“From Agriculture to Atoms” is the theme of our 2026 Heritage Festival as we tell the story of the working lives of Abingdon’s people.

In Victorian times local agriculture was the basis for industries such as brewing and malting and we were home to one of England’s largest clothing factories, but people were also engaged in many other occupations which now no longer exist. The early C20^th saw the expansion of Abingdon’s leather trade and the advent of car manufacturing and other industries; and from the 1940s the town was at the heart of post war scientific discoveries with Harwell and Culham at the forefront of the emerging atomic research, attracting thousands of new residents to the town.

Visit our “Abingdon at Work” exhibitions in the Guildhall and Unit 25, Bury Street and find real-life stories, pictures and films, showing the changing nature of employment and how ordinary people lived and worked between 1800 and 1960.

As well as our exhibitions, there will be “Open Doors” in about 10 other historic buildings around the town, some of them not normally open to the public, and others with special displays for the event.  There will be family-friendly activities and our popular Heritage Walks on the Sunday.

The detailed programme will be on our website https://www.abingdonheritage.org.uk/ from late July and in a leaflet available from early September.