Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton, Sussex

A recent visit to the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, West Sussex., with my granddad (who can been seen in some of the pics!). The museum rescues old buildings from bygone eras and reconstructs them onsite, giving a flavour of what life was like for our ancestors. Most of the buildings are from Sussex, but some are from the surrounding counties of Hampshire, Kent and Surrey. My favourite was Poplar Cottage, a 17thc. labourer's cottage from Washington, Sussex. Rebuilt against the backdrop of the South Downs it looks very much at home in the landscape, complete with its beautiful garden of herbs, annuals, vegetables and fruit trees. All of the domestic dwellings have their own re-constructed gardens growing the relevant crops for their eras (there was wold growing in the Tudor garden). The buildings are various too, from the domestic: medieval labourer's cottages to the Tudor farmstead to Victorian railway workers cottages, to the industrial buildings like the water mill, granary, carpenter's and brickmaker's sheds and the shepherd's caravan and sheepfold. A fascinating place to visit set in some beautiful countryside. A very enjoyable experience.