The Heritage Alliance is delighted to welcome the Weald & Downland Living Museum as a new member. Founded in 1970, the award-winning Weald & Downland Living Museum is a leading museum of historic buildings in England, covering 40 acres in the South Downs National Park in West Sussex. It includes over 50 historic buildings dating from 950AD to the nineteenth centuries, re-erected from their original sites in south east England, together with period gardens, traditional farm animals and a mill pond.
The exhibit buildings range from a reconstruction of a Saxon hall house to working buildings of the late 19th century. They are complemented by a collection, located in the Downland Gridshell Building, of building fixtures and fittings such as hinges, latches and doors, as well as larger structural elements and materials used in building construction and conservation.
The collections are designated as being of national importance in England, and the Museum has full accreditation. The Museum has an extremely strong commitment to lifelong learning; with extensive programmes for schools, adults in traditional rural trades and crafts and building conservation as well as running two MSc programmes validated by the University of York.