Winchester City Museum — Attraction in Winchester

The Winchester City Museum is a brilliant way to spend up to hour exploring the rich history of Winchester. The floors are set up to take you through the history chronologically as you descend: Roman and Iron Age on the top floor, Anglo Saxon and Medieval next, and ending with Georgian and Victorian on the ground floor.

The Sparsholt Mosaic is a huge highlight of the Roman floor, and other artefacts including a hypocaust system and the remains of a citizen of Venta Belgarum. The Anglo Saxon artefacts are equally as interesting. Not only are there spearheads and preserved leather shoes, but an impressive collection of coins from the old Winchester mint! On this floor there are also opportunities for children to dress up as a Saxon and get involved in interactive activities such as brass rubbings. Finally, the Victorian and Georgian floor is home to the impressive scale model of the city in 1870. Surrounding this are various other interesting artefacts, from a recreated shopfront of a tobacconist to an authentic penny farthing and items belonging to Jane Austen.

The building itself is beautiful and in a prime location, with windows providing lovely views of the surroundings Cathedral grounds and the square.

The museum’s gift shop also sells a lovely range of gifts ranging from Winchester-themed souvenirs to the latest historical books, not to mention the bespoke Winchester-based jewellery and gin.

The Winchester City Museum is a must-see for anyone visiting the city. Tickets are valid for one year also, which is a plus if you...

I used to live fairly close to Winchester when I was much younger. But I could not understand why it was so very important. Centuries ago it was one of the hearts of medieval England. But now it is a mere shadow of its former self. I decided to spend some time in the Winchester City Museum to see if I could discover some of the secrets of the once great City. It was perhaps the beginning of a long trail of discovery. Of which the antiquated fragments seemed to merge together. Like a great wooden jigsaw puzzle. With corners and edges aligning to a mystic symmetry not previously guessed or imagined. At least not perceived by my feeble young intelligence I was very impressed with the news that the Winchester City Museum were connected to some important archeological digs. I would've very much liked to have been considered for one of the local excavations. And downstairs in the museums basement one of the staff proudly showed me what looked like a small lump of mud. Apparently the lump of mud had been discovered during a 'dig'. I hope that I didn't appear to be too ignorant to participate in contemplating the origins of this mysterious little lump. I almost had another unfortunate mishap were I couldn't see the price tags on the postcards. So I wrongly assumed that they were all free. Luckily the staff explained my error and I paid for the postcards before leaving the museum. Very helpful,...

FANTASTIC impromptu visit, with my young son (aged 3) - entertaining, and informative, for both of us.

HIGHLY recommend!

Winchester City Museum is home to a brilliant collection, which tells the story of the city through time, and is complemented by exemplary, drop-in, interactive activities for children of all ages!

We especially enjoyed the Roman dressing-up kit; the brass rubbing stations; the 'be an archaeologist' sand trays, complete with tools; the Punch & Judy puppet theatre play, and the Victorian shop role play...

There was much more we could have explored, but our time was limited - we'll just have to go back, especially for the museum's scheduled Family events!

Bravo the team of dedicated staff, and volunteers, who create these activities - they really do bring the place to life! 👏

P.s. The entry ticket (which the ticket desk has logged in their system, should the hard copy be forgotten - as it was our case!) enables unlimited, year-round access (perfect for those, 'We need to find some shelter!' / 'Where can we kill some time, while we wait for...