Have you discovered the mysterious hulks on the banks of the River Severn at Purton, which is between Slimbridge and Sharpness? We are delighted to welcome back maritime historian and author Paul Barnett, who has been researching the now-famous Purton Hulks for 25 years. He’ll share his latest discoveries of the Stroud District’s gem of a maritime time capsule. Paul shares his expert knowledge of this fascinating place which contains 86 vessels, a destroyed railway crossing and echoes of a long lost maritime way of life.

Talk lasts around 45 minutes to one hour followed by tea and coffee.
Tickets £5. Booking recommended, book online or call 01453 763394

Photograph by Steve Marshfield 

Discover mysterious, funny and romantic Cotswolds tales - delving into the traditions of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Bath and much more! The Cotswolds spans the west of England from Bath in the south up to Chipping Campden in the north, from Woodstock in the east to Stroud in the west. We’ll be going as far back in time as King Bladud of Bath, explore a medieval love affair at Woodstock, dip into Tudor history in Bisley, be petrified at the Rollrights and discover what the mice were doing in Gloucester – and more! This talk by folklorist and storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis explores the tales told by the folk in the region - taking in evil queens, greedy kings, flying monks, little folk, big cats and much, much more! Discover what makes the Cotswolds tick!

Tickets £7 (£5 Museum in the Park Members & Concs)

Tea & Coffee included

Booking required - book online or call 01453 763394

Illustration by Katherine Soutar

Commoners and Kings, Quarries and Cattle, Trees and Grasses, Knights and Ladies. All have played an important role in the past of Rodborough Common. In this talk, PhD researcher Sharon Gardham will delve into this rich history. Using documentary evidence as well as the clues left on the land itself, we will cover more than a millennium of history, beginning in the Iron Age, through the medieval period, to the present day. Come along and explore the ways that Rodborough Common has been (and continues to be) important to so many.

Talk lasts around 45 minutes to one hour, followed by tea and coffee.

Tickets £5. Booking recommended, book online or call 01453 763394

Travel around Great Britain with Kirsty discovering our most famous - and our strangest - ghosts in this seasonally spooky talk. Kirsty Hartsiotis will be delving deep into our collective British ghostlore in this talk to send shivers down your spine this Halloween season. From the strange happenings at Borley Rectory in Essex to the famous Cock Lane Ghost we’ll look at ghosts that may or may not have existed – and how the truth was uncovered. We’ll meet lost Roman legions, prehistoric spooks, villages busy with ghosts like Pluckley in Kent and Prestbury in Gloucestershire. We’ll discover royal ghosts from here in Gloucestershire right up to the highlands of Scotland and much more besides. There'll be grey ladies, hooded monks and phantom carriages galore - come along, if you dare!

Tickets £7 (£5 Museum in the Park Members & Concs)

Tea & Coffee included

Booking required - book online or call 01453 763394

Melanie Backe-Hansen is a historian, writer, and speaker, who specializes in researching the social history of houses throughout the United Kingdom. She is the author of three books, House Histories: The Secrets Behind Your Front Door (2011) and Historic Streets and Squares: The Secrets on Your Doorstep (2013), and A House Through Time – with David Olusoga (2020). She was a consultant on the television series of A House Through Time. She is a member of the Royal Historical Society and an honorary teaching fellow at the University of Dundee. If you’ve ever wondered what secret histories your house could tell, this event is for you! Books will be available to buy and have signed.

This event is part of Jo Durrant’s ‘Our Beautiful Universe’ series. The conversation will be followed by a chance to ask questions and share ideas if you wish, and enjoy hot and cold drinks and a wander around the Museum, Gallery or Walled Garden.

Tickets cost £7.50, or £5 for Museum in the Park Members (Membership is free to join).

Advance booking recommended – book online or call 01453 763394. For adults and ages 16+.

Lucy Jane is a writer, presenter, and historical consultant, and she specialises in health, beauty, and leisure and where they crossover. She is the author of ‘Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium’ and her new book is ‘Chain Reactions: A Hopeful History of Uranium’ which is out at the start of July this year. Tracing uranium's past, and how it intersects with our understanding of other radioactive elements, this book aims to disentangle our attitudes and to unpick the atomic mindset. Chain Reactions looks at the fascinating, often-forgotten, stories that can be found throughout the history of the element.

Copies of the new book will be available to buy and have signed.

This event is part of Jo Durrant’s ‘Our Beautiful Universe’ series. The conversation will be followed by a chance to ask questions and share ideas if you wish, and enjoy hot and cold drinks and a wander around the Museum, Gallery or Walled Garden.

Tickets cost £7.50, or £5 for Museum in the Park Members (Membership is free to join).

Advance booking recommended – book online or call 01453 763394. For adults and ages 16+.

On Christmas Eve 1983, along with one donkey, two dogs, two cats and seven chickens, artist and gardener Charlotte Molesworth and her husband Donald moved into their dilapidated cottage. Join us on the 11 August 2024 to hear Charlotte explain how over the next 40 years they created one of the UK’s most enchanting, creative and magical gardens from cuttings from family and friend’s.

Charlotte’s talk will be followed by a panel discussion on whether gardening should be considered an art form. The panel will include Charlotte Molesworth, artist Cleo Mussi, who designed the planting in the Walled Garden, and Fiona Haser Bizony, founder of Electric Daisy Flower Farm. There will also be a chance to view Cleo Mussi and Fiona Haser Bizony’s exhibition ‘Photosynthesis’ in the gallery space.

Doors open at 6pm giving you a chance to explore the Walled Garden.

Advance booking essential for this special event.

Tickets £25 (£20 for Museum in the Park Members)

Book online here or call 01453 763394.

Photograph of Charlotte Molesworth by Paul Wetherell

Dr Daisy Dunn is a classicist and award-winning author. Her first two books, ‘Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life of Rome’s Most Erotic Poet’ and ‘The Poems of Catullus: A New Translation’, both published in 2016, led the Guardian to name her one of the country’s leading historians. Her new book, published in May, is called ‘The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through The Women Who Shaped It’.  While Penelope and Helen of Troy live on in the imagination, their real-life counterparts have been relegated to the margins. Daisy’s new book inverts this tradition and puts the women of history at the centre of the narrative.

Daisy’s new book will be available to buy and have signed.

This event is part of Jo Durrant’s ‘Our Beautiful Universe’ series. The conversation will be followed by a chance to ask questions and share ideas if you wish, and enjoy hot and cold drinks and a wander around the Museum, Gallery or Walled Garden.

Tickets cost £7.50, or £5 for Museum in the Park Members (Membership is free to join).

Advance booking recommended – book online or call 01453 763394. For adults and ages 16+.

Many years ago when Theo was a young student he said ‘Maybe I could have an exhibition at The Museum in the Park one day’ … Roll forward to 2020 and what turned out to be an aptly named solo show: ‘Lost In Time’ was a collaboration with the Museum focusing on the large and eclectic stored collection not on public display - exploring the beautiful, the slightly unsavoury and the frankly bizarre. Theo’s striking images offered a window into the surreal, unexpected world that the objects found themselves in – inviting us to look again at the world around us. Hear about Theo’s work and ideas, and see some of the ‘Lost in Time’ objects up close.

This event is part of Jo Durrant’s ‘Our Beautiful Universe’ series. The conversation will be followed by a chance to ask questions and share ideas if you wish, and enjoy hot and cold drinks and a wander around the Museum, Gallery or Walled Garden.

Tickets cost £7.50, or £5 for Museum in the Park Members (Membership is free to join).

Advance booking recommended – book online or call 01453 763394. For adults and ages 16+.

Come and join us as we look at nature, relationships, education and urban wildlife. Experienced educator Adrienne Robertson will share her experiences in making the natural world a classroom for teaching resilience and confidence to children. Rebecca Charley from Stroud District Council will motivate us about conserving and protecting the natural world helping to identify both urban spaces and wider landscape where nature can be given more room to thrive. This free event is part of the Activist Alphabet exhibition programme giving ideas on how everyone can play a part in helping protect and enhance the natural world.

Free, donations welcome, to book your place please call 01453 763394.

Inspiring to be able to join Osh Gates, knowledgeable and enthusiastic permaculture, for a talk all about soil, part of the Activist Alphabet exhibition programme. Osh is opening up new pathways with soil care. He can tell what the weeds in your garden are telling you about the state of the soil. He is passionate about creating a better environment for microbes, insects and mushrooms.

Free, donations welcome, to book your place please call 01453 763394.

Exciting to have TV director and presenter Robert Llewellyn (of Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge and the Fully Charged Show) opening our event series around climate, community, microbes and more. Robert will talk about how we could live in a different, more sustainable way. His expertise is on transport and energy production. This FREE event is linked to the ‘Activist Alphabet’ exhibition of prints and poems by local artist Christine Felce.

Free, donations welcome, please call 01453 763394 to book your place.

As Spring blooms and blossoms transform our Walled Garden, come and join Bob Brown for inspiring insights and gardening tips.

Bob Brown founded Cotswold Garden Flowers in 1991, a small specialist nursery near Evesham which has a reputation for easy and unusual hardy herbaceous perennials and smaller shrubs. Bob is a well known speaker and garden writer as well as one of the most experienced nurserymen in the country. He is known for having opinions (many very critical) about all the 18 thousand or so kinds of plants he’s grown or tried to grow and consequently his website and plant directory makes valuable and at times most entertaining reading! He has been Vice Chairman of the Herbaceous Committees of the RHS overseeing trials for the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). He writes for various periodicals including a monthly series in Gardening Which and is a regular return speaker. He’s holder of the Veitch Memorial Medal awarded for the science and advancement of horticulture. Bob's Plant Stall is a regular feature at many plant fairs both locally and nationally.

Tickets £12.50 (£10 concessions, £7.50 MiP Members)

Booking required - book online or call 01453 763394