Wimbledon Museum - run by The Wimbledon Society
Source: https://wimbledonsociety.org.uk/museum
Archived: 2026-04-23 15:33
Wimbledon Museum - run by The Wimbledon Society
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Welcome to Wimbledon Museum
The Museum’s normal
opening times are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 2.30pm to 5pm.
Free entry.
Plan your visit
Wimbledon Museum is a small, independent museum proud to champion the history and people of Wimbledon’s village, town and common.
In 1916, local people came together to conserve the treasures and share the stories that made Wimbledon special. They founded a museum and for more than 100 years, successive generations have championed and cherished our local history here. Restored and redesigned for the 21st century, Wimbledon Museum invites people to make new connections and deepen their understanding of the place we love.
From suffragettes to slave owners, a postman to a princess: find out about the people of Wimbledon’s past and help us tell the stories of Wimbledon’s present. Visit our museum and meet the characters who have shaped our communities.
The big museums present the treasures of the world. Linger a little in our museum and we’ll show you history on your doorstep – the village, the town, the common, who lived here and what mattered to them. If you wake up in Wimbledon or visit occasionally, if you grew up here or have just arrived, you’re part of that story too. Bring your associations, find new ones.
We’re making history here.
Where Town Meets Country
Our popular animation takes you on a short journey through the history of Wimbledon, from the era of the manor houses to the transformative impact of the arrival of the railway and water mains.
The animation was made possible thanks to a generous grant from
Merton Council
. It was produced by
Denhams Digita
l in collaboration with museum staff and interviews with local residents.
Our Collections
Our treasured collections relate to life in Wimbledon from about 500,000 years ago right up to the present.
Find out more
Outside opening hours and by appointment, we are very happy to welcome members of the public who wish to consult our collections for research, have questions about the history of Wimbledon, would like to bring in items for identification or wish to offer items for the Collections.
To arrange an appointment or make an enquiry, please email:
museumcollections@wimbledonsociety.org.uk
Please do not bring prospective donations to the Museum without making an appointment.
What’s On
Art Exhibition:
Impressions of Wimbledon Common
Tuesday 28th April to Sunday 10th May,
2pm to 5pm
Norman Plastow Gallery
Free entry
Printmaker Katie Preston brings the beauty of Wimbledon Common to life in a vibrant new solo exhibition at the Norman Plastow Gallery, Wimbledon Village, from 28th April to 10th May. Through striking screenprints, expressive monotypes and lively drawings, Katie captures the Common’s shifting seasons and transforms familiar paths, ponds and trees into bold, atmospheric works of art.
Visitors can enjoy a relaxed, inspiring gallery experience and meet the artist in person daily from 2–5 pm to hear about her creative process.
15% of print sales will be donated to the Wimbledon Museum, which is just next door to the gallery.
Sketching Workshop on Wimbledon Common with Katie Preston
Friday 8th May | 11:30am–1:30pm
£20 plus booking fee
Join us for a relaxed outdoor sketching workshop with local artist Katie Preston. Discover the joy of spending time outside, observing and sketching beautiful Wimbledon Common. Katie will teach you some simple ways to develop your sketching potential – breaking down what you see into simple shapes and areas of dark and light – all the time focusing on the experience rather than the end results. You will be surprised by what you can achieve in two hours!
All materials provided. Suitable for all, from beginners to experienced artists. Ages 16+
This is an outdoor workshop so please wear suitable clothing and footwear.
Book here
Walking Tour: The royal palaces and grand houses of St James’s
Wednesday 13th May | 11am to 1pm
Booking required | £15 per person (plus booking fee)
Experienced guide Alan Blower leads this leisurely walking tour from Green park to Waterloo Place and returning to Buckingham Palace, capturing a variety of fascinating points of interest in this historic district of Westminster. The area is home to the most important royal palaces, and includes the London homes of two of the famous families who owned Manor Houses in Wimbledon. One of these is Spencer House, the magnificent 18th-century mansion built for John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer. The Spencer family owned Wimbledon Park House and were prominent landowners in Wimbledon during the eighteenth century.
Book here
Walking Tour – the grand houses of Rushmere- SOLD OUT
Thursday 16th April |10:30am to 12:30pm
Booking required | £15 per person (plus booking fee)
Join experienced guide Alan Blower for a walking tour following the route of the grand houses overlooking Rushmere Pond on Wimbledon Common. The tour highlights notable residents including aristocrats, politicians, successful merchants, but also the homes of the labourers and tradespeople who worked on the estates.
The event will begin with a presentation at the museum, followed by a 90 minute walking tour finishing at the War Memorial.
Book here
Sensory Trail
This activity is accessible to all and offers a unique, hands-on way to learn and connect with our museum collection using all your senses.
Simply find the wooden number, open the matching bag, and follow the instructions inside to smell, touch, listen to, or look closely at the featured objects. Feel free to follow the trail at your own pace and pick any bag that interests you—no need to go in order!
Click below to view a video describing how the sensory trail works.
Sensory Trail video
Local History – Ask the Experts
More dates soon, please check back
Free drop-in | No booking required
Drop in and join Michael Norman Smith, Chair of the Local History Group, and his colleague Sheila Dunman, both ready to share their vast knowledge of Wimbledon’s rich past. Whether you’re curious about historic landmarks, old families, or fascinating events, this is your chance to explore our local heritage.
Free entry
Visit us
Plan your visit
Everyone is welcome at Wimbledon Museum where our collection has something for all and is free to explore.
Click below for information about how to get here, opening times and accessibility.
Visit us
Families
Families with children of all ages are welcome. For our youngest visitors we have a specially commissioned Wimbledon map playmat and plenty of toys to build their own town.
We have drawing materials, picture books and self-guided activities in our children’s corner, as well as a Sensory Trail to help them explore the museum.
We hold family workshops throughout the year – check our
What’s on
page or join our mailing list below.
Group Visits
We can arrange special visits for groups of up to twenty people on Fridays.
We can also host evening visits by special arrangement with the Village Hall Trust. A drinks reception can be held in the adjacent Lingfield Room and guests can visit the museum (maximum 20 in the museum at any one time).
For more information
Email us
Donate
Wimbledon Museum, which has free entry, is run entirely by volunteers.
If you would like to support our work, please click below.
Find out how
Our Sponsors
We are enormously grateful to the Wimbledon Park Community Trust, Wimbledon District Nursing and Midwifery Benevolent Society and Bell Hammer Ltd for supporting our activities and outreach programme.
If your organisation would like to support any of our work, please get in touch.
Email us
Shop
The online publications bookshop has reopened.
We have a wide range of titles available to purchase. Please click on the link below to see our current stock.
Shop
Stay in touch
Please join our mailing list to hear about special exhibitions, talks, events and news.
You can change your preferences or opt out of hearing from us at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails. Read our full
privacy policy
.
How to
find us
Wimbledon Museum
22 Ridgway (corner of Lingfield Rd)
London SW19 4QN
View on map
Contact us
Opening times
Open every Friday, Saturday & Sunday
from 2:30 to 5pm
Free entry
Privacy Policy
Social Media Policy
Take Down Policy
Keep up-to-date
Twitter
Instagram
© The Wimbledon Society 2026 designed and built by 3mil Ltd.
Text and Images © Museum of Wimbledon; Some photography courtesy of Richard Lewisohn, Nigel Davis and Simon Joseph
Close Menu
Home
Visit Us
Accessibility
Virtual Museum Tour
Learning and Community
Lifelong learning
Schools
Workshops and Outreach
Young Wimbledon Artists Residency 2024
Kingston University projects
Jo Holdsworth – Artist in residence
Scenes, seen and unseen
What’s On
Our Collections
Object of the Month Archive
Collection Highlights
Art
Photographs
Social History
Books
Ephemera
Manuscripts
Maps
Natural History
Archaeology
Geology
Volunteering
Wimbledon Stories
Red Teddy
Love and Loss in 1915
A Wimbledon Museum for the 21st Century
Wimbledon Station Stag Maquette
Behind that Door
A Brush with the Past
The 90’s Museum Refurbishment
Sister Nivedita
The Early Days of the Museum
History of the Building
The Tale of the Wimbledon Poisoner
Wimbledon Hill Road
Pauline Boty – The Wimbledon Bardot
Shop
Contact us
Donate
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Close Search
Welcome to Wimbledon Museum
The Museum’s normal
opening times are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 2.30pm to 5pm.
Free entry.
Plan your visit
Wimbledon Museum is a small, independent museum proud to champion the history and people of Wimbledon’s village, town and common.
In 1916, local people came together to conserve the treasures and share the stories that made Wimbledon special. They founded a museum and for more than 100 years, successive generations have championed and cherished our local history here. Restored and redesigned for the 21st century, Wimbledon Museum invites people to make new connections and deepen their understanding of the place we love.
From suffragettes to slave owners, a postman to a princess: find out about the people of Wimbledon’s past and help us tell the stories of Wimbledon’s present. Visit our museum and meet the characters who have shaped our communities.
The big museums present the treasures of the world. Linger a little in our museum and we’ll show you history on your doorstep – the village, the town, the common, who lived here and what mattered to them. If you wake up in Wimbledon or visit occasionally, if you grew up here or have just arrived, you’re part of that story too. Bring your associations, find new ones.
We’re making history here.
Where Town Meets Country
Our popular animation takes you on a short journey through the history of Wimbledon, from the era of the manor houses to the transformative impact of the arrival of the railway and water mains.
The animation was made possible thanks to a generous grant from
Merton Council
. It was produced by
Denhams Digita
l in collaboration with museum staff and interviews with local residents.
Our Collections
Our treasured collections relate to life in Wimbledon from about 500,000 years ago right up to the present.
Find out more
Outside opening hours and by appointment, we are very happy to welcome members of the public who wish to consult our collections for research, have questions about the history of Wimbledon, would like to bring in items for identification or wish to offer items for the Collections.
To arrange an appointment or make an enquiry, please email:
museumcollections@wimbledonsociety.org.uk
Please do not bring prospective donations to the Museum without making an appointment.
What’s On
Art Exhibition:
Impressions of Wimbledon Common
Tuesday 28th April to Sunday 10th May,
2pm to 5pm
Norman Plastow Gallery
Free entry
Printmaker Katie Preston brings the beauty of Wimbledon Common to life in a vibrant new solo exhibition at the Norman Plastow Gallery, Wimbledon Village, from 28th April to 10th May. Through striking screenprints, expressive monotypes and lively drawings, Katie captures the Common’s shifting seasons and transforms familiar paths, ponds and trees into bold, atmospheric works of art.
Visitors can enjoy a relaxed, inspiring gallery experience and meet the artist in person daily from 2–5 pm to hear about her creative process.
15% of print sales will be donated to the Wimbledon Museum, which is just next door to the gallery.
Sketching Workshop on Wimbledon Common with Katie Preston
Friday 8th May | 11:30am–1:30pm
£20 plus booking fee
Join us for a relaxed outdoor sketching workshop with local artist Katie Preston. Discover the joy of spending time outside, observing and sketching beautiful Wimbledon Common. Katie will teach you some simple ways to develop your sketching potential – breaking down what you see into simple shapes and areas of dark and light – all the time focusing on the experience rather than the end results. You will be surprised by what you can achieve in two hours!
All materials provided. Suitable for all, from beginners to experienced artists. Ages 16+
This is an outdoor workshop so please wear suitable clothing and footwear.
Book here
Walking Tour: The royal palaces and grand houses of St James’s
Wednesday 13th May | 11am to 1pm
Booking required | £15 per person (plus booking fee)
Experienced guide Alan Blower leads this leisurely walking tour from Green park to Waterloo Place and returning to Buckingham Palace, capturing a variety of fascinating points of interest in this historic district of Westminster. The area is home to the most important royal palaces, and includes the London homes of two of the famous families who owned Manor Houses in Wimbledon. One of these is Spencer House, the magnificent 18th-century mansion built for John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer. The Spencer family owned Wimbledon Park House and were prominent landowners in Wimbledon during the eighteenth century.
Book here
Walking Tour – the grand houses of Rushmere- SOLD OUT
Thursday 16th April |10:30am to 12:30pm
Booking required | £15 per person (plus booking fee)
Join experienced guide Alan Blower for a walking tour following the route of the grand houses overlooking Rushmere Pond on Wimbledon Common. The tour highlights notable residents including aristocrats, politicians, successful merchants, but also the homes of the labourers and tradespeople who worked on the estates.
The event will begin with a presentation at the museum, followed by a 90 minute walking tour finishing at the War Memorial.
Book here
Sensory Trail
This activity is accessible to all and offers a unique, hands-on way to learn and connect with our museum collection using all your senses.
Simply find the wooden number, open the matching bag, and follow the instructions inside to smell, touch, listen to, or look closely at the featured objects. Feel free to follow the trail at your own pace and pick any bag that interests you—no need to go in order!
Click below to view a video describing how the sensory trail works.
Sensory Trail video
Local History – Ask the Experts
More dates soon, please check back
Free drop-in | No booking required
Drop in and join Michael Norman Smith, Chair of the Local History Group, and his colleague Sheila Dunman, both ready to share their vast knowledge of Wimbledon’s rich past. Whether you’re curious about historic landmarks, old families, or fascinating events, this is your chance to explore our local heritage.
Free entry
Visit us
Plan your visit
Everyone is welcome at Wimbledon Museum where our collection has something for all and is free to explore.
Click below for information about how to get here, opening times and accessibility.
Visit us
Families
Families with children of all ages are welcome. For our youngest visitors we have a specially commissioned Wimbledon map playmat and plenty of toys to build their own town.
We have drawing materials, picture books and self-guided activities in our children’s corner, as well as a Sensory Trail to help them explore the museum.
We hold family workshops throughout the year – check our
What’s on
page or join our mailing list below.
Group Visits
We can arrange special visits for groups of up to twenty people on Fridays.
We can also host evening visits by special arrangement with the Village Hall Trust. A drinks reception can be held in the adjacent Lingfield Room and guests can visit the museum (maximum 20 in the museum at any one time).
For more information
Email us
Donate
Wimbledon Museum, which has free entry, is run entirely by volunteers.
If you would like to support our work, please click below.
Find out how
Our Sponsors
We are enormously grateful to the Wimbledon Park Community Trust, Wimbledon District Nursing and Midwifery Benevolent Society and Bell Hammer Ltd for supporting our activities and outreach programme.
If your organisation would like to support any of our work, please get in touch.
Email us
Shop
The online publications bookshop has reopened.
We have a wide range of titles available to purchase. Please click on the link below to see our current stock.
Shop
Stay in touch
Please join our mailing list to hear about special exhibitions, talks, events and news.
You can change your preferences or opt out of hearing from us at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails. Read our full
privacy policy
.
How to
find us
Wimbledon Museum
22 Ridgway (corner of Lingfield Rd)
London SW19 4QN
View on map
Contact us
Opening times
Open every Friday, Saturday & Sunday
from 2:30 to 5pm
Free entry
Privacy Policy
Social Media Policy
Take Down Policy
Keep up-to-date
© The Wimbledon Society 2026 designed and built by 3mil Ltd.
Text and Images © Museum of Wimbledon; Some photography courtesy of Richard Lewisohn, Nigel Davis and Simon Joseph
Close Menu
Home
Visit Us
Accessibility
Virtual Museum Tour
Learning and Community
Lifelong learning
Schools
Workshops and Outreach
Young Wimbledon Artists Residency 2024
Kingston University projects
Jo Holdsworth – Artist in residence
Scenes, seen and unseen
What’s On
Our Collections
Object of the Month Archive
Collection Highlights
Art
Photographs
Social History
Books
Ephemera
Manuscripts
Maps
Natural History
Archaeology
Geology
Volunteering
Wimbledon Stories
Red Teddy
Love and Loss in 1915
A Wimbledon Museum for the 21st Century
Wimbledon Station Stag Maquette
Behind that Door
A Brush with the Past
The 90’s Museum Refurbishment
Sister Nivedita
The Early Days of the Museum
History of the Building
The Tale of the Wimbledon Poisoner
Wimbledon Hill Road
Pauline Boty – The Wimbledon Bardot
Shop
Contact us
Donate
We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.
You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in
.
Powered by
GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
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