Chiltern Open Air Museum is re-opening

Press Release

Chiltern Open Air Museum, in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, is re-opening for its 2023 season on Saturday, 18th March 10 am until 5 pm. The history museum has planned an action-packed season with over 25 re-enactments and special events, including a Royal Coronation Joust, Gladiator Games, and a special new Green Festival in July, all about sustainable ways of living.

The outdoor museum, set on 45 acres of Chilterns countryside, has a collection of 37 reconstructed historical houses and buildings that were lived in and used by ordinary people from the Iron Age to the 1940s. New for 2023 will be a series of traditional craft demonstrations, including bronze casting, flint knapping, spinning, spoon carving, chair making, natural dyeing and weaving, and blacksmithing, providing visitors with an insight into the skilled practices of the past. You can also book straw hat plaiting, willow weaving, photography and blacksmith workshops.

The Team at COAM are just completing the reconstruction of a Victorian lambing fold ready for the arrival of more rare-breed Oxford Down lambs around Easter. There are only 110 flocks of Oxford Down sheep left in Britain, with one of those being at COAM. During the lambing season, a member of the team stays in the traditional shepherd’s living van to ensure that the new arrivals are carefully attended to.

Visit www.coam.org.uk for full details.