Membership and History

Membership

The backbone of the Society's activities is the yearly series of monthly of talks (click here for the current year's programme).

TWHAS meets on the second Wednesday of each month, except August and December, at St. Mary's Church in Wallingford, at 7.45 p.m. for 8.00pm. As well as a talk, there is also a raffle!  Visitors are always welcome at a cost of £5 per person.

Members receive TWHAS Now, the monthly (except for August) newsletter, delivered either by e-mail or as hard copy. This contains information on all the current and future meetings and events organised by the Society, on life-long learning courses which members may be interested in, and on the activities of Wallingford Museum (the Museum’s day-to-day management is undertaken by the combined Museum Board of Directors and TWHAS Committee). The TWHAS membership card provides free admission to Wallingford Museum.

If you would be interested in joining the Society, please contact the Membership Secretary, John Green by e-mail to: membership@twhas.org.uk  An application form can be downloaded by clicking the link at foot of this page.

​The General Data Protection Regulations operate from 25 May 2018, and TWHAS has a Privacy Statement outlining how it manages personal data. The Privacy Statement can be read here.

Subscription

Subscription Rates (per annum) March 2026 - Feb 2027*

Individual Member: £20

Additional Member at the same address: £18 each

Retired person: £18

In full time education: £8

Preferably submit your application online using this Google Form

​Alternatively an application form can be downloaded here

​Payment by BACS is preferred as TWHAS incurs bank charges for payment by cheque/cash

(* Membership is 50% of the above for members joining between October and March)

Contacts

For general enquiries relating to TWHAS, please contact Judy Dewey: e-mail judy@piepowder.co.uk

If you would be interested in joining TWHAS, please contact our Membership Secretary, John Green by e-mail: - membership@twhas.org.uk - further details below.

Katharine Keats-Rohan organises our monthly Talks. If you have suggestions for future talks, please contact Katharine at katharine.keats-rohan@history.ox.ac.uk

If other local history societies would like to notify us of their events for possible inclusion (subject to space) in the monthly publication, TWHAS Now, then please send details to the TWHAS Now editor judy@piepowder.co.uk

History

The Wallingford Historical & Archaeological Society (TWHAS for short!) was founded in 1973, initially in response to an appeal by Oxfordshire archaeologists for local people to keep a watching brief on development in the town, there being no statutory protection for archaeological access in those days.

A well-attended public meeting decided to broaden the new Society's brief to include history and the desire to link documentary research with archaeological investigation has always been, and continues to be, a fundamental concept in our approach to research.  Discover more about the history of TWHAS here

Although the Project has now finished, TWHAS Members have continued regular excavations as part of an ongoing Garden Archaeology Project (Test Pits). We have now successfully reached the goal of completing 100 Test Pits. This has been achieved over a period of ten years through the brilliant leadership of Gerard Latham, who sadly passed away in February 2020. His leadership, the dedication of his TWHAS archaeology team, and the generosity of Wallingford’s inhabitants who kindly allowed us into their gardens, has enabled the completion of this first ever Urban Test Pitting project.  Work is now continuing with analysis of the finds, prior to eventual publication of the results.

A new long-term geophysics project is about to begin and will bring good opportunities for archaeological involvement.

The TWHAS Documents Group has been working for some years to transcribe and summarise key sources of information about Wallingford's long and rich history, now known as Sources for Wallingford's History (SWH). Click here to find out more about this and the group designed to encourage more members to participate in serious documentary research. ​