Vale and Downland Museum , Wantage in Vale of White Horse

Unfortunately we didn’t choose well that day. My soup was watery and tasteless, and my husband’s bacon toastie had a very small amount of bacon in it, which tasted microwaved. However, the cakes on the counter looked nice, and the chilli potato with cheese and coleslaw on the next table looked very good.

We love coming to the museum for cake and drinks (and the paninis are great too!) The chocolate cake is our absolute favourite, and it is such a warm and friendly place to visit as a frazzled mum with an excitable toddler.

Wonderful home made cakes and quiches on offer. The quiches come with home made coleslaw (my favourite!). The rest of the menu has lots of choice and seemed popular with families. What’s more you can then look round this fabulous museum!

A very pleasant cafe, well looked after and with a good range of well-priced lunch options. It was a glorious June afternoon, so my friend and I ate out on the patio area. Would recommend.

A friendly attractive place to visit. Enjoyed an pleasant afternoon there celebrating a friends birthday

Homemade cakes ,irresistible. Light lunches too . But cakes and tray bakes are delicious. Always good service and cheerfull staff , often extra events such as farmers market produce and exhibitions in the building .

My first visit was for an evening talk on 26th June about "Walter Sickert" (for a £6 charge) - the talk lasted approximately 30 minutes despite being advertised on te website as "7:30 pm - 10:00 pm". The speaker even commented that it was very quick - and then proceeded to run through the slides again. Disappointing. The second visit was on Sat 18th August at 3:45pm - after a long walk around the area - and only to buy a drink and/or ice creams. The website states "Wantage visitor information, museum café, and gift shop are all accessible during our normal opening hours" which are "9.30 am – 4 pm Monday to Saturday". The person behind the counter refused to serve us as they were in the middle of cashing up the till.

We love a spot of lunch here, always tasty and served quickly. It does get busy, but don't let that put you off! There's some toys for the children to play with while you wait, high chairs close by and a buggy park. Well made simple food, delicious cakes and polite staff. Well done.

The staff here are great never being phased by some of the requests. The fodd is really high quality and made when you order. The children's meals are fantastic value.

A real find, absolutely brilliant, really nicely laid out and very interesting, big hand goes out to the person that arranged the funding to what is a fantastic addition to the historic town of Wantage. 😃

A small but well-kept local cafe within the museum, with quick service & a number of small meals (sandwiches, paninis & jacket potatoes) & fresh cakes on offer. While it's good to support somewhere local, I did find the menu rather limited for vegetarian food (especially if wanting to avoid dairy too), so I would probably only visit for a hot drink in the future.

This was my first visit to this museum in Wantage,the entry is free,plus it is child friendly. With lots of exhibits from Wantage and the Downlands in the area,covering a wide range of time-caveman to modern.Also there is a café for drinks&snacks;plus an Art gallery;something for everyone whatever your interests. I my self had two walkarounds with lunch in between.I would recommend this attraction,

The Vale and Downland Museum cafe serves great coffee and cakes. The lunches are excellent, especially the home made quiche and salads.

A good range of food prepared on the premises by voluntary staff who go out of their way to be helpful. Children can choose from an extensive menu after they have been encouraged to participate in Lego-based searches which keep them entertained in challenging tests. .

Lots to see and do what a treat free to enter although they do ask for a donation, which on seeing what was on offer was a pleasure

I grew up for the most part down the road, so I have been to what we have always called "Wantage Museum" dozens of times over the last 30 years or so. I have seen the museum change over the years and I can say it is better now than it has ever been. The mockup of part of the town square is great and my son (3) absolutely loved the mockup tram. The interactive material is great and the little model train is a definite winner with young children. Ours would have been quite happy watching the train go back and forth all afternoon! Vale and Downland Museum have made excellent use of a relatively small space and offer some great interactive sections which are a great hit with kids. As small, local museums go, this one is well worth a visit.

Small, well set out museum of local history with great activities for children to capture their imagination. Plenty of room for buggies. Well worth a visit - no formal entrance fee but you can make donations.

This museum had a great collection of artefacts and displays. The walk around was not onerous and varied. Models were very interesting as was the F1 Williams car on display. There are children's activities upstairs. WRI have a market on the last Friday of the month. The cafe was well priced and the food and drinks were lovely.

El Mad Hatters Band, un conjunto bien conocido presentado y folk jugado el mejor trabajo conocido del compositor irlandés Turlough O'Carolan nacional (Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin). El auditorio estaba lleno poco ordenado por los aficionados a la música folk y aplaudió con entusiasmo en cada diapositiva y el rendimiento que le siguió.

Almorcé aquí, a saber, una chaqueta de fritas. Ensalada de bonito y un precio razonable. Ambiente agradable y, sin duda diría que venga aquí si estás en wantage. Museo no grande pero interesante. Otra vez no ir de visita si su cerca.

Popped in for a quick recce for a potential meeting place for new mums with buggies.Plenty of space available for multiple buggies. Cakes were awesome. Coffee was good. Prices seem to be in the Costa realm. But nothing too high. Didn't have any other food but it looked good on the way past.

A very interesting museum - for children and adults. Cafe selling good range of food - their hot pudding of the day is worth trying! Family friendly.

We have a table booked for about 8 of us oldies every second Wednesday ..Good food at good prices...You can also look around the museum.

Very pleasant cafe situated in an interesting museum. Worth spending time looking at the museum which also gives a good idea of rural life in the 19th century.Staffed mainly by volunteers the service is good a friendly with some good home cooked food

We have tried a cooked breakfast everywhere in Wantage and this was the last cafe on the list. Most definitely the best there is in town. The food was perfectly cooked, wasn't greasy and amazing value for money. The coffee was delish too! Don't go visiting this cafe expecting fine dining and extravagance though. It is a simple cafe that does good food. The decor isn't all that and the service could do with an added smile, however the display of yummy cakes makes up for that.I will most certainly be revisiting, if just to try their Homemade Curried Parsnip Soup that was advertised on their specials board.

Set in what was the old Wantage doctors surgery, this museum has been set up with wonderful displays of local history. Don't miss it

Called into the cafe at this museum and had what must be the most dreadful cup of coffee I've ever had. Don't know what they used but I will not be going back. Disgusting stuff.

if you want to know about the history of Wantage the museum is very good,especially about the tramway and local shops.There is also a Williams F1 car to view. Service in the cafe was slow

Very friendly staff, good service and nice food. Great for families and the kids love it there. We go all the time and even when it's busy the food is made up quickly and staff always have time for you. The kids love the museum and the cafe is easily accessable for prams/pushchairs unlike other coffee shops around town. Overall great value for money.

Very slow service , tired crockery and utensils,,whole gruffy place in need of a makeover,. Food very basic and uninspiring and not even a decent cup of coffee.

An hour well spent understanding wantage and it's history. Well presented both visually and on film.

My friend and I had lunch here the other day and it was very good, excellent value and service. I did notice that many of the customers looked as though they were regular 'ladies wot lunch'!!

I was there with my mother for delicious mince pie and mulled wine on Dickensian evening. It's always a lovely atmosphere there. Cheerful greeting by cafe staff as usual. The town is lucky to still have independent cafés.

It is a lovely museum although small is packed with exhibits, whether you are interested in geology, archaeology or social history it covers all areas. I particularly liked the mini cinema showing the Ridgeway film,and interactive map and the tableaus, showing the shops, family life, industries crafts municipal life and the wantage tramway. The kids also liked the model railway and the small learning area on the mezzanine floor with its fishing game . The staff were knowledgable giving us the benefit of their personal experiences of the area, and were also charming and friendly. I don't recognise the description of the cafe staff, the food was fine the place was clean and the staff helped me with an extra request for extra cutlery as we were sharing some of it without so much as a grunt! There were some wasps in the garden were we ate it was a very hot day, although I hardly think they were reasponisble for them! Go its really good

It is some years since I last visited this museum and it has certainly moved with the times. It now has some really interesting themed displays. There is also a small shop, a nice (but very small) cafe and an art gallery on the first floor. This is a genuine hidden gem and comes highly recommended.

Despite the other reviews I didnt seem to have the same experience. Whilst the museum is a little gem and interesting, the cafe didnt live up to that part!Rude staff who seemed totally uninterested in serving us, they had been too busy texting on their mobiles to serve, then it was a case of 'what do you want'! Seems a shame for such a lovely space.

This is a great place to visit if you are in the area. It has really interesting exhibits in the gallery finishing up with a Williams F1 car hanging on the wall bringing everything right up to date. It has various temporary exhibitions, a small shop, a good cafe including an area where you can sit outside and lots of information about things going on in the area. It is run by a charity with many volunteers an a few paid staff. This helps to create a friendly, unstuffy, welcoming place.

It's everything you would expect from a little cafe attached to a museum. A nice place to to go for a cup of tea and cake. Bright airy and modern. There is usually some free exhibition going on. Food is good here too. I actually ate hear with my family while my kitchen was being redecorated. The museum is excellant and when my son was younger he absolutly loved visiting and never got bored of it. They are also very good at organising activities for children during the holidays.

We have never been disappointed at this charming, cosy great value cafe.We went for lunch during the Easter Holidays and had another lovely meal.Great home cooked food, good selection to please even the fussiest little ones and gorgeous cakes.The cafe was quite full when we got there but one of the ladies kindly helped us shift tables and chairs around so that we had room for all of us. The service was quick and friendly and the atmosphere bright and vibrant.Don't miss this gem!

I used to take my kids here. Home cooked food was always lovely and lots of things to look at and do kept the children interested. The little museum walk through is great and they provide a wealth of leaflets and local information. Long may it continue

Although I've lived in Wantage for a couple of years I had never visited the museum, and we only went in because the place up the road was closed, but we'll certainly be going again! There's nice selection of hot and cold snacks, and a roast dinner once a week. All the staff were very welcoming and the service was efficient. They also serve scrummy homemade cakes(the lemon drizzle was excellent) and cream teas. Although it was chilly when we were there, there's a small courtyard with tables and benches. After lunch we had a wander round the museum collection.