The Somerset Rural Life Museum is an open-air museum that tells the story of Somerset farm life during the Victorian era.
What to see at the Somerset Rural Life Museum
The museum’s highlight is a 14th-century barn that originally belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. It is a Grade I listed building built from shelly limestone, which functioned as a tithe barn used to store grain produced on the abbey’s home farm.
The Somerset Rural Life Museum has displays of farm machinery from the Victorian era as well exhibits depicting local crafts and farming techniques from this period. These include exhibits about cheese, cider and milk production as well as mud horse fishing and willow coppicing.
There is also a display with reconstructed rooms depicting life in the nearby village of Butleigh during the Victorian era. This display is structured to tell the life story of a local farmworker.
Many of these displays are housed inside the barn and there are also some exhibits in the courtyard. Other outdoor displays include a cider apple orchard, a beehive and rare breeds of poultry and sheep.
It is very much a hands-on museum with regular talks and demonstrations showing Victorian crafts and farming techniques.
Events and temporary exhibitions at the Somerset Rural Life Museum
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions and events. Current and planned exhibitions include:
Spinning a Yarn
Spinning a Yarn (until 30 November 2024) celebrates British wool, the farmers who produce it and the artisans who craft sustainable textiles. The Abbey Barn hosts Nicola Turner’s wool installation, exploring human connections to the material, while Trevor Pitt’s film Somerset Yarning documents local shepherds and wool artisans. The Mapstone Gallery features artefacts, oral histories, and works by artists such as Liz Clay, Penny Wheeler and Jade Ogden.
Visiting the Somerset Rural Life Museum
The Somerset Rural Life Museum is near the southeastern corner of the Glastonbury Abbey complex and it is around a 10-minute walk from Glastonbury’s town centre.
The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday between Easter and October and from Tuesday to Saturday during the remainder of the year. The admission charge allows you to make unlimited return visits within a one-year period.
Visitor facilities include a gift shop plus the Grain Store Cafe, where you can enjoy a cream tea or a light meal.
Allow around three hours for your visit as there is more to see at this museum than you would expect.
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