A List of Public History in Midsomer

Midsomer County is a county steeped in tradition and nostalgia. There are plenty of historians and other residents who care about history, and there’s also public history. This area of historical studies includes everything that conveys history. They occupy a hybrid position between history and memory, which is ideal for Midsomer Murders. There are monuments, museums, re-enactment and traditions in general.

Note: This article is still a work in progress, so I’ll be adding to it as I go through the seasons. It’s not quite finished yet.

I’ll be going into more detail about why public history plays such an important role in Midsomer Murders in an upcoming article.

Museums and other exhibition rooms

Mama Lucy Museum (10×02: The Animal Within)
Museum inside the Plummer’s Relish factory (08×07: Sauce for the Goose)
Otto Benham’s private wine museum (08×06: Hidden Depth)
Museum of Aspern Tallow in the former home of Jonathan Lowrie (03×04: Beyond the Grave)
Causton Museum (02×03: Dead Man’s Eleven)
Stanton Museum with several tearooms (15×03: Written in the Stars)
Living Museum in Great Auburn by Sylvia Lennard (maybe) (19×01: The Village That Rose From the Dead)
Jane Austen Museum in Gemma Christie’s Tea Room (19×05: Death by Persuasion)
Midsomer Museum (09×01: The House in the Woods)
Midsomer Museum of the Family (21×02: The Miniature Murders)
Museum of Joan Alder in the restored Alder family home (08×08: Midsomer Rhapsody)
Ellis Bell Museum (06×04: A Tale of Two Hamlets)
Cully’s photo exhibition collected during her job with the mobile library (06×01: A Talent For Life)
Caradoc Singer’s secret art collection (14×05: The Sleeper Under the Hill)

The show also mentions two existing museums:

Ashmolean Museum -> contains a Celtic ritual spear and chalice from Midsomer Barrow (07×03: The Fisher King))
The British Museum -> a part of the Tyndale Bible is preserved here – and another part is now in Midsomer (11×05: The Magician’s Nephew)

Societies and associations that have something to do with history

Causton Archaeological Society (14×05: The Sleeper Under the Hill)
Observation Group of the Midsomer Museum (09×01: The House in the Woods)
„Causton Historical Society“ (15×01: The Dark Rider), or „Midsomer Historical Society“ (17×02: Murder By Magic, 19×01 The Village That Rose From the Dead, 22×06: The Witches of Angel’s Rise). In season 17, Sarah Barnaby is the secretary. In season 22, she is chairwoman.
Luxton Deeping Photographic Society (10×06: Picture of Innocence)
Skimmington Society (09×05: Four Funerals and a Wedding)
Midsomer Worthy’s Gilbert & Sullivan Society (01×01: Written in Blood)
Fletcher’s Cross Ramblers Association (02×03: Dead Man’s Eleven)
Hogson Society (12×02: The Black Book)
Midsomer Conservation Society (13×07: Not in My Backyard)

Re-Enactments

Historical arrangement for the filming of “The House of Satan 2”, in which Joyce Barnaby is also involved (06×04: A Tale of Two Hamlets)
Medieval Tournament (08×04: Bantling Boy)
The Skimmingtons’ Ride (09×05: Four Funerals and a Wedding)
Dance in the spirit of the War 40s (10×01: Dance with the Dead)
Historical arrangement for the filming of “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, in which Joyce Barnaby is also involved (10×07: The Seek Him Here)
Re-enactment of the events of the first day of the Battle of the Somme (11×01: Shot at Dawn)
Unveiling of the bust of Sayers by Queen Victoria (Joyce Barnaby) and attempted re-enactment of the boxing match between Sayers and Heenan at the historic site (13×06: A Noble Game)
Re-enactment of the events of the Battle of Naseby, deliberately with a false ending (15×01: The Dark Rider)
(I’ll only add this publicly once the episode has aired in the UK) (24×01: The Devil’s Work)