The Attic Gallery at Abingdon County Hall Museum has a new addition. Alongside the museum’s usual array of large fossilised creatures, fossil collector Dr James Etienne has unveiled his collection of locally discovered fossils for the first time.

One notable exhibit is  ‘Abby’ the Pliosaur, found near Abingdon in autumn 2023. Only the skull — complete with teeth — is currently on show, but it represents one of the most complete Pliosaurus reptiles ever uncovered from the Late Jurassic period. Excavated from local Kimmeridge Clay, ‘Abby’ lived around 150 million years ago and was a dominant marine predator.

Putting her back together is not easy. Her lower jaw came out in over 70 pieces. The body of the skeleton is being prepared and will be the subject of research by the University of Portsmouth and the University of Bristol.

Dr Etienne’s collection is on display in the Attic Gallery from 17th May to 7th September 2025 and fills several cases. There are also display boards to show what the creatures may have looked like.

The museum is run by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council.

Abingdon Museum has created a fascinating new exhibition, “Atomics to Medieval Knights – a History of Fitzharris Manor Estate,” which opened on Saturday, 11th January. This exhibition explores the history of Fitzharris Manor, tracing its evolution from its origins shortly after the Norman Conquest to its transformation into the Fitzharry’s Manor Estate.

Visitors can journey through time, from display board to display board, and through artifacts, exploring how the Manor changed hands and underwent architectural changes across centuries. The exhibition then shifts its focus to the mid-20th century, when the arrival of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at Harwell changed Abingdon.

With the influx of scientists and engineers – nicknamed the “Atomics” – a new housing estate was built on the Fitzharris Manor site. The exhibition highlights the  planning and construction of this estate, and the cosmopolitan community that moved in. By 1959, Harwell staff and their families made up nearly a quarter of Abingdon’s population (counting this estate and the Appleford Drive area and beyond). They actively participated in local clubs, societies, and volunteer work.

The walled estate, with its green spaces, the River Stert, the Motte, and a nearby wood, provided an idyll setting for families. The exhibition explores estate life, including the AERE blue buses that transported residents to work at Harwell and the impact of the groundbreaking research conducted there, from projects like Zeta and Gleep & Bepo to the Nimrod accelerator.

Today, while fewer residents work at Harwell or Culham, the Fitzharry’s Manor Estate remains a peaceful residential area with green space and an enduring history. Much of the research for this exhibition was done by Mike Evans of the Fitzharris Estate Residents Association.

The museum is run by Abingdon-on-Thames town council.

It is half term week and the Abingdon Museum staff are expecting more visitors up the museum stairs.

In the Attic Gallery there are models dressed in the fashions from 1066 to the 1980s. Inspired by a book on a millennium of fashion, Lisa Jayne Smith has dressed 110 models from Saxon and Medieval times through to the 20th century.

But how many stairs will you have to climb to visit the museum attic, or the museum roof? Find out in the following video. It also counts the number of stairs to the basement (12) and to the sessions hall (37).