NOSTALGIA hangs in the air like wood smoke at the Rural Life Living Museum in Surrey.
From the clink of hammer on metal in the blacksmith’s forge to the hiss of a steam engine idling in the woods nearby, this is a world firmly rooted in the past, from Victorian schoolroom to 1940s prefab or 1950s village shop.
Different eras merge into a kaleidoscope of sights, smells and sensations, some reassuringly familiar to older visitors, many offering snapshots of a long-lost lifestyle and landscape that feels light years removed from the fast-changing world of 21st-century Britain.
Perhaps the nicest thing about this “living” museum is the freedom to wander around at your own pace without an army of uber-efficient guides wanting to badger you with information at every turn, as you find at some heritage properties.
On a quiet day you can find yourself alone in a building, which only adds to the authenticity of the atmosphere.
Dogs are welcome too, and a myriad unusual scents provide a wealth of intriguing distractions at every turn, from creosote and carbolic to old linen and oiled wood.
Nestled away beside the pretty village of Tilford in the Surrey Hills, the museum was founded by Madge and Henry Jackson, an inspiring couple whose initial idea of creating an intriguing garden full of fabulous ornaments sparked a lifelong fascination with historic artefacts.
It all began when they unearthed a horse-drawn plough in the woods while on a visit to Hampshire and got permission to take it home for use as a garden ornament.
Realising that similar agricultural implements used by earlier generations were being lost and destroyed, they started to visit farm sales and local auctions, rapidly building a collection that soon grew through donations of wagons, binders and hand tools.
Finding sufficient space to house the collection posed another challenge, prompting the couple to acquire a series of old buildings and barns from the local area. Nowadays the museum boasts more than 30 buildings spread across 15 acres, housing more than 40,000 artefacts.
It’s a lot to take in – probably too much for a single visit, so perhaps it’s best to just go with the flow and meander towards the disused farm buildings where the original agricultural museum was opened in the 1970s, passing Madge and Henry’s house on the way.
There’s time to nose around the Arcon MK V Prefab and appreciate just why these 1940s homes proved so popular with families when they sprang up after the Second World War.
With their big windows, indoor toilets and proper heating, they offered a taste of luxury compared with the cramped living conditions faced by many families in the postwar years.
Intended as a short-term fix to the severe housing shortages of the time, the homes could be erected in a day but continued to be used for much longer than the 10 years that they were originally designed to last.
Another throwback to the 1940s is a wooden hut from the camp built by the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1941 on MOD land near to the village of Thursley, a few miles away.
Named in honour of Lord Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, the 15th Governor General of Canada, Tweedsmuir served as a transit camp for Canadian Army troops during the war and later became home to many Polish ex-servicemen and their families until it closed in the early 1960s.
After pausing to study an exhibition dedicated to the families who spent so many years in the camp, it’s perhaps time to take a short trip on the 2ft gauge Old Kiln Light Railway, where volunteers operate the short line round the perimeter of the museum, on some days using restored steam engines.
It’s a good way to get a feel for the scale of Henry and Madge’s collection, which has become a formidable educational resource, introducing new generations to lost aspects of our rural heritage, from agricultural and forestry implements to specialist craft skills or what life was like as a wartime evacuee.
The Woodyard is a typical 1950s style working sawmill, complete with old rack bench and several vintage tractors. Nearby there’s an exhibition about shepherding and woodturning, displays of farm tools from all over the world, a range of traditional village shops and even the chance to see inside a traditional showman’s caravan.
There’s an 18th-century granary used to store threshed grain and built on mushroom-shaped staddle stones to prevent mice getting in, and a range of 19th-century buildings like the prefabricated chapel from Eashing dating from 1857 which later became a library, timber store and even a chicken coop.
Like the village hall, laundry and schoolroom, the chapel has its own story to tell, having been set up by a group of residents who became so alienated with the congregational church that they built their own on land belonging to the owner of the local paper mill.
From here, there are still plenty more buildings to explore, from air raid shelters to a shepherd’s hut and even a homely little wooden cabin from Box Hill that was probably one of the first ever holiday chalets.
There’s a little gypsy encampment in the woods where there’s an opportunity to appreciate the imposing height of an ornate gypsy caravan and find out more about the lifestyle of those families who moved around the country taking seasonal rural work.
The horse-drawn vardo or Romani wagon was a familiar sight from the mid-19th century until the 1920s, typically highly decorated, intricately carved and brightly painted, with large wheels set outside the body.
A glimpse through the window gives a hint of the inviting appeal of the interior, which might typically have been fitted out with built-in seats, a glass-fronted china cabinet, a wardrobe and bunks in the rear.
As with all of the exhibits in the museum, finding out about past is not simply about a melancholic yearning for past times. It’s clear there’s nothing easy, sedentary or idealistic about the lifestyles portrayed here.
But as Henry might have put it: “Looking back helps us understand. Then we can look forward sharing knowledge and inspiring new ideas.”
With a range of school visits and adult courses on offer, outreach and community days add a bit more structure to the learning, while special events throughout the year range from tractor rallies and fire engine days to summer fairs, working weekends, May Day celebrations and recreation of the village at war.
Hidden away in such a picturesque corner of Surrey, it’s the perfect place for a reflection on the changing social history of rural villages and agricultural practices, with many old crafts brought vividly to life by volunteers. Madge and Henry would be proud that their legacy lives on so vibrantly.
