Drop-in

Tour the oldest house in Abingdon, with its unique architectural features, including a wall with stunning paintings.

26 & 26a East St. Helen Street is Abingdon’s oldest house and Oxford Preservation Trust’s too.... The property was left to Oxford Preservation Trust by Miss Baker in the 1970s. The building dates from c.1430 and contains vibrant 16th-century wall paintings which cover the walls on the first floor, and a gallery lit by a timber window with its original intricate gothic tracery. We know that the two houses were once a single house and where the covered coach entrance has been knocked through, is where there was once an open fire – this house dates back to before the invention of the fireplace. Smoke blackening on the roof timbers gives us the evidence we need, and it is here that a child’s doublet was found, pushed up into the rafters – was it to ward off evil spirits, as was once the custom?

Please be aware that the Medieval Merchant's House is a historic building with access to the building over cobbles, and the wall paintings inside the building are via a set of stairs.