A Wimbledon Museum for the 21st Century

The Wimbledon Museum of the John Evelyn Society first opened its door to the public in 1916, at 22 Ridgway, in accommodation kindly provided by the Wimbledon Village Club. For the story of our early days click here. More than 100 years later we are still in the same place, though now the John Evelyn Society has been renamed the Wimbledon Society, and our Museum is called The Museum of Wimbledon.

It is a small, and unusual, museum about everything to do with Wimbledon, its past, its present and its future. It receives no public funding, and is run entirely by volunteers. It is a very special place with treasured collections relating to the natural and built environment of Wimbledon and the history of the area. However, the present displays date from the 1990s, and they are in need of a bit of makeover and modernisation. We have ambitious plans for a refurbishment programme which we hope will put this lovely, local museum at the heart of the community and will open up its doors to greater effect locally.

We are planning to close the Museum in 2021 for a complete refurbishment, and the creation of brand new displays. Making the museum’s collections accessible and comprehensible to the widest possible audience is the most important objective of this refurbishment. We hope that the new displays will appeal to all sections of society and help us to reach new and more diverse audiences. The projected budget is £150,000 and the Wimbledon Society has already supplied £89,000. Fund raising will continue alongside the development of the project, as soon as regulations allow and it is safe to do so.

If you would like to learn more about the project, please send us an email at museuminfo@wimbledonsociety.org. You can find out about the project as it develops HERE or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you!