Museum

Your stories. Your history. Together, we are Cheltenham.

This autumn, we are reopening the museum wing at the Wilson and inviting you to experience Cheltenham’s history in a fresh new way. Over the last four years, we have refurbished our museum spaces and transformed how we tell Cheltenham’s many stories, led by our local community. Over 58,000 responses to the Big Museum Project have shaped the future of your museum, by telling us which stories are important to you and what makes Cheltenham unique. Every object displayed in the museum, carefully chosen from the 250,000 objects in our collection, will tell a story – from the well-known moments in the town’s history to hidden stories, overlooked voices, and the everyday lives whose experiences shaped the place we know today.

We will be celebrating the reopening with a week-long festival style programme of free activities including live music, family workshops and creative hands-on activities, interactive performances inspired by Cheltenham’s history, curator tours and conservation stations.

Together, we are Cheltenham, and we can’t wait to invite you in.

Opening 24 October 2026

This project has been made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.