Museum hits one million annual visitors milestone

The Ashmolean closed for 10 months throughout 2009 for a major £63m redevelopment project

The UK's oldest public museum has reported welcoming one million annual visitors for the first time in 16 years.

The Ashmolean, which is the University of Oxford's museum of art and archaeology, announced the milestone in a post on X on Wednesday.

It said that surveys showed it being free to enter was "an important factor" motivating visitors during the cost of living crisis.

Director Dr Xa Sturgis said he was "particularly pleased" to see a rise in visitors from the local community.

The museum said its visitor numbers had grown "steadily" in recent years, with 900,277 visitors recorded in 2023 and 942,692 in 2024.

It said the millionth visit put it "about 14% ahead of this time last year" when 879,077 visitors had been recorded by the end of November 2024.

The venue added that there were "proportional increases in overseas visitors, visitors from within Oxfordshire, and families".

Director Dr Xa Sturgis said he was "particularly pleased" to see a rise in local visitors

Founded in 1683, it is one of four University of Oxford museums, along with the Museum of the History of Science, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

It closed for 10 months throughout 2009 for a major £63m redevelopment project.

Many of its temporary displays and exhibitions are free, while some of the most popular tours and events are offered free or at nominal cost.

The Ashmolean said its "major draws" this year had been the new Rome & the Roman Empire gallery and the ticketed exhibition on the art of Radiohead, which runs until 18 January.