Church Ales: Medieval Merriment & Parish Fundraising
In Medieval times Church Ales were a combination of merry-making, food, drink, dancing and games. An important source of revenue for parishes, they were common in the South of England. Discover more about these events and learn why ale is different to beer.
Why COAM is a Great Place to Bring Your Dog
We know that your dog is part of the family when you visit our open air museum. They are even part of our team! Several dogs often accompany members of staff during their working day and we love it when doggies come to visit.
The English Civil War and the Chilterns
Last weekend saw the ‘Aylesbury Raiders’ attack a royalist stronghold as part of our English Civil War weekend. In today’s blog we delve deeper into the history of the English Civil War in the Chilterns.
Roses at Chiltern Open Air Museum
Here at Chiltern Open Air Museum we know that summer is on the way when the roses start to bloom. As you venture around the Museum site this June you’ll see many different types of roses in our traditional cottage gardens.
A Brief History of Bread Baking: From the Iron Age to the 20th Century
Bread baking was a constant feature of life in our historic homes, from the Iron Age roundhouse to the 1940s prefab and now Museum volunteer Jenny Templeton gives us an introduction to the history of bread baking.
Celebrating World Bee Day
Looked after by a local beekeeper, the hives on our site provide the honey we sell in the Museum shop and the bees act as pollinators for our gardens and crops.
Traditional Bread Baking Using an 18th Century Brick Built Oven
On selected days during the year you’ll find our volunteers Jenny and Steve baking bread in the Museum’s 18th Century Leagrave Cottage. This fascinating process produces tasty warm loaves, fresh from the brick built oven.
HRH The Duke of Gloucester Marks 50 Years of Chiltern Open Air Museum
HRH The Duke of Gloucester visited Chiltern Open Air Museum to celebrate its 50th anniversary, alongside the Lord-Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.
Buildings in Storage: Chesham High Street
Major road changes in late twentieth-century Chesham transformed the historic town centre and led to the loss of several long-standing buildings. Discover how Chiltern Open Air Museum helped save important shops, a traditional coachworks and a forgotten baker’s oven — preserving valuable stories of local life and trade.
Easter Traditions: Historic Customs and Seasonal Celebrations
From egg rolling and Pace Egg plays to lost church rituals and curious customs like Easter lifting, discover how communities across England have celebrated the arrival of spring and the Easter season for centuries.
Buildings in Storage: Kempston Slaughterhouse
The Kempston Slaughterhouse, originally located behind a butcher’s shop on Kempston High Street, was rescued from demolition and moved to the Museum. Dating from the nineteenth century and last used around 1935, the building reveals how meat was prepared and sold locally before refrigeration.
Help Find the Celebaarty Sheep This Spring at Chiltern Open Air Museum
Visit Chiltern Open Air Museum this spring and you can help find and identify the missing celebaarty sheep hiding in our historic buildings. Bring the family, pick up a trail sheet in the ticket office and explore our collection of heritage buildings from across the Chilterns.
Tudor Life in the Chilterns
We explore how people in the Chilterns lived and worked during Tudor times.
Daffodils: Spring in the Chilterns
Discover the folklore, history, and rural traditions behind daffodils in the Chilterns. Learn how these early spring flowers once signalled the changing seasons, farming work, and new life in the countryside.
What is Shrove Tuesday? The History of Pancake Day in Britain
Uncover the history behind Shrove Tuesday and the enduring traditions of Pancake Day. From medieval confession and fasting to the rise of lemon and sugar pancakes, this blog explores the religious roots, historic recipes and Buckinghamshire’s famous Olney Pancake Race, revealing how a simple pancake connects us to centuries of faith, thrift and community celebration.
Buildings in Storage: St Julians Barn
Discover St Albans Abbey Barn, also known as St Julian’s Barn, a vast medieval monastic barn now in storage at the Chiltern Open Air Museum. Built in the fourteenth century to store grain for the abbey, this impressive structure reveals the scale of monastic farming and medieval craftsmanship.
Snowdrops: The First Signs of Spring
At the Museum the short days of winter are brightened by the appearance of snowdrops around the site. Bursting into bloom around our historic buildings, these early-flowering beauties carpet our gardens and wild spaces.
King Cullimore Charitable Trust Funding
Chiltern Open Air Museum would like to thank the King Cullimore Charitable Trust for their generous grant of £25,000 towards the Museum’s 2025 operating costs.
Buildings in Storage: Dunstable Shop
Discover the story of the Dunstable Shop, a medieval timber-framed building now in storage at the Chiltern Open Air Museum. From Roman roads and royal planning to inns, shops and centuries of changing use, this building reveals how travel and trade shaped the historic market town of Dunstable.
Chiltern Open Air Museum Turns 50
We’re turning 50, but the story didn’t start in 1976… discover the early beginnings of the Museum.
Finding Us
Newland Park, Gorelands Lane
Chalfont St Peter HP8 4AB