Charles Burrell Museum

About the museum

The museum is housed in the former paint shop of Charles Burrell & Sons, a Grade II listed building in Minstergate, Thetford. The firm was founded in Thetford in the late eighteenth century and became the town’s main employer, building almost 4,000 steam and traction engines as well as agricultural machinery, steam wagons and tram engines. Its engines were sold around the world until the works closed in 1928. The paint shop is one of three Burrell factory buildings that still stand in Minstergate.

The museum opened in 1991 and is run by volunteers, who rely on donations because admission is free. Static and working exhibits show how steam power was used in farming, for the travelling showmen who towed fairground rides, and for steam wagons built for the Boer War and the First World War. The museum looks after three working Burrell engines: a traction engine built in 1902, the engine Queen Mary of 1920 and an eight-ton road roller of 1927. The engines are usually kept in the paint shop but are steamed outdoors on opening and end-of-season days.

Since 2013 the museum has also displayed Jones’s butcher’s van from the television comedy Dad’s Army, which belongs to the Dad’s Army Museum in Thetford and is shown subject to availability.

Highlights

• Three working Burrell steam engines
• Former Burrell paint shop, a Grade II listed building
• History of the Burrell works, which built almost 4,000 engines
• Jones’s butcher’s van from Dad’s Army (subject to availability)
• Free entry and a volunteer-run café

Permanent exhibitions

• Burrell engines and works history – Static and working exhibits on the Burrell works, with three working steam engines and the history of the people who built them.
• Jones’s van from Dad’s Army – The butcher’s delivery van from the television series, on loan from the Dad’s Army Museum and shown subject to availability.

Founded

1991

Operated by

Charles Burrell Museum (CIO)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free; the museum is run by volunteers and depends on donations.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

• Café

The volunteer-run café is on the top floor but there is seating downstairs, and staff will bring food to the table on request. It serves hot and cold drinks, home-made cakes and an all-day full English breakfast, and is open on Tuesdays 10:00 to 14:30 and Saturdays 09:00 to 14:30.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.