Richard Jefferies Museum
Volunteer-run museum in the 19th-century farm where the nature writer Richard Jefferies was born, with free entry and limited opening days.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Richard Jefferies Museum stands in the old farm at Coate, near Swindon, where the Victorian nature writer Richard Jefferies was born on 6 November 1848. The Jefferies family bought the seventeenth-century thatched cottage in 1800, and a later three-storey farmhouse stands beside it.
Jefferies wrote about the countryside in newspaper journalism, essays, children's novels such as Wood Magic and Bevis, and the novel After London. Much of the collection, including first editions, the manuscript of Wood Magic, photographs, paintings and memorabilia, is on loan from the Richard Jefferies Society, which kept the museum alive for many years.
The site is owned by Swindon Borough Council and run by the Richard Jefferies Museum Trust, a volunteer-run charity with no regular outside funding. It is accredited by Arts Council England. Rooms have been restored to give the feel of a mid to late nineteenth-century farmhouse, with a four-poster bed, a diorama of Jefferies as a boy and a cheese room, and the site also includes outbuildings, gardens, an orchard and a copse.
Highlights
- Birthplace and family home of the writer Richard Jefferies
- First editions and the manuscript of Wood Magic
- Restored farmhouse rooms with a four-poster bed and a cheese room
- Diorama of Jefferies as a boy reading on his bed
- Gardens, orchard and copse with a mud kitchen for children
Permanent exhibition
- Richard Jefferies and the Victorian farmhouse – Restored farmhouse rooms and displays on the life and writings of Richard Jefferies, with first editions, manuscripts and memorabilia.
- Operated by
- Richard Jefferies Museum Trust (owner: Swindon Borough Council)
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Entry to the museum is free. Nature Tots sessions are charged (first child £3.50, each additional child £2.50).
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The museum is a Victorian farm and is not particularly accessible, especially for wheelchair users. The upstairs gallery has no disabled access. The museum says it tries to accommodate visitors with disabilities where it can.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
- Family tours & workshops
- Hands-on stations
- Playground / play area
Nature Tots runs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 12:00 for ages 0 to 5 with carers (Nature Kids for primary-age children in school holidays), with crafts, stories and songs. Booking is required from May to September. Families can explore the enclosed gardens and woodland and use the mud kitchen.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
The Coate Water miniature railway has a halt called Richard Jefferies Halt at the museum.
By car
Parking available
In spring and summer visitors park at Coate Water; the gate to the museum gardens is in the top left corner of the Coate Water overflow car park. There is limited parking at the museum itself.
The museum is on the Swindon cycle network with traffic-free routes to its gates and has cycle parking on site.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
The museum café sells hot drinks and cakes (cash or card) when it is open, for example during Nature Tots sessions. Cycle parking is on site.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
The one-room upstairs gallery can be hired for exhibitions (£150 for 4 weeks), and the café can be opened for private views on Friday or Saturday evenings.
Plan your visit
| Good to know | Special visits and group visits can be arranged outside the normal hours by contacting the museum. |
|---|
