The small town of Woodstock is a few miles north of Oxford and is mostly visited because it is right next to Blenheim Palace and the Palace estate. The town is however worth exploring as it has a couple of art galleries, a selection of pubs and hotels and a few other attractions – such as its two rather good museums.

Many years ago museums used to be dusty and possibly stuffy or even scary places – more like storage spaces for old stuff. Now I think that they have evolved to become more interesting, informative and thought provoking- well that is my experience at least.

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the Woodstock museums: The Oxfordshire Museum and The Solders of Oxfordshire Museum. The Oxfordshire Museum is the larger of the two and is located in a big old 18th C. house – pretty much in the centre of Woodstock. It has a small {and fun} shop, with jigsaw puzzles, random rubbery insects and dinosaurs as well as occasional artwork, also a small cafe and a large back garden – which perhaps feels like something of a haven from the world. The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is set in a modern building at the back of the garden. You have to pay to go round – unless you happen to have a yearly Blenheim visitors card – and so is possibly overlooked by a lot of people. That’s a shame really because various people have obviously put a lot of work into it.

Anyway, there is a big 25 pounder artillery piece right by the entrance and over a couple of days I decided to visit and sketch this.

Here is my view, my sketch in situ as it evolved and a scan of my finished drawing.