About Us

Because it was ordinary, rural life wasn’t always treated as “history.” It happened in kitchens and yards, in calloused hands and early starts. When the buildings went, so did the everyday stories they held.

We are the living heart of rural history, saving and sharing the buildings, skills and ways of the Weald and Downland so everyone can hold that thread of connection, and know they belong.

Here, you get close to what it felt like. Ordinary lives are made to feel vividly present as you step inside over 50 rescued historic and working buildings, travelling through 1,000 years of rural life, learning the human and material stories that each has to tell.

Outside, the whole rural system can be seen in motion, with humble cottage gardens and a living rural landscape, where people and animals work side by side through the seasons.

You’re encouraged to get involved too. This is a ‘Do Touch’ place, with a have a go spirit for all ages. From first discoveries to talks and workshops, specialist craft training and accredited MSc study, we turn ‘hands-on’ experiences into lasting learning.

There’s something for every season, and always a reason to return: the changing landscape, the rhythms and rituals of the rural year, and the events that bring generations together, time and again.

All you need to do is arrive and take life at the pace you need, rain or shine. Find a cosy corner, enjoy something tasty from our cafe, a walk with the dog, a splash in a puddle, a browse in our repair-and-reuse inspired shop.

Because rural life isn’t only in the past. It matters now. In a world that needs more human connection, practical sustainable knowledge and the confidence to make do and mend.

This is the precious un-precious. A legacy and rare collection of everyday buildings, objects and a library that’s cared for, and shared, so everyone can immerse in it, feel part of it, and carry it forward, keeping rural life alive.

A Leading Museum of Historic Buildings

Founded in 1970, the award-winning Weald & Downland Living Museum is a leading museum of historic buildings in England, covering 40 acres in the South Downs National Park in West Sussex.

It includes over 50 historic buildings dating from 950AD to the 19th century, re-erected from their original sites in south east England, together with period gardens, traditional farm animals and a mill pond.

The exhibit buildings range from a reconstruction of a Saxon hall house to working buildings of the late 19th century. They are complemented by a collection, located in the Downland Gridshell Building, of building fixtures and fittings such as hinges, latches and doors, as well as larger structural elements and materials used in building construction and conservation.

The Museum also holds excellent collections relating to rural life, including agriculture, domestic life, trades and industries, and transport. A library of printed books, maps and other published materials relevant to the collections is held by the Museum for study purposes. The collections are ‘Designated’ as being of national importance in England, and the Museum has full “Accreditation”.

As well as bringing to life the homes, farmsteads and rural industries represented by its collections and exhibits, other themes are strongly represented at the Museum, including landscape, agriculture, animal husbandry, science and sustainability. Interpretation is achieved mainly through people, together with modest panel displays and publications. There are no plans to introduce electronic gadgets.

The Museum has an extremely strong commitment to lifelong learning. In addition to 20–25,000 children visiting in school parties every year, the Museum operates as a private sector training provider, selling over 3,600 student-days of adult teaching and training every year, with a broad spectrum of provision from workshop-based skills training to two graduate courses run in association with University of York.