Weald & Downland Living Museum

Come and discover traditional buildings in a rural landscape that tell the story of the men, women and children who lived and worked in them over a 600-year period.

You can explore the 40-acre site and visit some of our 50 exhibit buildings. Many of our exhibit houses are furnished to recreate historic domestic interiors.

We have a regular programme of domestic and craft demonstrations, including cooking in our Tudor kitchen; milling flour in our working watermill; blacksmithing in our Victorian smithy; plus other seasonal demonstrations.

The Museum has an extensive artefact collection, which is housed in our award-winning Downland Gridshell Building and a comprehensive reference library covering all aspects of our work, housed in the building from Crawley.

You can walk in the woods, bring the dog, visit the café or bring a picnic.

Perhaps you would like to try a special event day, inspired by the Museum’s collections? These include the Food & Folk Festival, Rare Breeds Show, Vintage & Steam, and the Autumn Countryside Show.

We also run an extensive programme of adult-education courses in traditional rural trades and crafts, historic domestic life and building conservation.

Groups welcome and discounts are available – see our website for details.