REBUILDING HISTORY

How a revolutionary idea dreamed up 50 years ago in Singleton became one of our best-loved heritage sites

- Jenny Mark-Bell

Today the Weald and Downland Living Museum is familiar to audiences nationwide as the location for the BBC’s gentle surprise hit The Repair Shop. In fact, according to museum director Simon Wardell, one in three visitors express an interest in the programme.

For those who haven’t seen it, the show sees experts repair and renovate treasured heirlooms and present them, good as new, to their owners. There are disarmingly moving moments and legions of fans. Last year Pointless host Richard Osman happily outed himself as “weeping at The Repair Shop, as usual.”

While visitors to the museum aren’t likely to meet the presenters or conservators when they visit – and the Court Barn building is closed due to filming – they will discover much of the same ideology. The 40-acre site is home to 53 historic buildings, dating from as early as 950 AD – all of which have been rescued from falling into oblivion and reconstructed on the site.

This month the museum celebrates its 50th anniversary of opening to the public on 5 September 1970. The extraordinary endeavour began when founder Roy Armstrong set out to stimulate interest in historical buildings, increasing awareness of traditional crafts, trades and industries. He was inspired by open-air museums in Europe, including two in Norway. To begin with, it was very much a shoestring operation, says Simon Wardell: “There are some amusing photographs of thatched cottages being rescued on a low loader, being driven through the gates and popped down in situ. We probably wouldn’t be allowed to get away with that these days.”