Welcome to the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum... We’re pleased that you’ll be coming to visit us shortly and here is some information before your visit!

When you arrive Lucy, Nancy or another member of the team will meet you in the car park, just outside this building (our shop/entrance)...

...then we’ll take you into the site, give a short welcome and answer any questions. You can then start to explore! This is the market square area

Near the market square you can see some of our Victorian buildings, for example this is the Victorian school Go inside and take a look! The building on the right was a stable for the teacher’s horse.

We don’t use this as a stable any more, but we do have working shire horses at the Museum. Their names are Mac, Major and Neville. You can see where they are from a board at the stables.

Bayleaf farmhouse is one of our Tudor buildings, this is the doorway. Please go in and talk to our stewards. You will find them in different buildings and they will be happy to talk to your group. When it is cold there will be a fire in the hall.

Our Museum is now just over 40 years old and was founded to look after houses, workshops and other buildings in our region of south-east England. They are not houses of the rich and famous, but where normal people lived and worked. For different reasons they were at risk of destruction and moved, in some cases brick by brick, to the Museum site.

We want to share them with you and explain what life was like at different times in the past. So you can... look inside the buildings...

find out how people cooked (in Winkhurst Tudor kitchen) and on some days you can also see some historic clothing... Do you think the clothes on the right look comfy?

see animals that people would have kept, for example pigs, cows, geese, chickens and horses.

Do remember to go into the mill to talk to our millers. Have a look to see if there is a blacksmith working in the forge.

It is a big site so you won’t see everything. Each group decides what is most of interest to them. We hope that you enjoy your visit!