Chiltern Open Air Museum

50 Years of COAM – 1981

After more than 5 years of hard work, COAM opened to the public on 3rd May 1981. Back then, the car park was just a field, the Ticket Office operated from a caravan, and only 4 buildings stood on site with a 5th still being rebuilt!

But this was only the beginning ...

50 Years of COAM – 1980

St. Albans Abbey Barn, also known as St. Julians, arrived at COAM. Dismantled in 1962, it spent many years in storage before finding a home with us.

This medieval barn was built between 1390 and 1400.

Find out more www.coam.org.uk/blogs/buildi...

50 Years of COAM – 1979

We re-erected our building. Wing Granary arrived in 1978, almost in one piece. Volunteers worked diligently over the winter of 1978-1979 to reinstate the roof structure and slates.

We also started re-erecting Rossway Granary and Didcot Cart Shed

50 Years of COAM – 1978

5 buildings dismantled for preservation. 4 of these - High Wycombe Toll House, Wing Granary, a High Wycombe Furniture Factory, and Didcot Cart Shed - have since been re-erected on site.

177–179 High Street, Watford remains stored, awaiting reconstruction.

50 Years of COAM – 1977

In 1977, volunteers dismantled 3 more historic buildings, but one of them is still waiting to be re-erected. No. 7 West Street, Dunstable, was rescued as it faced demolition for a new supermarket.

Find out more on our blog www.coam.org.uk/blogs/buildi...

Spotted at COAM, this fungus called the Common Bird's Nest. It looks like tiny cups (4-10mm) filled with white, egg-like spore packets. Using the power of raindrops to fling spore sacks into the air, it wraps a short cord around any twig it connects with and waits for the right conditions to spore.

We do. We’d love to have it reconstructed, we just need to obtain funding to be able to do it.

50 Years of COAM

In 1976, we dismantled our first buildings: Hill Farm Barn and Rossway Granary. Today, they stand at the heart of our farm, forming the centre of our farming operations and capturing the spirit of a classic Chilterns farmstead that could have flourished anytime between 1800 & 1950

A man and woman needing dough in a cottage.

This weekend at the Museum we'll be baking, bodging and rope making.

On Saturday we’ll be making loaves traditionally and multi- skilled craftsman, Alan will also be showing visitors his rope making skills.

On Sunday see chair making demonstrations.

Find out more >> www.coam.org.uk/events

Work is continuing on site to reconstruct our 1950s bandstand. This is a view of the roof struts. Cedar shingles will be going on soon, so these wont be visible for much longer.

Pink roses in bloom outside a brick cottage with red window frames.

Our beautiful roses outside of Astleham cottage are in bloom.

#flowers #roses #garden

Thanks for visiting

A thatched cottage with orange flowers in the garden.

Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant we now have x2 paid 30hr/week traineeship opportunities.

Collections and Interpretation NLHF Trainee
Marketing and Visitor Experience NLHF Trainee

We're also recruiting an Evaluation Consultant.

Find out more www.coam.org.uk/joinus/careers

#job

A mobile phone screen showing Chiltern Open Air Museum on the Bloomberg Connects App.

We're now on Bloomberg Connects - the arts & culture app. Discover more about our historic buildings, traditional gardens and heritage farm in this digital guide.

Have all the Museum information at your fingertips!

Download it at www.bloombergconnects.org

A knitted knight helmet on a display head.

We love these knitted knight hats in our museum shop. What’s your favourite museum purchase?

#museumshop #museum

A tree with lots of daffodils at its base

Daffodils in bloom

Bright and sunny daffodils in our Leagrave cottage garden.

#daffodil #Spring

A mother and daughter scarecrow in 1940s clothes

A father and son scarecrow in 1940s clothes

Our scarecrow family are back in our Dig for Victory allotment.

#1940s #chilternoam #scarecrow

Thank you for all your help.

Thank you

Congratulations!

We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the Museum + Heritage Awards in the Visitor Accessibility Award!

The global awards celebrate the very best in the world of museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions, so we're really excited to have made the shortlist.

Have you entered our photo competition yet? Your images of our Museum could be gracing the walls of one of our historic buildings this spring. Find out more at www.coam.org.uk/blogs/coam-p...

Close up of fresh hedging

Hedgelaying is a traditional technique for creating a living fence by partially cutting and bending the stems of shrubs or small trees. The goal is to encourage new growth from the base of the stems. It's only carried out between October and March when trees and shrubs are dormant.

This week our Estate Manager joined the talented COAM Costume team for a fitting of the wonderful smock they've been creating. These fabulous volunteers have been working on the smock since September and Rachael was thrilled to try it on.

Find out more www.coam.org.uk/blogs/costum...

Iron Age roundhouse with smoke coming through the roof

An unusual view of our Iron Age roundhouse captured by our Warden earlier today. The fire in the roundhouse helps to dry the thatch and prevent infestations. It doesn't have a chimney or visible hole for the smoke to escape, so always looks quite magical when it billows through the roof.

A small red book on a wooden table.

This week's Object of the Week is a Daily Mail Year Book 1948.

Located in the lounge of Amersham Prefab, you can find a 1948 edition of the Daily Mail Yearbook. It contained a selection of news headlines, to provide a summary of the year for its readers.

#artefact #museum

A line of eggs increasing in size on a bed of hay.

Our new chickens seem to be having a competition to see who can lay the biggest egg. One of the girls is clearly winning!

#chickens #eggs

Artist Call Out!

We're looking to commission 6 artists (with lived experience) to create works for a St Albans Museums' Black History Research Group (BHRG) zine. 

Submissions by 28 Feb 2025.

Purple orchids among the grass

Despite a difficult year, our 2024 survey results revealed encouraging wildlife highlights:

🍄 New UK fungi species recorded
🌷 19,143 orchids at Aston Clinton Ragpits
🐦 Dartford warblers increased at Snelsmore Common

Read a full account here: https://buff.ly/423GCc4

📷 Phil Townsend

An image of brickwork and windows at Oxburgh Hall, Oxford. Three windows of different shapes are set into a red-brick wall.

A stained glass window at a church at Great Chalfield Manner. The stained glass shows a country landscape with a river in the foreground and fields with trees in the background.

Windows on the West front of Newton House Garden at Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire. The windows shine in the background while a red flower is out of focus in the foreground.

Stained glass window depicting Queen Elizabeth I, Melford Hall, Suffolk. Elizabeth is featured in red and gold with an elaborate crown and crown jewels.

We've seen your #WindowsOnWednesday posts and raise you these windows from our own collection.