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Amberley Museum, West Sussex

 

Industrial steam locomotives in the quarry pit at Amberley - this image is copyright free

Amberley Working Museum has a range of exhibits dedicated to the industrial history of south east England. There are many exhibits devoted to what was actually the pre-industrial age. Various crafts are demonstrated, from broom making, production of cane furniture, to walking stick making. You will also be able to see the work of a stained glass maker and a blacksmith. But it is with the example of a blacksmith that the great eighteenth century economist Adam Smith described the coming of the industrial age, which left blacksmiths behind. Adam Smith's classic of economics Wealth of Nations opens by describing a blacksmith working in a small village. This blacksmith might only be able to make twenty pins a day, and for a small village twenty pins a day would be plenty. But as communications improved opening up bigger markets, twenty pins a day would not do. Adam Smith describes the process of pin making being broken down into its constituent parts, each worker becoming an expert in their own little part of the process, allowing productivity to increase massively. And this is where industrial society really began.

Amberley with its crafts people and local volunteers has the air of a cottage industry, and perhaps misses that sense of scale which is the essence of modern industry. However, there are exhibits that give an idea of early means of transport which opened up markets to industrial mass production. Amberley has an impressive collection related to the development of modern communications. There is a collection of early British industrial narrow gauge railway locomotives, and motor buses, and an exhibition dedicated to road building. Motor car history is represented by a reconstruction of a 1930's automotive repair shop. In the wider sphere of communications, exhibits explore the history of printing, telephones, radio, and telecommunications.

The museum is actually situated in a former industrial site, a chalk quarry, and as such is a interesting place to explore modern concerns. It reminds me, unexpectedly enough, of the Tate Modern in London, a museum created in a huge industrial setting featuring art which characteristically uses and explores industrial techniques. In its own way Amberley Museum does the same thing. There are walks around the site looking at the geology and industrial archeology of the area. The quarry tunnel at Amberley was actually used as a film location in the James Bond film A View To A Kill, playing the part of Mainstrike Mine.

 

Opening Times: open from 21st March until 4th November, Wednesday to Sunday, and on bank holidays, 10am - 5pm, last admission 3.30pm.

Open daily during local school holidays - use contact details below if in doubt. Also open for February half term, 11th February to 19th February 2012.

Directions: The museum is half way between Arundel and Storrington on the B2139 in West Sussex. Click here for an interactive map centred on Amberley Museum.

Address: Amberley Museum And Heritage Centre, near Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 9LT

Access: All exhibition areas have level access. Nature trails are not suitable for wheelchairs. Adapted toilet facilities are provided. There is also a large text guide sheet available.

Contact:

telephone: 01798 831370

e-mail: office@amberleymuseum.co.uk

http://www.amberleymuseum.co.uk/