Plan your visit

We are open Tuesday to Sunday, 12 to 5pm. Entry is free, please donate £5.

We're based in the centre of Oxford, next to the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street. It's a 14-minute walk from the train station.

Find us

History of Science Museum

Broad Street

Oxford

OX1 3AZ

Contact us

+44 1865 277 293

info@hsm.ox.ac.uk

(Click the map above for a larger version.)

Parking

The council encourages visitors coming from outside the city to use the Park & Ride service. There are five Park and Ride car parks (on the A40 at Headington; Redbridge, Abingdon Road, near Kennington; Pear Tree Roundabout, Woodstock Road; Water Eaton, Banbury Road, Kidlington; and Seacourt at Botley). The coach park, and main car park for the city, is on Oxpens Road.

There is pay and display parking close to the Museum on Broad Street, Mansfield Road and Blackhall Road. View fees and locations.

Are you a visitor with special or additional needs, or are a carer of a visitor with additional needs? View our access guide. Please get in touch if you would like more information when planning a visit requiring disabled access by emailing us at info@hsm.ox.ac.uk or by telephone on 01865 277 293.

Daytime parking in central Oxford is limited; the city encourages use of its Park & Ride car parks on each of the main roads into the city, with frequent bus services into the centre. The Museum is unable to provide parking facilities for visiting school groups. Coaches are able to drop off and pick up in Broad Street. Using the Park & Ride is normally advisable for minibuses.

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Entrance Gallery

The Entrance Gallery houses the reception and shop, as well as items relating to the history of the Museum, the Founding Collections and 19th-century collections from the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Microscopical Society.

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Basement Galleries

The main Basement Gallery displays chemical, physical and medical items, along with Einstein’s blackboard and Marconi's wireless collection. The basement also holds the Special Exhibition Gallery, in which there are usually two temporary exhibitions each year.

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Top Gallery

Explore mathematical instruments from different time periods, and the Museum’s world-class collection of Islamic scientific instruments.

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Floor plan

The Museum is based in the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum building (completed in 1683). Spread over three floors, our collections cover a wide breadth of scientific instruments throughout the ages.

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Mobile app: Pocket Curator

Unlock the secrets of some of the fascinating scientific instruments on display in the Museum. Listen to revealing stories from the curator, watch fascinating animations and video explanations, and try some of the instruments yourself to understand how they work.