The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery

The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery We're the community museum for Basingstoke. We host regional and national exhibitions in our gallery. We're part of Hampshire Cultural Trust.
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Volunteer with us: https://tinyurl.com/3tu7bpk8 Basingstoke’s Willis Museum, housed in the Old Town Hall, is in the historic heart of Basingstoke close to Festival Place, the busy town centre. You can discover Basingstoke and Deane’s past, from the rich archaeological heritage beneath our feet right up to the modern day. In the Sainsbury Gallery there is always something new to see with a regularly changing programme of special exhibitions, workshops, talks and events.

🌙 Wonders of the Night, a little inspiration... Anyone else love a Pinterest mood board? 👀 We’ve put together a little v...
09/09/2026

🌙 Wonders of the Night, a little inspiration...

Anyone else love a Pinterest mood board? 👀 We’ve put together a little visual inspiration to get the ideas flowing for our next exhibition Wonders of the Night, bringing together items from our collections and artwork selected through an open call in a brand new hybrid style of exhibition.

From starry skies and candlelight to folklore and dreams, your interpretation of the theme is up to you. Existing work is very welcome, as long as you feel it fits somewhere in the theme.

One small update to our original open call: all artists will now be notified of the outcome of their submission on Tuesday 27 October, once submissions have closed and the selection panel has had the chance to consider the works.

Having trouble with the online submission link? Please don’t let that put you off entering, get in touch with us and we can help.

Submissions close 25 October. ✨

Full details and how to apply can be found on our website.
https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/wonders-night-open-call-artists

There's a chill in the air (well almost! 😆) and the evenings are slowly getting darker...MUSEUM BY TORCHLIGHT 🔦 is comin...
09/09/2026

There's a chill in the air (well almost! 😆) and the evenings are slowly getting darker...

MUSEUM BY TORCHLIGHT 🔦 is coming back at The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery for another year!

✨️ THURSDAY 29 OCTOBER✨️

Get ready for an evening of fun activities and a chance to explore the museum in the dark 😱

Tag someone you know who would love to come to our evening of spooky fun for all the family in the comments ⬇️

AND give us a follow to be the first to know when tickets go live!

Discover the history of Ralph Dutton, who gave his house Hinton Ampner, to the National Trust at our September Tea & Tal...
07/09/2026

Discover the history of Ralph Dutton, who gave his house Hinton Ampner, to the National Trust at our September Tea & Talk!

Sunday 27 September - 2PM

£7 per person

BOOK NOW https://buff.ly/l5QKwTQ

🔦 🔦 OBJECT SPOTLIGHT🔦 🔦The Basing House 'Raised Work' Embroidery Many of you may have seen this object as you go around ...
06/09/2026

🔦 🔦 OBJECT SPOTLIGHT🔦 🔦

The Basing House 'Raised Work' Embroidery

Many of you may have seen this object as you go around the Story of Basingstoke but this 17th century embroidery is such a wonderful piece we wanted to share it with you here!

Showing a grand house and the motto of the Paulet family and dates to about 1660-1665, following the restoration of King Charles II to the throne👑

Details in the embroidery tell of the adventures of Charles during the English Civil War and there are emblems traditionally associated with Hampshire, such as the Tudor Rose and the Hampshire hog🐖

Now the kids have gone back to school 🎒 📚️ take a moment for yourself and visit us for a trip down memory lane at 'I Gre...
03/09/2026

Now the kids have gone back to school 🎒 📚️ take a moment for yourself and visit us for a trip down memory lane at 'I Grew Up 90s'.

https://buff.ly/ACTGwT0

Whatever your age during the decade there's bound to be something you see that will take you back in time!📼

What were you up to in the 90s?

Image: Entrance to Basingstoke College of Technology, 1990s © Hampshire County Council, Hampshire Cultural Trust Photograph Collection.

Last week was the 191st anniversary of the birth of Thomas Burberry Did you know the first Burberry shop opened here in ...
02/09/2026

Last week was the 191st anniversary of the birth of Thomas Burberry

Did you know the first Burberry shop opened here in Basingstoke?!

Thomas Burberry moved to Basingstoke and opened a draper's shop 'T. Burberry & Sons' in 1856!

On London Street (next to the Deane's Almes Houses) was a once a showroom that fronted the Basingstoke workshop and Wi******er Street was home to the huge Emporium - which was rebuilt in 1905 after being burnt completely to the ground.

Image: Photograph of the rebuilt Emporium, Wi******er Street.

We have so many interesting objects in the museum🏛️ and we love sharing our favourites with you BUT we want to know...Wh...
31/08/2026

We have so many interesting objects in the museum🏛️ and we love sharing our favourites with you BUT we want to know...

What is YOUR favourite object at the Willis Museum⁉️

Let us know in the comments⬇️⬇️⬇️

Address

Market Place
Basingstoke
RG217QD

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+441256465902

Website

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