Yorkshire Museum of Farming
Murton Park, York, England | |
Type | Farming Museum, Living History Centre |
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Website | http://www.murtonpark.co.uk/ |
The Yorkshire Museum of Farming is located in
The museum has built up a large collection of artefacts that illustrate the history of farm mechanisation. The collection also contains domestic items and other documentary material relating to the social structure of rural life in the area. Events are held throughout the year relating to rural and farming themes. There is also a children's play area and a cafe.
The site is also home to the last surviving stretch of the Derwent Valley Light Railway, part of whose archive is also in the museum's collection.
The museum shares the site with the
History and collection
The museum opened in 1982. It was originally designed to house a growing collection of farm machinery that had been donated by various farms from North and East Yorkshire to the East Yorkshire Farm Machinery Preservation Society and stored at Burton Constable.
The core of the collection focuses on the development of the mechanisation of farming during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A wide variety of items are on display, divided between two main exhibition galleries, the Four Seasons Gallery and the
The Four Seasons Gallery looks at the farming year, and the different practices and tools which are used across the four seasons. In 2013 a new exhibition opened; Feeding the Nation: A Celebration of the Women's Land Army is located on the upper floor of the Four Seasons Building. Funded by the Heritage Lottery fund, the exhibition showcases some of the museum's rich Land Army collection and includes audio points featuring interviews with ex-members and film footage.
The Livestock building considers the rearing and farming of a variety of types of livestock. This also includes a display of the contents of the James Herriot's (Alf Wight) veterinary surgery.
The museum is also home to a large manuscript archive which can be viewed on appointment. Subjects covered in the archive include:
Farming families
During 2007-2008, a project which involved interviewing a number of different farming families was completed. This provides an audiovisual display of different types of farms from around Yorkshire, including dairy, sheep, pigs and
Derwent Valley Light Railway
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/DVLR_and_farming_museum_-_2009-06-21.jpg/220px-DVLR_and_farming_museum_-_2009-06-21.jpg)
The museum lies on the trackbed of the Derwent Valley Light Railway - a privately owned standard-gauge railway which ran from Layerthorpe, on the outskirts of York, to Cliffe Common near Selby. This closed in 1981, but a small section has been restored as part of the museum. It opened in 1993, and incorporates a station building formerly located at Wheldrake. There is approximately 0.75 miles (1.21 km) of track running along the original trackbed towards York.[3]
Gallery
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Front display area in main barn
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Rear display area in main barn
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Middle display area in main barn
References
- ^ "List of accredited museums in the UK". mla.gov.uk. 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "North Yorkshire goat becomes official squadron mascot". BBC News Online. BBC. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Waudby, Mark (October 1999). "The Blackberry Line". The Railway Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
External links
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