There’s a particular kind of person who becomes a volunteer at Weald & Downland Living Museum. They tend to be curious, enthusiastic, and deeply connected to the stories that the museum tells — stories about ordinary people, working landscapes, and the rhythms of rural life. David Reeve is exactly that kind of person.
David joined the volunteer team in November last year, making him one of our newer faces on site. But he’s no stranger to the Museum. For years, he’s been a member, drawn back time and again by a genuine fascination with social history and the richly layered world that Weald & Downland Living Museum brings to life.
“I’ve always been a member of the museum,” David explains. “I’m fascinated with social history, and it’s a great opportunity to talk to people about something that I’m enthusiastic about and interested in.”
That enthusiasm is impossible to miss. When David speaks about our houses and their history — particularly the agricultural past — there’s a warmth and energy to it that comes from something more than academic interest. It’s personal.
Roots in the Land
David’s family were farmers. That connection to the land, to the seasonal cycles and physical labour that shaped generations of rural communities, gives him a direct line to much of what this Museum exists to preserve and celebrate.
“My family are ex-farmers,” he says, “so I’m interested in agricultural history — and a lot of the Museum is associated with history from the countryside.”
Weald & Downland Living Museum is, at its heart, a museum of rural England. The historic buildings gathered here — barns, farmhouses, working mills, cottages — represent the lives of people who worked the soil, tended livestock, and built communities from the ground up. For someone with farming heritage, walking the site is something close to walking through family memory.
Learning Something New Every Day
One of the things David most values about volunteering is the way it keeps him learning. Talking to visitors, working alongside other knowledgeable volunteers, and engaging more deeply with the collections has opened up new dimensions of a subject he already loved.
“I’m learning something all the time,” he says simply. “It’s absolutely fantastic.”
That sense of ongoing discovery is one of the great gifts of volunteering at a living museum. The site is never static — there are always new questions being asked, new skills being demonstrated, new conversations being sparked. For someone with David’s curiosity, it’s an endlessly rewarding environment.
Get to know David! Watch his full video interview here:
Could You Be Our Next Volunteer?
David’s story is one we hear again and again: a lifelong interest in history, a love of the Museum, and a desire to be part of something meaningful. Whether your passion is agricultural heritage, building conservation, crafts, education, or simply welcoming visitors — there’s a place for you here.
If you’d like to find out more about volunteering at Weald & Downland Living Museum, check out our Volunteering Page or speak to a member of the team on your next visit. We’d love to hear from you.
