarters for H.W. Keil Ltd, one of the leading dealers in antique furniture in the world.

Since opening in September 2013 – following a partnership between the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Worcestershire County Council, the Keil family and other local organisations - the museum has provided insight into the village’s history and become a showcase for the unique collections curated by the Ashmolean Museum Oxford. The objects on display are on loan from the museum and include a painting of Elizabeth Woodville from its founding collection, given by Elias Ashmole to the University of Oxford in 1683.

The displays are of fine and decorative art from the 17th to the 19th centuries over three floors, including local objects such as, furniture donated to the Ashmolean by HW Keil, Worcester porcelain and Armorial Ceramics of local families. There are paintings by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Millais and Landseer.

The top floor is a dedicated gallery for temporary exhibitions curated by the Ashmolean Oxford allowing access to world class exhibits in a Cotswold village setting. Until Christmas 2016 there is an exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints entitled Japanese Ghosts and Demons.

Visitors to Ashmolean Museum Broadway, who are UK tax-payers, can make a one-off donation of £5 on entry to then gain free entrance to the museum for 12 months.

Under the gift aid scheme the donation of £5 means the Ashmolean Museum Broadway receives £6.25 (25p for every £1 donated). If you pay tax at a higher then basic rate you can reclaim the difference in your donation in your annual HMRC tax return. If you do not pay UK tax or do not pay sufficient tax to cover the donation value, then the standard entrance fee costs you exactly the same.

Opening Times

14 September—31 October 10am-5pm Tuesday - Sunday

1st November to 20 December 10am-4pm Tuesday - Sunday

Standard Admission: Adults £.5.00 (16+) Family £10.00 Children (5-15 years): £2

Under 5s free