Abingdon County Hall Museum

The County Hall is the centrepiece of the market square — a magnificent Grade I-listed building begun in 1678 and designed by Christopher Kempster, a mason who had worked under Christopher Wren on St Paul's. The arcaded ground floor was originally an open market hall, and the courtroom upstairs is now the museum's main gallery.

The collection runs from prehistoric finds along the upper Thames to Abingdon's MG car factory, which built sports cars in the town from 1929 until 1980. Climb to the rooftop viewing platform for the best view in town, looking across the rooftops to the Thames meadows and the spire of St Helen's. Entry is free.

things to do museum
A story
On the coronation of every new monarch, the mayor and corporation still climb to the roof of the County Hall and throw hot buns down to the crowd in the market square below — a tradition recorded since at least 1761. The buns are stamped with the date and the monarch's initial, and surviving examples are kept in the museum's collection.