The Wallingford Historical & Archaeological Society - TWHAS

17/07/2025

12/07/2025

Share Your Story: Memories of the Market Place
Our TWHAS Oral History Group (part of the Research Group) is asking for your help!
Do you have memories of Wallingford’s Market Place? Whether you’ve lived here all your life, worked in the market, or visited over the years, we want to hear from you!
The "Memories of the Market Place" Oral History Project is collecting stories from the community to preserve the rich history of this iconic space. Together, we’ll explore how
the Market Place has changed over time and its role in the lives of local people.
We’re looking for: -
● Long-time residents with stories of the Market Place and Wallingford.
● Business owners or workers who’ve been part of the market’s history.
How to Get Involved: -
● Share your story in a recorded conversation (we’ll guide you through it!).
● Help us build a living archive of Wallingford’s history.
Why Participate?
Your memories are a vital part of our town’s heritage. By sharing your story, you’ll help future generations and new residents to understand the Market Place’s significance in
Wallingford’s history.
Get in Touch
To learn more or to sign up, please contact us:
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Deadline to Participate: 30.8.2025
Let’s celebrate the heart of our town together—one story at a time.

10/07/2025

Guided Historical Walks
Please see link below.
NOW JUST £5 per person

Town Walks - Every Saturday in the Summer, usually from Easter Saturday until the end of September. Details below. First walk Saturday 19 April, last walk Saturday 27th September. 

10/07/2025

Advance notice of our future TWHAS talks:-

10 Sept (Weds)
Daniel Bashford: ' The Historic Ridgeway Project'

8 Oct (Weds)
Godfrey Cole: 'The Abingdon Abbey project'

12 Nov (Weds)
Richard Oram: 'County archaeology roundup'

18/04/2025

Anyone fancy a walk?

Tomorrow Saturday April 19th - Two Guided Walks 🥾

Walk 1 The Town Walk Saturday 19th April
An opportunity to join the first of our special guided history walks in the town of Wallingford. These are run every Saturday by The Wallingford Historical and Archaeological Society Members ( TWHAS) from 19th April to 27th September. Please meet your group under the Town Hall for a 1100 start, no booking required, £10 pp. (Please bring cash) 1½ - 2 hrs.

Walk 2 The Castle Walk Saturday 19th April
An opportunity to join one of our special guided history walks. Join your group at the Museum for a 14:30 start, no booking required, £10 pp. Your tour will start with a viewing of the superb castle model, showing the castle at the height of it's power in the 14th century, before walking down to explore the remains of the castle itself. 1½ - 2 hrs

10/03/2025

ONLINE TALK: Wiltshire Museum – A Science Research hub
11th March at 7:30pm

David Dawson, Director of Wiltshire Museum, will highlight some of the leading edge research being carried out using the nationally important collections of the Wiltshire Museum.

Find out more and book here at: https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/?event=online-talk-wiltshire-museum-a-science-research-hub&event_date=2025-03-11

£7.50 per ticket. WANHS Members FREE

10/03/2025

📜 Explore Local History with Liz Woolley! 🏡

The Warborough and Shillingford Society invites all TWHAS members and local history enthusiasts to a special talk:

🗓 Wednesday 23 April
📍 St Laurence Hall, Warborough
⏰ 7:15 PM for a 7:30 PM start
💷 Visitor’s charge: £5

Join renowned local historian Liz Woolley for an insightful session on **“Local History – How to Do It.”

10/03/2025

🔎 TWHAS Zoom Talk – “If Ancestors Could Talk” 🦴

📅 Wednesday 19 March
🕖 7:00 PM (Please note the earlier time!)
💻 Join via Zoom: Click here to join


https://york-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/96159329143?pwd=JlzMV6UP7EvyhvjTjB4FlGNfSnpLWq.1

📌 Meeting ID: 961 5932 9143
🔑 Passcode: 042607

Join us for a fascinating online talk with Malin Holst F.S.A., a Senior Lecturer in Osteoarchaeology at the University of York. Malin will uncover the hidden life stories of past populations by examining the tell-tale signs left in human bones.

This talk will explore the discovery of 40 Roman burials at a villa near Earth Trust, revealing unexpected twists in the lives of those who lived there.

📜 If bones could talk, what stories would they tell? Find out in this intriguing glimpse into life and death in Roman Britain!

Don’t miss it!

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

28/02/2025

Tomorrow is the day when the doors of the museum open for this year……

New website - click on this link. Wallingford Museum UK is a colourful, delightfully intimate and family friendly local history museum, housed on two floors of an medieval oak-beamed building in the heart of Wallingford in Oxfordshire.

11/02/2025

From exploring the Ice Age with Steve Backshall on Channel 5 last night to exploring museum stores...

Museums are such amazing places bursting with information from across time. I always enjoy getting up close to prehistoric collections, there is always something new to see or discover!

It is also incredibly rewarding to work with museums to help improve the way they use their collections or expand on the existing information they have. As a craftsperson who makes modern versions of the ancient artefacts, I can recognise particular features that can tell stories about making processes, use, damage and destruction. Its almost impossible to accurately interpret these features without a practical background, some are very subtle.

Modern crafts people are so well placed to expand on these artefact stories and make them more relatable to visitors or colleagues. A bronze axe can feel cold and sterile without knowing the skill behind making or using them, or the emotions of the bronze smith who successfully cast.

Here I was at Shropshire Archives working with volunteers to explore their collection. The axe in my hands has a well over 90% chance of being made of Great Orme Mines copper. As a specialist I can recognise the axe type and the connection to this world famous site, thereby building a picture of how the Bronze Age world was connected in Shropshire over 3000 years ago.

📷 Prehistoric Jewellery

11/02/2025

‘Barley to Beer, the Story of Malting, Brewing and Pubs in Wallingford’ The countryside around Wallingford has always been suitable for the growing of barley and since early times the barley has been malted and used for the brewing of beer. The production of malt has been a major trade in the to...

30/08/2024

Dear TWHAS Member,

We hope you have had an enjoyable summer!

This September edition of TWHAS Now is being sent a little earlier than usual so that you won’t miss details of the special talks and exhibitions on offer over the Agatha Christie Weekend that pre-dates our September TWHAS meeting, so I hope you will be able to find time to read it soon!

With all good wishes for an enjoyable September,

Judy

Judy Dewey, Editor, TWHAS Now