Collection Conversations: Ann Christopher
2025-03-15 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London) | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In our next Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Ann Christopher, the youngest female sculptor to be elected to the Royal Academy in 1980. Ann work is non-figurative, whether as works on paper or sculptures cast bronze, stainless steel and silver. Her inspiration draws from a broad range of visual sources: from modern architecture to rugged coastlines, plant structures and ancient artefacts.
Free, booking essential
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.
Image: Changing Spaces 1-3, 2018/19, Ann Christopher, carborundum, hand finished with graphite and pen (images courtesy of Steve Russell Studios)

Collection Conversations: Felicity Aylieff
2025-03-22 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In our next Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Felicity Aylieff.
Educated at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, Felicity Aylieff went on to teach ceramics at Bath Spa University. She is currently Professor of Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art. An artist residency in Jingdezhen, China, led to a lasting collaborative relationship with porcelain factories in city, where she also now has a studio. Her series of monumental pots, the largest of which stand over four metres high, demonstrate her passion for material and process and historically informed decorative technique
Ink Blue can be seen on display in our Materials & Making art gallery.
Free, booking essential
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.

The Arts Society Kington Langley
2025-04-01 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-05-06 11:00 - 12:00 | Kington Langley Village Hall, Church Street, Kington Langley , Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5NJ, United Kingdom
Come and join us for monthly lectures on the arts given by expert lecturers. Our new season start in October and we meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 11:00.
The next lecture is ‘Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920’ by Dr Amy Lim which will take place at Kington Langley Village Hall on 1 October at 11:00.
£8 for a single lecture or £40 annual. For further details of our programme for the coming year please visit our website at https://taskl.org.uk

Moths, Butterflies, and How to Avoid Being Eaten
2025-04-11 19:00 | King Alfred Hall, Market Place, Chippenham, SN15 3HT
Nature lovers and conservation enthusiasts in Chippenham are in for a treat! On Friday 11th April, Michael Sammes from Baydons Meadow Wildlife Group will be hosting an engaging talk on ‘Moths and Butterflies and How to Avoid Being Eaten’ at King Alfred Hall.
This fascinating session will delve into the incredible survival tactics of moths and butterflies—creatures that are not only beautiful but also crucial to our ecosystem. Sadly, their numbers are declining at an alarming rate in the UK due to climate change and habitat loss. Learn more about what can be done to protect these delicate species.
The event is also in support of WellBoring, a locally based charity dedicated to providing clean water solutions to communities in need. While entry is free, attendees will be invited to make donations to help this important cause.
Whether you’re a wildlife enthusiast, a keen gardener, or just curious about nature, this is an event you won’t want to miss!
Event Details at a Glance:
Date: Friday, 11th April
Time: 6.30pm (refreshments available), talk starts at 7pm
Location: King Alfred Hall, Market Place, Chippenham, SN15 3HT
Entry: Free but donations welcomed for WellBoring
We look forward to seeing you there!

Collection Conversations: Katherine Gili
2025-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In April’s edition of a talk series, Collection Conversations, we will be joined by Katherine Gili.
A student of the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, she later attended the St Martin’s School of Art, where she was introduced to the use of steel by her tutor, Anthony Caro.
Gili’s work combines the use of steel construction with her search for increasingly sensual and subjective means of expression. Over time, this has led Gili to develop her sculpture away from the industrial aesthetic of steel, towards one based on an increasing manipulation of this seemingly intractable material. Her work continues to explore notions of weight and balance in response to movement and the dynamic figure.
As well as featuring in national and international collections including the Tate, Arts Council, and The Henry Moore Institute, Gili’s work is also in display in our current exhibition.

Collection Conversations: Mark Golder
2025-05-17 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In May’s edition of our art talk series educator and collector Mark Golder will discuss the influential but little known artist Stephen Russ. Russ was one of the Bath Academy of Art’s longest serving tutors, teaching printmaking and design for over thirty years. Russ designed numerous recognisable book covers including servals for Penguin, his most iconic being the phoenix he designed for the cover of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960.
Free, booking essential
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.
Image: Study for These Horned Islands, 1962, Stephen Russ (1919-1983), crayon on paper

Transition Story (ages 11 -18's)
2025-06-15 12:00 - 14:00 | The Old Road Tavern, SN15 1JA
Come and hang out in the barn and listen to Adam’s story.
FOOD! At 12 noon – Nacho builder table with milkshakes (on the house) for all 11-18’s. Please enter through the barn door off Old Road, not through the pub garden.
Talk starts at 12.30pm followed by Q and A with Adam.
Born and raised in rural Donegal during the 1980s and 90s, Adam understood from a young age that he was different. He came out as gay at 15 and later as transgender at 18, navigating his identity at a time when Ireland was still grappling with issues of acceptance and inclusion. At 27, he returned to the closet — a testament to the societal pressures many LGBTQI+ individuals face — but in 2020, at the age of 36, Adam came out once again, this time embracing his full, authentic self.
Now based in Dublin, where he moved at 17, Adam is proud of how far Ireland has come in embracing its LGBTQI+ community. He plays a key role in driving forward inclusive services and fostering community engagement, helping to ensure that others don’t have to walk the path alone that he once
Brought to you by Tell Your Story – A Rag and Bone Arts CIC and Knapsack Production collaboration – A National Lottery and DCMS funded project.
There will be 4-5 adults from our team present for safeguarding during the talk, which is followed by ‘Pride Goes Acoustic’ – a live music gig at 2pm, hosted by Riverbank Studio’s. Please note that our team will only be present until 2pm.

Collection Conversations: Nigel Goldsmith & Chloe Yandell
2025-06-21 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In June’s Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Nigel Goldsmith and Chloe Yandell.
Nigel Goldsmith studied his Masters in fine art at Bath Spa University. Goldsmith’s videos employ some of the visual and aural strategies used in advertising in an attempt to mesmerise the viewer, presenting a subject that is overwhelming in scale yet engaging to watch.
Chloe Yandell also studied at Bath Spa University. She works out of her studio in Corsham, taking inspiration from her local environment, memories and materials. Her recent studies have focused on creating texture and atmosphere, and often her techniques and pieces evolve through the exploration of the creative journey.
Free, booking essential
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.
Image 1: still of Terminal, 2021, Nigel Goldsmith, video art
Image 2: Lost, Chloe Yandell, mixed media on board

Collection Conversations - Sarah Purvey and Alan Fuller
2025-07-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
Join us for July’s Collection Conversation, where we will be joined by artist and project coordinator, Sarah Purvey, and Collections and Exhibitions Officer, Alan Fuller. They will be discussing the creation of the Modern and Contemporary Art collection at Chippenham Museum, how it has grown and where it will developing next.

Collection Conversations: Jane King and Judith Beeby
2025-08-16 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In our next Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Jane King and Judith Beeby.
Jane King studied for her Masters in ceramics at Bath Spa University’s Corsham Court Campus. King’s ceramic sculptures combine opposites of form, texture, and colour as metaphors for perfection and imperfection, control and chaos.
Judith Beeby studied at Bath Spa University. Living in Wiltshire she is continually inspired by its beauty. Her most recent work is inspired by the encroachment of urban and industrial elements into the rural environment. She is fascinated by the debate about man vs nature and the soft beauty of an English landscape being enhanced by strong industrial shapes.

Collection Conversations: Ione Parkin & Jonathan Parnham
2025-09-20 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
For our next Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Ione Parkin and Jonathan Parnham.
Ione Parkin is developing a growing body of artwork inspired by the rich imagery of space and her ongoing dialogue with researchers. Her paintings express her fascination with the formation of the universe while her mixed-media works on paper respond to planetary surfaces, extremes of temperature and geological process.
Jonathan Parnham is an art educator and artist living in Wiltshire. Painting on location, to capture the atmosphere of each environment that he discovers, is a vital component of Jonathan’s. His work is often created in variable conditions while documenting landscapes including the coastlines of Britain, Iceland, and China.
Free, booking essential.
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.

Collection Conversations - Sasha Wardell & Helen Wilks
2025-10-18 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
Next up in our series of art talks, we will be joined by Sasha Wardell and Helen Wilks.
Sasha has over 40 year’s experience in the world of bone china and porcelain, having studied in two centres of excellence; Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom and Limoges, France. She has taken elements of this industry and adapted them to a studio environment. Sasha has concentrated on perfecting the craft-based skills which enhance the inherent qualities of bone china and her carefully produced distinctive work embraces and reflects contemporary taste and lifestyle.
Helen Wilks was a student at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham. She is a narrative painter, probably best known for three cycles of works: Childhood Fragments, Punch & Judy and The Inhabited Space. Additionally, she has made very many works based on theatre performance and collaborations. Autobiographical themes, often reoccur in her work.
Free, booking essential
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.
Image 1: Shoal Vases, Sasha Wardell, slip cast bone china
Image 2: Childhood Fragment: Hair Doing, 1991, Helen Wilks, oil on canvas

History Portal Club: Did Women's Suffrage reach Chippenham?
2025-11-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Wine Monkey, 20 Borough Parade, Chippenham, SN15 3WL, United Kingdom
A History Portal Club meeting.
Together we’ll look at whether the town took up the fight for everyone’s equal voting rights.

Were post boxes bombed?
Did anyone evade the census?
Was there any opposition?
What did townspeople think?

This interactive club session will explore the politics of suffrage & suffragettes and equal rights, and how forces of change and opinion affected the life of Chippenham and wider Wiltshire.
A friendly regular meet-up for curious locals who love stories from the past, hidden landmarks, and great company.
It’s a great way to explore the local area’s past together – no lectures, no stuffy rooms, just walking, talking, pub chats, and stories you won’t find in the guidebooks.
⭐ Up to four sessions a month, with walks and pub/cafe evenings.
⭐ Choose a membership, a flexi-pass, or just drop in.
⭐ Fascinating tales, good company, and plenty of surprises.
It’s run by Lucy Whitfield, Historian. Visit www.lucywhitfieldhistorian/history-club for more details and to book.

History Portal Club: Lost Pubs of Chippenham (walk)
2025-11-15 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-11-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Cousin Norman’s, 5 Union Road, Chippenham, SN15 1HW
A History Portal Club walk’n’talk – pick from a weekend (Sat 15) or weekday (Wed 19) session.
As a group we’ll explore the many missing pubs that used to punctuate Chippenham’s streets.
This walk and talk will take a look at long gone hostelries and inns, from the earliest records to those that disappeared just a few years ago.
Woven in will be tales from landlords past, events that shocked the town, and the changing social life of the town.
(If inclement weather, session will take place indoors).
History Portal Club is a friendly regular meet-up for curious locals who love stories from the past, hidden landmarks, and great company.
It’s a great way to explore the local area’s past together – no lectures, no stuffy rooms, just walking, talking, pub chats, and stories you won’t find in the guidebooks.
⭐ Up to four sessions a month, with walks and pub/cafe evenings.
⭐ Choose a membership, a flexi-pass, or just drop in.
⭐ Fascinating tales, good company, and plenty of surprises.
It’s run by Lucy Whitfield, Historian. Visit www.lucywhitfieldhistorian/history-club for more details and to book.

Collection Conversations: Chris Dunn & Andrew Langley
2025-11-22 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In November’s Collection Conversation, we will be joined by Chris Dunn and Andrew Lansley.
After studying at Bath Spa University, Chris Dunn worked as a freelance illustrator producing portraits and conceptual illustrations. A commission to illustrate the Wind in the Willow, has led to him beginning a full-time artist specialising in traditional children’s book watercolour illustration. He now works from Calne where the surrounding countryside is a constant source of inspiration
Andrew Lansley produces work from many different but direct sources. This may entail a variety of material abstractions or work directly related to impressions and experience of the landscape. In using raw pigments combined with a variety of mediums he achieves a direct connection to the elemental quality of landscape. Working in this way can be explosively fast and at other times may be meticulously analytical.
For sold out events, email heritage@chippenham.gov.uk to join a waiting list.
Image 1: Kite Flying in May, 2019, Chris Dunn, watercolour and gouache
Image 2: Upavon, 2018, Andrew Lansley, egg tempera

History Portal Club: The many faces of the Grammar School
2025-11-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Wine Monkey, 20 Borough Parade, Chippenham, SN15 3WL, United Kingdom
A History Portal Club meeting.
Together, we’ll look at the old school on Cocklebury Road. Earmarked for demolition, it’s one of the places known as the Grammar School.

Where were the others?
Who worked there?
What did pupils learn?

This interactive club session will explore the life and times of secondary schooling in Chippenham through the past couple of centuries, over various different sites, and provide an insight into a much-loved building that many would love to save.
History Portal Club is a friendly regular meet-up for curious locals who love stories from the past, hidden landmarks, and great company.
It’s a great way to explore the local area’s past together – no lectures, no stuffy rooms, just walking, talking, pub chats, and stories you won’t find in the guidebooks.
⭐ Up to four sessions a month, with walks and pub/cafe evenings.
⭐ Choose a membership, a flexi-pass, or just drop in.
⭐ Fascinating tales, good company, and plenty of surprises.
It’s run by Lucy Whitfield, Historian. Visit www.lucywhitfieldhistorian/history-club for more details and to book.

History Portal Club: What stories does Greenways have to tell?
2025-12-09 19:00 - 21:00 | Wine Monkey, 20 Borough Parade, Chippenham, SN15 3WL, United Kingdom
A History Portal Club meeting.
Together, we’ll explore the beautiful maternity hospital where many Chippenham people were born or welcomed their children.

When was it built?
Who lived there originally?
Why did it become a hospital?

This friendly and interactive club session will explore the building’s heyday and the changing face of maternity care in Chippenham through the 20th century and beyond.
History Portal Club is a friendly regular meet-up for curious locals who love stories from the past, hidden landmarks, and great company.
It’s a great way to explore the local area’s past together – no lectures, no stuffy rooms, just walking, talking, pub chats, and stories you won’t find in the guidebooks.
⭐ Up to four sessions a month, with walks and pub/cafe evenings.
⭐ Choose a membership, a flexi-pass, or just drop in.
⭐ Fascinating tales, good company, and plenty of surprises.
It’s run by Lucy Whitfield, Historian. Visit www.lucywhitfieldhistorian/history-club for more details and to book.

Friends of Chippenham Museum Heritage Cafe
2026-02-06 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
Friends of Chippenham Museum supports the museum by fundraising, promoting activities and organising an enjoyable social programme for members.
Being a Friend gives you the opportunity to receive newsletters with special interest articles and news from the Museum, attend monthly coffee afternoons called Heritage Café for socialising and special interest talks, and take part in special activities such as local trips, parties, events, etc.
The next Heritage Café will be held in the museum’s Education Room, at 2pm, on Friday 6 February. The speaker will be the museum’s Engagement Officer, Elaine Davis, who will be telling the members about the new series of creative writing workshops for young people currently underway, which has been supported by the Friends of Chippenham Museum allowing these workshops to be free for those aged 16-18 developing their writing skills and eventually see their work in print.
Part of a wider local project ‘Chippenham – Our History’, the museum will be celebrating this year the 400th anniversary of the birth of local antiquarian and inventor of the biography, John Aubrey. It is his mini-biographies, ‘Brief Lives’, that has inspired these young participants and will conclude with a special celebration of the work they produce, including a printed publication.
Annual membership to become a Friend of Chippenham Museum is £5 per person, renewed each July. If you are interested in joining, please visit the website to download a membership form or pop into the museum on your next visit.

Symposium - Subversive Forms: Revolutionary approaches to clay
2026-02-07 10:00 - 16:00 | Chippenham Town Hall, High Street, Chippenham, Afghanistan
Developing the themes explored in Chippenham Museum’s exhibition ‘Subversive Forms’, this symposium day will feature illustrated talks and discussion panel with six of the exhibiting artists.
Felicity Aylieff, Nicholas Lees, Halima Cassell, Patricia Volk, Jonathan Keep and Mimi Joung will discuss the work included in the exhibition as well as their individual practices, pushing the boundaries of possibility with clay.
The artists will then join Alun Graves, Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass at the V&A, in a panel discussion chaired by writer and lecturer Conor Wilson.
📅 Saturday 7 February 2026
⏲️ 10am – 4pm
📍 Chippenham Town Hall
🎟️ £6 per ticket, booking essential
For the programme and speaker biographies, please see Chippenham Museum’s What’s On page.

Heritage Café - Friends of Chippenham Museum
2026-03-06 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
This month, Paul Stanford is returning for a third talk which encompasses his passion as fourth generation railwayman with local knowledge of a bygone era. A Train Journey Chippenham to Swindon on Sea will be a journey in archive railway photographs from Chippenham to Weymouth by train through charming Wiltshire, Somerset, and Dorset through to Weymouth. With his gentle and charismatic way of speaking, we look forward to welcoming Paul who always attracts a good audience. Paul and his wife, Fiona, are founders of Head-Shunt, a charity dedicated to helping members of the UK railway family uphold good mental health, and as author to three books, money raised from sales of his publications go towards their charity.
Non-Members welcome, but an annual membership to become a Friend of Chippenham Museum is £5 per person, renewed each July. If you are interested in joining, please visit the website to download a membership form or pop into the museum on your next visit.

Bats in the Wiltshire landscapes
2026-03-13 19:00 | Chippenham Town Hall, High Street, Chippenham, Afghanistan
Join us for this free talk and take home free seeds and trees!

We’re really excited to host a fantastic talk by Gareth Harris of Wiltshire Bat Group on the incredible bats in our county – from widespread species to important populations of rarer bats such as Greater horseshoe bats, Bechstein’s bats and Barbastelle bats.Join us to learn more about the important Wiltshire landscapes that support them – from Lackham to the New Forest – and the surprising ways that land uses support our amazing nocturnal wildlife! The talk takes place in Chippenham Town Hall on 13th March, doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. This event is free of charge and has been organised in partnership with Wiltshire Bat Group, Rooted Chippenham and the Town Council as part of the Environmental Forum. Donations are accepted to support the work of Wiltshire Bat Group and Rooted Chippenham. PLUS! Every attendee can get:– Free wildflower seeds thanks to the Town Council as part of the Environmental Forum! – Free native tree saplings thanks to Rooted Chippenham Community Tree Nursery! – Priority booking for the free-to-attend Rooted Chippenham bat walks this Spring Book your tickets now: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rootedchippenham/2052768

Collection Conversations: John L Harris and Genevieve Sioka
2026-03-14 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In March’s installment of our free art talk series, we will be joined by John L Harris and Genevieve Sioka.
John L Harris graduated in graphic design at Ravensbourne College of Art in 1966. In the following years he worked as a graphic designer, film producer, illustrator and painter in watercolour, acrylics and oils. Having moved to the Wiltshire countryside near Calne 40 years ago he has developed a deep relationship with the Wiltshire landscape and wildlife.
Genevieve Sioka studied printed textiles at Winchester School of Art, followed by printmaking at the University of the West of England. Growing up in Cherhill, Wiltshire, Sioka worked in the creative industries and lectured in fashion, textiles and printmaking, before returning to the local area. Sioka works predominantly in painting and printmaking, exploring layers of colour and texture in an energetic and expressive abstract form.
Free, booking essential
Image captions:
Left Image: Holding on, undated, John L Harris, acrylic on canvas
Right Image: Lockdown, 2020, Genevieve Sioka, acrylic on canvas

History Portal Club: Women on the Edge
2026-03-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Wine Monkey, 20 Borough Parade, Chippenham, SN15 3WL, United Kingdom
Together, we’ll explore the town’s women who weren’t exactly respectable in the eyes of society – witches, criminals, herbalists, prostitutes, and those who didn’t conform to what a well-behaved person should have done.
Who were some of Chippenham’s disreputable characters?
Where was the first executed witch in England based?
What did the herbalist do to kill her patient?
This friendly and interactive club session will explore the history of the town’s women through the stories of those who didn’t conform, or were caught up in events beyond their control to be branded “bad” by society at large, and how they fit into a larger national picture.

Collection Conversations: Andrew Cross & Hugh Hamshaw Thomas
2026-04-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In April’s installment of our free art talk series, we will be joined by Andrew Cross and Hugh Hamshaw Thomas.
After studying fine art painting at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, Andrew Cross worked primarily as an organiser of contemporary art exhibitions and public art projects. More recently he has focused on his own work and academic activities.
Hugh Hamshaw Thomas studied painting at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham. Bike (Speed of Light) was produced by Hamshaw Thomas during his final year of study. It explored his increasing interest at the time in Taoist ideas about wu wei (a concept of ‘inaction’ or ‘effortless action’), as well as the influence of the conceptual photographic work of Keith Arnett and Bruce McLean.
Free, booking essential
Image captions:
Left Image: Twain CA 2019 (Feather River Canyon), 2019, Andrew Cross, still from digital video
Right Image: Bike (Speed of Light), 1982, digitised 2010, Hugh Hamshaw Thomas, digital print

Heritage Cafe: F.W. Jones - The Funerals of Chippenham's History
2026-05-01 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
This month a representative from F.W. Jones will give a talk on The Funerals of Chippenham’s History. Frederick William Jones began the business as both a funeral director and cabinetmaker in 1930. Since then, the business has progressed through two successive Jones generations, serving the community of Chippenham throughout those years. The F.W. Jones team of today will present how the business evolved from 1930 to now, highlighting some very important and unique funerals along the way. We hope you can join us in the museum’s Education Room.
Non-members who attend are invited to donate £2 to Friends of Chippenham Museum; annual membership is £5 per person, renewed each July. If you are interested in joining, please visit the website to download a membership form or pop into the museum on your next visit.
Friends of Chippenham Museum supports the museum by fundraising, promoting activities and organising an enjoyable social programme for members. Being a Friend gives you the opportunity to receive newsletters with special interest articles and news from the Museum, attend monthly coffee afternoons called Heritage Café for socialising and special interest talks, and take part in special activities such as local trips, parties, events, etc.
The Friends of the Museum group was launched in June 2012 with the help of a small, dedicated band of volunteers, celebrating with a special event in the town’s Yelde Hall, the home of the original museum.
Our main aim at the time was to build a bridge between the museum and the public, increasing local engagement and making the institution more approachable.
Today, that relationship has worked exceptionally well. Our Friends act as vital ambassadors, providing specialized local knowledge and expertise. This small, enthusiastic group of supporters has grown to nearly 100 members.

Collection Conversations: Alma Boyes & Helen Harris
2026-05-09 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In May’s installment of the museum’s free art talk series, they will be joined Alma Boyes and Helen Harris.
Alma Boyes studied ceramics and sculpture at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, and a Masters in Ceramic Design at North Staffordshire Polytechnic. Boyes worked as a sculptor and enlarger at the Morris Singer Foundry, working on sculptures for prominent artists such as Eduardo Paolozzi, as well as making her own work in bronze. Her work both in ceramics and bronze has been heavily influenced by her early days exploring ceramic techniques at the Bath Academy of Art.
Helen Harris studied visual communication at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, becoming a Fellow in Photography in 1981-2. She taught photography at Corsham and Central Saint Martins, continuing to teach at Bath Spa University until 2020. Her photographic practice explores the experience of time and place, with a particular focus on the weaving of cultural and natural histories within the landscape of the South West of England. Walking and collecting are an integral part of her process. In these encounters she is drawn to the poetry of the local and commonplace and its capacity to speak of other times and worlds.
Free, booking essential.
Image captions:
Left Image: Lone Magpie, undated, Alma Boyes, agateware in porcelain
Right Image: Corsham Court, Wiltshire, February 1982, 1982, Helen Harris, photographic print

Louise Ryland-Epton talk: Agnes Mylles and the murder by witchcraft of William Bayntun
2026-06-04 19:15 - 20:30 | Chippenham Library
In 1563 a witchcraft act was passed by the English parliament. It formed the legal basis for all English witchcraft trials. In early 1564, a baby, William Bayntun died in north Wiltshire, allegedly murdered by witchcraft. Three legal cases followed, and three women were implicated in the murder plot — a local widow, Agnes Mylles from Stanley near Chippenham, the child’s aunt, Dorothy Bayntun, and his mother, Agnes Bayntun, a cousin to Queen Elizabeth I. The three were accused by a fourth woman, a witchfinder. The cases had dreadful consequences for almost all the protagonists, leading to imprisonment, torture, and ultimately the execution of Agnes Mylles, the first recorded person to be executed in England for the crime of witchcraft. This is a tragic tale of toxic family relationships played out in the Chippenham area against the backdrop of the Tudor Reformation.
The event is FREE but please register at Chippenham Library, or call the library on 01249 6750536.

Find out more about the Chippenham – Our History project on this website here.

Collection Conversations - Natasha Michaels & Carole Pearson
2026-06-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Chippenham Museum, 9-10 Market Pl, Chippenham, SN15 3HF, United Kingdom
In June’s installment, we will be joined by Natasha Michaels and Carole Pearson.
Natasha Michaels studied communication design at Saint Martin’s School of Art and at the Royal College of Art where she specialised in printmaking. Her work explores conventions in classical subjects from art history. Celebrating, and at the same time, subverting these images, Michaels reimagines the sitters as fictional, cartoon-like characters. Through the lens of celebrity and social media she explores historic and contemporary notions of power, identity, status and artifice.
Carole Pearson worked with museum collections before studying at Bath Spa University, first for a BA in ceramics, followed by an MA in fine art. Pearson works mostly on paper but also makes three-dimensional objects. Her selection of materials is low-tech, utilising found and everyday objects. Her thinking reflects her childhood growing up on North Yorkshire farms and her strong connection with the land. She looks for marks in the landscape, focusing on the impressions and traces that objects have left behind.
Left Image: Young Woman with Dog, 2022, Natasha Michaels, photopolymer gravure, Golder-Thompson Gift (image courtesy of Rabley Editions and the artist)
Right Image: Bench II, 2018, Carole Pearson, unique cyanotype © Carole Pearson
