Hornsea Museum

About the museum

Hornsea Museum stands on Newbegin, the main street of Hornsea, in what was Burns Farm, which the Burn family farmed for nearly 300 years. The farmhouse dates from the late 16th century, with a second brick storey added around 1740. The museum is a registered charity and an accredited museum and is staffed almost entirely by volunteers.

The farmhouse rooms are furnished in Victorian style, with a country kitchen, parlour, bedroom, dairy and washhouse, and three rooms host changing displays. In the garden and outbuildings visitors find workshops with hand farm tools, joiners' and wheelwrights' tools and a blacksmith's shop, an 18th-century barn showing farming through the seasons, and a Victorian schoolroom in Swallow Cottage.

Other displays cover the Hull to Hornsea railway and the town's fishing history, old photographs of Hornsea and nearby villages, and more than 2,000 pieces made by Hornsea Pottery between 1949 and its closure in 2000.

Highlights

• Victorian-style farmhouse rooms with an inglenook fireplace
• More than 2,000 pieces of Hornsea Pottery from 1949 to 2000
• Workshops with farm, joiners' and wheelwrights' tools and a blacksmith's shop
• 18th-century barn and Victorian schoolroom
• Displays on the Hull to Hornsea railway, fishing, shipwrecks and lifeboats

Permanent exhibitions

• Burns Farm farmhouse and workshops – Victorian-style farmhouse rooms, a dairy and washhouse, and workshops with farm, joiners' and wheelwrights' tools and a blacksmith's shop.
• Hornsea Pottery collection – More than 2,000 pieces tracing the Hornsea Pottery company from 1949 until its closure in 2000.
• Railway and fishing – Displays in the Whitedale building on the Hull to Hornsea railway and the history of fishing in the town.

Founded

1978

Operated by

Hornsea Museum (registered charity)

Admission & discounts

Craft days and special events are excluded from the standard prices. Visitors can leave for a café or restaurant in town and return on the same day without paying again (hands are stamped).

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Ramps give access to all ground-floor areas. The first floor can be seen through videos and photographs on a digital display in the farmhouse ground floor. Motorised wheelchairs and scooters are not suitable, some internal doors are narrow and some farmhouse rooms are dimly lit. There is an accessible toilet. Only trained guide and assistance dogs are allowed.

Kids & families

Under 5s are free and a family ticket is available. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. The garden has picnic benches and games, and there is a Victorian schoolroom to see.

Getting there & parking

The museum is at 11–17 Newbegin; the entrance is through the museum shop.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Museum shop

There is no café in the museum. The gift shop sells publications about the area and the entrance is through the shop; the garden has picnic benches and games. Refreshments (cakes, biscuits and hot drinks) can be pre-booked for groups.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit