Thursford Collection

About the museum

The Thursford Collection was founded by George Cushing, who was born in the Norfolk village of Thursford in 1904. As a child he was taken to a fair, which started a lifelong interest in fairground machinery and organs. After starting work with steam rollers in the 1920s he built up a contracting business, and in the late 1930s he began buying and restoring redundant steam engines at Laurel Farm, Thursford, as diesel lorries replaced steam.

In the early 1970s he opened a museum in old farm sheds, which later added a gift shop and tea rooms. In 1976 he set up a charitable trust to protect the collection, effective from 1977. George Cushing was awarded the MBE in 1989 and died in 2003, aged 98; the family continues to run the site.

The collection includes steam traction engines, mechanical organs and fairground rides. Its best-known pieces are a 19th-century Savages gondola switchback and gallopers, and the Wurlitzer organ with 1,339 pipes, said to be the fourth largest in Europe, which was rescued from a cinema in Leeds. The site is also known for its annual Christmas Spectacular show, which is a separate event from the museum.

Highlights

• World-famous collection of steam traction engines
• Wurlitzer organ with 1,339 pipes
• 1896 Savages gallopers and a gondola switchback
• Mechanical and fairground organs
• Live Wurlitzer concerts in the summer season

Permanent exhibitions

• Steam engines – A large collection of steam traction engines and other steam-powered machines.
• Organs and fairground rides – Mechanical organs, 1896 Savages gallopers, a gondola switchback and the Wurlitzer organ.

Founded

1970

Operated by

Thursford Collection charitable trust

Visitors per year

approx. 250,000

Admission & discounts

Adult prices depend on the season: £8 midweek in term time (listed as the regular price), £10 at weekends in term time and £12 on school and bank holidays. Tickets are paid for on the day at the Stable shop and cannot be bought in advance except for groups. Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families get half-price entry with a discount card.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• 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

Only assistance animals are allowed on site at all times. The Nimbus Disability Access Card scheme is accepted for essential companion tickets. The museum has an access statement on its website.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The site is about one mile off the A148, roughly halfway between Fakenham and Holt, with brown-and-white tourist signs at the turn-off. Sat nav postcode NR21 0AS; what3words guards.settle.enchanted.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Barn Café (food made to order, so queues can form at busy times), the Stable shop and a gift shopping village.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

The Thursford Garden Pavilion hosts weddings and events; the site also offers catering and private dining packages for groups.

Plan your visit