Opening Days for 2025

We are open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and daily in Bucks school holidays from Saturday 8 March to Thursday 30 October 2025. Our opening times are 10am until 5pm.

Tickets are available to book on the door (while avilable). Pre-book your tickets online in advance you can save up to £1 per ticket.

We will also be opening for our Halloween Spectacular on Friday 31 October and for a special Festive Weekend on 6 and 7 December. 

Ticket Types

If the ticket date isn't showing as available under standard admission and is an open day, it will be a Premium Day and you will need to select the event on the general admission page to book.

School Holiday Opening Dates
We are open daily throughout these dates.

Easter 29th March to 15th April
May half-term 25th May to 2nd June
Summer holidays 20th July to 8th September
October half-term 26th October to 31st October (From Sunday 27th October we will be closing at the earlier time of 4pm).

Promotional Offers

If you have a valid 2 for 1 promotional voucher/card, including Gardener's World, this can only be used against tickets purchased on the door and not online tickets. One promotional card/voucher can be used for two people only and cannot be used for group entry.

Catering

Hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, sausage rolls, ice creams, cakes, and snacks can be purchased from our Skippings Barn. We have lots of picnic tables and lots of space for picnic blankets around our site.

You may wish to bring some spare change with you to roll into our well where you can hear our well spirits talk!

Mobility Scooters

We have mobility scooters that can be borrowed. Please email us on enquiries@coam.org.uk to check availability and book.

Dogs

Dogs on short leads are very welcome on site. Dogs are not allowed to go inside any of our furnished exhibit buildings.

Gift Aid

The Museum is a charity and all admission prices include a voluntary donation of 10%. If you are a UK tax payer please tick the box and fill out your details so that we can claim Gift Aid on your admission. Gift Aid donations to the Museum allow us to claim an extra 25% from the government on the total amount that you pay to us, at no extra cost to you.

Tickets are non-refundable but if you contact us at least 24 hours prior to the start of your booked slot we can reschedule your booking for you.

Come and see heritage crafts in action at Chiltern Open Air Museum. Visitors will have the opportunity to step back in time and witness traditional crafts in action, including blacksmithing, straw plaiting, bucket making, lace making, bodging, spinning, natural dyeing and more.

Blacksmithing, one of the oldest professions in human history, will be on full display. A skilled crafts person will display their expertise in shaping and forging iron, using traditional techniques to create practical and decorative items. Visitors can witness the rhythmic sounds of hammers hitting anvils, as sparks fly in the air!

Straw plaiting, another traditional craft that was once a significant cottage industry in rural areas will be demonstrated at the event. A skilled practitioner will demonstrate the delicate process of transforming straw into intricate patterns and braids. Visitors can see first-hand the meticulous skill and precision required to create these beautiful straw plaits. You can also see bobbin lace making in action and discover the techniques used to create different styles of lace.

The last traditional bucket maker in the UK will be showing how traditional buckets were made. The Museum’s team will also be busy working in the woodland bodging area showing the skills and items that historic bodgers would have made. You can learn about how our ancestors dyed their clothes, the processes involved and the plants that they used to create different pigments.

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members.

Summer holiday activities for the family

No need to worry about entertaining your children during the school holidays! We have you covered with special themed family activities on Tuesdays during Bucks school holidays.

Our fun-filled activities, games, and crafts can be enjoyed without having to pay any extra, as they are included in our admission price.

The Dacorum and Chiltern Potters Guild will be hosting fabulous clay creation workshops, where you can mould and shape your unique creations.

Get ready to unleash your creativity and make some delightful crafts.

Be enchanted by our storytellers as they transport you to magical worlds through their captivating tales.

You can also see spinning demonstrations in our Leagrave cottage.

Additional information:

• Activities run from 11am – 3.30pm
• Drinks, light lunches, cakes and ice creams available to purchase
• Plenty of space for picnics
• Baby changing facilities
• Adventure playground
• Small working farm
• Ample free car parking
• Dogs welcome on short lead

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry to COAM Annual Members.

Step into the world of 1716, where the reign of George I brings peace to England, but all is not as calm as it seems. The Old Pretender’s bid for the throne has failed, but danger lurks in every corner of the kingdom! Coffee houses in London buzz with tales of piracy on the high seas, while England’s roads are plagued by ruthless highwaymen, footpads, and smugglers. Amidst it all, the forces of Law and Order are struggling to keep control.

Meet The Crew of the Phoenix and discover the dangerous and thrilling world of 18th century outlaws. Watch daring sword fights, from gentlemanly duels to fierce cutlass battles. Feel the heat of battle as you witness the firepower of Redcoats and highwaymen. Want to get hands-on? Join our militia Sergeant and take part in an exciting musket drill!

Explore our Living History Camp and get a firsthand look at daily life in the early 1700s. Meet the highwaymen, poachers, and smugglers who shaped this turbulent time, and discover how they survived in a land where law and disorder were often one and the same.

Don’t miss out on this unique, immersive experience! Immerse yourself in the stories and struggles of early 18th century England, and experience the thrill of history in action.

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry to COAM Annual Members.

At this special weekend event, we will be joined by living history re-enactment groups who will be around our 45-acre site among our historic buildings, depicting different wartime periods throughout Britain's history, covering Medieval, English Civil War, Napoleonic War, WW1 and WW2.

There will be a number of civilian and military living history camps, an apothecary, and wartime military headquarters where you can discover what life was like on the home front, how the soldiers lived and what medicines were available.

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members.

This is a unique opportunity to learn about the less savoury aspects of Victorian life in a fun, family-friendly environment with the ‘Ragged Victorians'!

Meet costumed re-enactors in our buildings and around the Museum site. Look out for shady characters including the rat catcher and his rats; street urchins, rogues and vagabonds. This Ragged Victorians event is great for kids who are learning about the Victorians at school. Watch out for pickpockets!

Activities may be subject to change.

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members.

At the small village of Ceadeles Funtan (The modern day Chalfonts – meaning the chalk springs) a warband of Vikings have arrived and taken over the village as a base of operations to raid further into Saxon territory. They have ransacked the village, taken prisoners as Thralls (Slaves) and are busy plotting their next move whilst making loose with the food and drink they have pillaged from the Saxon villagers.

However unbeknownst to the Vikings, a Fyrd (or local militia) of Saxons has been dispatched from Aegel’s burgh (The Saxon fortified settlement of Aylesbury) to deal with the situation. The Saxons arrive and demand the Vikings return to the Danelaw but emboldened by their success so far and their warlike bravado they refuse and fighting breaks out. As the two sides form shield walls the fate of the village hangs in the balance…Will the vicious Vikings succeed and continue to raid and pillage the area or will the Christian forces of Wessex overcome their heathen enemy and restore order to the land?

Get involved in games, music, storytelling and fun activities from the Viking Age. Then join us to watch as the raid unfolds and see who wins in the battle between the Vicious Vikings and the Christian forces of Wessex. There will also be some have-a-go archery.

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members.

Discover the fascinating traditions of our farming history.

• Find out more about a traditional Harvest and rural skills
• See Tudor re-enactors from The Companye of Merrie Folke showing what life was like in Tudor times
• Watch Morris dancing
• See sheep dogs in action working our flock of Oxford Down sheep
• Experience the threshing machine in action & find out about the swing riots
• Visit our Bodger's Area and learn about what bodgers made
• Learn about our charcoal kiln and saw pit
• See our Harvest display in Henton chapel made from our allotment and garden produce
• Watch as our traditional bakers make a harvest loaf
• See some apple pressing
• See what our blacksmith is making in the forge

This is a Premium admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members

A knitting and wool craft event

Join us for our special Wild About Wool knitting event and discover different types of textile crafts. Chat to our experts about your knitting conundrums, learn about peg looms, see a sock knitting machine in action and learn about the importance of knitting for the troops on the home front during WWI.

Visit our Home Front reenactors and out about the role of knitting in the Great War, the manufacture of Soldier’s woollen comforts and their distribution to the men, and women, at the front by the British Red Cross and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.

All activities are weather dependent and subject to change.

This is a standard admission day. Free entry for COAM Annual Members