Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum

General information

Until now, Oxfordshire, unlike most counties, has not had a military museum easily accessible to the public. For about 70 years the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry museum was located in Cowley barracks in Oxford, but access was very difficult. After several moves to various parts of Oxfordshire we ended up in a privately rented building in Hensington Road in Woodstock.

It was also becoming increasingly difficult to care for the collections, so in 2000 the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust was established to find a permanent home for the archives and collections. The main core is the collections, both objects and archives, of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

It became apparent that there is much more to the history of Oxfordshire's people and their part in the nation's conflicts at home and overseas. The Trust set about creating the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum. After many years of fundraising and securing the lease of the land behind The Oxfordshire Museum building work began in August 2013. Overall the project has cost approximately £3.2 million. The Trust is self-funded and relies solely on grants and donations in order to run.

In December 2013 we took possession of our beautiful new building and began to move everything in. We opted for a self-move and this unenviable task was undertaken by our staff and volunteers who also unpacked and sorted the huge collection of objects, archives and library we have. By January 2014 we were well and truly settled in our new home. Whilst the build was taking place and the move being organised work continued at pace planning and creating the galleries and exhibitions