We had a great time exploring the Pitt Rivers Museum! There is SO much on display it's almost hard to take it all in. If you're an anthropology buff, this is your place. So many neat things to see and everything you can imagine, too many to list. From clothing to masks to weapons to toys all from different cultures and different times. We even saw a Totem Pole! Overall a fascinating place to visit, just wish we'd had more time to explore! read more

Pitt Rivers Museum - Museum looking up from the ground floor. So much to see! - Museums Near Me - Oxford, OXF

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What you think of Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum likely depends on how you like your museums. With more than 500,000 objects on display, Pitt Rivers is ripe for exploration. There's multi-level display cases everywhere, each seemingly containing more than the last. And don't get me started on the drawers; they're everywhere too, and when you pull them out you'll find hundreds more items in each. So if you like your museums with a few paintings on each wall this might not be your jam but you'll still probably be happy you went. You've likely never seen anything like this. A young woman in a shop mentioned, several days before my visit, that she particularly liked this museum and the way she described the entrance intrigued me. As it should: the entrance to this museum is found when you're already inside another museum (The Museum of Natural History; both are free of charge). Officially, the Pitt Rivers Museum displays both the archeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford. But unofficially, it's like entering someone's giant garage, very well organized but also packed to the rafters. One could spend months in here and only skim the surface. read more

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This museum is so eccentric! I loved it, beware if you are claustrophobic because every isle and display is crammed with info and things. You could spend a whole day in here. It's so fascinating. I loved that they addressed how disrespectful the small heads exhibit was and rectified the situation. All around great place! read more

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The Pitt Rivers Museum is a quirky and neat little museum to visit. I have never seen so many skeletons of different animals in one area. This was a really unique and interesting museum to visit! read more

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The Pitt Rivers Museum is basically a one-room museum, but it's so chock full of items that you can easily spend an hour or more exploring it all! The museum has assembled a collection of all sorts of random objects, and it's organized into little showcases by object type. They have showcases for model ships, lutes, reed instruments, drums, ivory carvings, pots, writing utensils, lamellaphones, headdresses, knives, lamps, methods of making fire, baskets, and more. Each showcase has interesting tidbits and brief educational material. It's all fascinating to explore, and you're sure to find a couple types of objects which are right up your alley and fascinate you! Overall a fun visit! read more

What a great place to take the kids any time of year always plenty to do and see We never tire of this place And always something new to look at read more

Free! Free! Free! This is an interesting museum of artifacts and collections, ranging from bones to bugs to instruments to crack the betel nut. It seems a little disorganized in one of the rooms. Items seem to have been mushed into one room, collected from different cultures, having no rhyme or reason. I did like the upstairs exhibit which featured insects especially the cockroaches. Really gross but very intriguing to look at. Not a must-see but worth checking out if you have time. read more

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A very good visit indeed although everything was so cramped and close together that we had to be very careful going through. The gift shop has some nice things that are available for purchase. Clean unisex toilets are available. read more

Pitt Rivers. What a name. It's the Victorian equivalent of James Bond. Or Dirk Diggler. Probably both all rolled up into one. This guy was, to put it a mildly, a dude. I mean, check out this picture: http://history.prm.ox.ac.uk/graphics/named_collectors/pitt-rivers-portrait.jpg I bet that well waxed moustache and those magnificent sideburns went down well at the debutante ball. Of course he probably didn't have time to chase women given he spent most of his time plundering the world's primitive societies for their most valuable and sacred items. He was Britain at its best, a pirate in all but name! This is an amazing museum, although it's more of a large room at the back of the natural history museum. This guy got around (the world, not the debutante ball). I saw totem poles, eskimo outfits, and Egyptian jewellery, plus lots more. On a lot of the items you can still see his original notes inventorying its provenance. Cool. Oh yeah, and don't forget that the drawers can be opened and contain ten times more stuff than the glass enclosures. And it's free! read more

Pitt Rivers Museum - That's a mighty big totem pole. - Museums Near Me - Oxford, OXF

The Pitt Rivers Museum is both hilarious and fascinating. General Rivers agreed to donate all the random artifacts he had collected during his life on the condition that the museum organize everything his way, even if that way didn't really make sense. The result is a room packed randomly with items ranging from the breath-taking to the bizarre, from totem poles and canoes to shrunken heads and witches in bottles, all labeled by Rivers's own hand (I'm pretty sure.) You could wander around this room for hours and still not really see all that's inside. A definite must-see site for anyone visiting Oxford. read more

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Always fascinating and attached to the Natural History Museum so it's easy to combine both!

Definately a must when in Oxford. It is extremely excentric, and has a wonderful jumble of all sorts of things from the ordinary to the down right wierdmost notably the much commented on shruken heads! Its a great place to take kids to, and is a great day out. read more

Pitt Rivers Museum - Museums Near Me - Oxford, OXF

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great weapons section and the gender exhibit was cool, love the little minerals booth thing and all the dinosaurs. find it weird that its not more popular tbh. definitely rivals the ashmolean. read more

This is really a spectacular museum in Oxford that has a wide variety of interesting things to see. My favorites are the dinosaur skeletons and the room in the back with all sorts of native artifacts. Not exactly organized but interesting nonetheless. There is something for everyone. Well worth the time and short walk. It is laid out in a curious manner, so plan to spend some time to see everything. read more

Local friends told me to check this place out. They're so right, cool place. Victorian iron tracery supporting glass and more. And more as you look around and start to take in an astounding collection of objects from the world over, and from a time far before this one. I've spent hours here, and will again. Enjoy! read more

This is a real museum as museums should be. Feels Victorian. Last time I went it was raining and the floor was covered in buckets for the leaks. Dark and musty it is surely the inspiration for the Weird Museum kids books. Love the little native mannequin that jiggles and leaps around when you press the foot pedal. Full of quirks and unusual stuff. LOVE IT! read more

Great place, is it not? We all agree, so I shall skip over a review and mention an anecdote of my last visit there with my American fiance. A few teenagers wander in, with their very teenage way and attire. One of their number is stopped and told that he cannot come in as he has a drink with him. "AAhhhhhhh!!!", taunts his friend whilst pointing at him; "You are going to so miss out on the learning!!!!". How very Oxford. My fiance was rather amused and so was I. read more

I agree with everything that Flick has already said except for this museum being best appreciated by adults. It is a wonderful place and children love it. During the holidays and on Sundays the museum organises special events and museum trails especially for children. You can take part in craft activities inspired by the exhibits or borrow backpacks and torches and take part in an educational treasure trail around the museum. The museum is kept dark to protect the exhibits and this adds to the atmosphere but the torches aren't to provide you with light but to act as pointers. They do let you see a bit more detail but they also make it easy for children to point out what they are looking at. Instead of saying what is that? and pointing at a display full of hundreds of ear rings, they can shine the beam on the one they are talking about. The torches are such a good idea. This winter the museum is going to become an even better place to take older children as the film Golden Compass adapted from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is released. The first books are partly based in an alternative Oxford and the Pitt Rivers museum features in at least one of the books. (Ask a child - they'll be able to remember which one). Along with all the exhibits of toys and charms, jewelery and weapons children love the collecting box. When you put money in the slot the small statues of famous anthropologists all bend forward to see how much money you've put in and sometimes their eyes flash red and a bell sounds. Take lots of small change and you can keep a small child amused for ages. The recently built extension means there are now such luxuries as toilets and lifts as well as small lecture rooms. The web site has also been updated since I last looked at it. I've just spent far too long playing with it. I was trying to find out the story behind the collection box and instead I found that you can now get a 360 degree pictures of the museum! And, of course, the web site has lots of information about the collections and the special events. The museum is attached to the Natuaral History Musuem. So if you have one child keen on dinosaurs and one that likes arts and crafts then you can kill two birds with one stone (as long as the bird isn't one of the swifts that nest each year in the tower - and are appear on a TV near the entrance of the Natural History Museum) read more

Its funny how everyone mentions the shrunken heads - what does that say about us all? But they are kind of cool in a macabre way and not to be missed. Hard to add much to the great reviews already posted. But I definitely agree this is worth a visit. The British Museum it isn't, but a crammed, cramped room and balconies based around a single Victorian collection. True to its anthropological focus, cabinets are arranged around human themes (body decoration, way of death, music...) and will span centuries and continents making for fascinating juxtapositions of human artifacts. You enter through the Natural History Museum (also worth a visit) with the obligatory dinosaur and elephants skeletons. But it is the Pitt Rivers I love the most. read more

The Pitt Rivers museum is a wonderful one! with huge dinosaur bones! they have a great collection of all sorts of artifacts focusing mostly on science. The shrunken heads that were once there still scare me! they do alot of work with Oxford University too. its free which is always wonderful and they sell amazing crystals in the shop! read more

I agree with previous reviews - the Pitt Rivers is a real hidden gem, an absolute treasure trove and every time you go you can find something new to marvel at. It's so atmospheric in the gloom - my kids have all loved it. Highlights for us have to be of course the shrunken heads (I read a while back that they were considering removing them - this would be a tragedy!) Another favourite is the Witch's Bottle which carries an ancient curse and apparently contains the spirit of a witch so no-one has dared open it! My kids love to open all the drawers full of weird stuff in the ancient cabinets. I'm always surprised by how quiet it is in there - perhaps I've just been lucky, it certainly adds to the spooky feeling of the place. read more

Very eccentric and fun i think it is one of few museums that children will enjoy as much as the adults do. The best thing is that even if it is not to your liking, it is free!This museum perhaps should not be called a museum because it is very different to most that i have been in. More jumbled and messy then most museums it feels slightly more adventurous!! For the children and non faint of heart there are shrunken heads! yes - shrunken heads. If that does not make you visit here then i do not know what will! It kind of reminds me of the old travelling circus' - but without the cruelty. I wont go too in depth as i agree with all the reviews above so i will keep this short and sweet. I will say however that this is perhaps my number one tourist attraction for Oxford, and i have done quite a lot of sight seeing! read more

Free entry into here makes it a place not too miss out on, even if you go only to see the shrunken heads. They are not too gross, even for little ones, who I dont think realise what they are. The whole exhibition is very intrigueing, being the collection of the famous explorer. read more

Wonderful eclectic collection, from shrunken heads to dinosaur bones. Jam packed with curiosities that will entertain kids and adults. I imagine this is what a museum was like in the Victorian era. A refreshing change from the newer interactive 'push button' museums, which can seem rather ubiquitous. A child could still have a sense of discovery here, I know I did. Free to enter. Gets busy in school hols. Where else can you see a Dodo? read more

An excellent musuem following on from the ashmoleom, a truely amazing site for a musuem it has all the classics of a musuem skeletons , and shrunken head which this musuem is famous for , but other than that it offers a lot of history local and not so local with friendly advisors and staff and a nice gift shop to buy a memory of this truely amazing place. the msuem is open most days and is a great place for tourists to visit when in oxford im sure students will find inspiritation in this musuem as it is steeped in history from the world. read more

A wonderful rainy-day place to go with children of all ages, including the grown-up ones. Shrunken heads, weapons, toys, things to guess the function of - the Pitt-Rivers has something for everyone, especially those fascinated by 'disgusting' things. Cabinets and drawers to open add to the air of secrecy and discovery surrounding some of the items. The loos are excellent, and a very welcome addition. read more

I cannot blame this absurd menagerie of trinkets both young and old for frying my brain into submission. The brilliantly brimming Pitt Rivers has managed to accrue a vast array of nonsense by methods of which I doubt these days would be legal, but through a romantic lens of disbelief I can only chuckle away at how he did it. The Museum itself is a massive four storey room flanked on all sides by small galleries drenched in glass cases and cabinets bursting with oddities. From Sub-Saharan African tonsillectomy kits to North American eight barrelled revolvers, xylophones from Kathmandu to the infamous shrunken heads from the sinister depths of the Peruvian heartlands the Pitt Rivers serves up more than you can chew in one sitting. I'd need another day to properly absorb it but as the clock struck five it was up to an eccentric jobsworth to bellow commands across the vaults of the inner sanctum and beckon us towards the exits. 'Thats quite enough' he roared, and it probably was. read more

As far as Oxford Museums go, this is probably the museum goers museum. It lacks the fame and scale of the Ashmoleum but is slightly more quirky and eclectic. Stuffed into a rather tight space at the back of the also excellent natural museum are rows and rows of cabinets displaying artefacts from different times and places. A big draw are the shrunken heads - which it can be difficult to get to as the space is so small and the display so popular. It's in a nice part of Oxford and is also free....so hard to see a downside really! read more

Fun! A great place to visit, whether you're an adult or a child. The density of artifacts is extraordinary, and the whole place has a madman's funhouse appeal... read more

If it wasn't in Oxford I would visit the Pitt Rivers a whole lot more. It's a marvel of Victorian desire for knowledge. The personal collection of Lt Pitt Rivers is contained in this purpose built Victorian iron work structure. The amazingly varied and, if you tried to understand it confusing array of anthropological and architectural gems creates a fascinating journey through the mind of Lt Rivers. These men were wealthy, driven and perhaps a little mad but that makes their collections all the more interesting to us now. Superb and Free. read more

As a visitor, I'd never heard of the place, but it really is excellent! The natural history collection is fairly modest, but well organised, so it spans everything from minerals to fossils, to full scale dinosaurs, weird parasites, and human evolution (not fun for creationists, maybe!), and all seems pretty scientifically up to date. The actual Pitt Rivers collection was a great surprise though! Such an astonishing quantity of fascinating oddities, all crammed higgledy-piggledy into one dingy room, it's part museum, part victorian sideshow, but really fun to explore. Feels like you could visit every day and always find something new to learn about. And, of course it's all free! So no excuse! read more

Pitt Rivers is my favorite museum in the history of ever. I love that you have to find it by going through another museum. I love that it's dark and cramped and crowded and smells a bit musty. I love that the artifacts are curated by theme and not by geography or era; you can see the similarities and differences between different cultures' takes on death, music, magic, and pretty much everything else. As with many museums in the UK, Pitt Rivers is free to enter and is totally kid-friendly - kids can pick up an activity booklet that points them towards specific items. You could spend hours in there, just wandering around trying to read the hand-written tags on each item. My favorite is the witch in a jar. read more

Gaze at dinosaur fossils and Alice in Wonderland's dodo at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, then investigate the world-famous collection of ethnography and world archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Enjoy a blast of fresh air afterwards whilst strolling around the adjacent University Parks - a great family day out, according to our Oxford team. read more

Not knowing what to expect, I made my way to the Pitt Rivers Museum on my daytrip to Oxford. I thought all was a lost cause when I didn't see any signs to this museum, but towards the end, I ran across the arrow pointing and gladly followed and was pleasantly surprised by what I came across. It's a bit out of the way, from city centre, I walked and kept thinking, "I must be going the wrong way..." but alas, I found it! Inside the FREE museum, there were dinosaur bones, stuffed animals you can touch that died of natural causes, rocks from outer space, this old tree from london, or somewhere in the UK that is on the 2nd floor. It's quite small so you can finish in about 30 minutes. It's quite a hands-on museum and you can get really close to objects from the past! I really loved this one rock, it looked so metallic...amazing..you can touch it too. Do give this place a visit, at least for a bit! read more

I did a Museum Studies Certificate in graduate school and heard so much about this museum. It met all my expectations! I love the very cabinet of curiosity settings; the cramped display cases, odd labels, and crazy objects (witch in a bottle is the best). This is a must see for all visitors to Oxford, and its free people! read more

This museum is amazing! So many different knick knacks from different periods of time. We were able to join a our group and I would highly recommend it if they have it during your visit. read more

This place is a must if you are staying in Oxford.

Wow, this is an unusual museum that is packed full of anthropological artifacts and exhibits. It is maybe not suitable for very small children, as some of the artifacts such as the shrunken heads are not for the faint hearted. Older children will relish the more macabre displays. As always in Oxford parking difficult so if you are not local, Park and Ride is the best option. read more

The Pitt Rivers museum is accessed through the back of the natural history museum and is full of cabinets containing everything from canoes to feather cloaks and shrunken heads! It's a fairly small museum with helpful staff on hand should you need them and entry is free. Definitely worth a visit as there's something of interest for everyone. read more

The Pitt Rivers is a fantastic place to visit. I've spent hours gazing into the many displays. Most people don't realise there are drawers underneath the display cabinets that can be opened to see more stuff. The PR is closing from July 2008 until Spring 2009 for a major refurbishment. The Museum of Natural History, which is in the front of the museum, will remain open. read more