We decarbonised our 18th Century building – and won an award for it
Vale and Downland Museum
In 2024 the museum team wanted to reduce the building’s energy bills and reduce its carbon emissions.
The museum employed Energy Solutions Oxfordshire to carry out a carbon and energy assessment of their building in Church Street, Wantage – an 18th Century building (with some parts dating back to the 1600s).
The report suggested installing a variety of energy saving measures including secondary glazing, LED lighting and solar panels.
Using funding from the UK Government through the Rural England Prosperity Fund with Vale of White Horse District Council as the lead authority and Museum Development Southeast, Going Green Grant, the museum purchased solar panels. It used funding from the Vale of White Horse District Council Climate Action Fund to pay for secondary glazing and LED lights.
With the result that since the solar panels have been installed in February 2025, they have produced more than half of the electricity used at the site, drastically cutting energy bills and saving more than 3.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
You can check on the latest tally by using the interactive touchscreen display in the museum foyer (see below).
In March 2026 the museum won the Small Business Britain’s Green Growth Award. “It was an honour to be on the list of 100 small business shortlisted, but to win was beyond our expectations! We’ve worked hard to decarbonise the museum over the last year, which in turn helps to reduce costs – hugely important in today’s difficult climate.”
