Museum of The Horse

Open Mon-Fri 8.30 am - 5pm and Sta 8.30am-2pm. The Museum of The Horse has been constructed in an old coaching inn, The Newcastle Arms, in a small town called Tuxford in Nottinghamshire. It is very easy to get to being just one minute off the A1 at Tuxford in Nottinghamshire which is 14 miles North of Newark and 20 miles south of Doncaster. The museum has its own car park behind it accessed off Newcastle Street, either through the arch or via the small lane at the end of the first block of buildings. It is a privately funded museum so we do make a small charge, £4 for adults and £2 for OAPs and Children under 12. Unfortunately there is no disabled access to the museum but we are working on this. The museum has been formed from my own private collection, a collection made up over a lifetime. (I am pretty old!) There are over 1000 pieces on show and I could gaurantee there will be something you have never seen before in it, even if you have been with horses all your life and travelled worldwide. There are some very unusual items. In most cases there will be a lot of things you have never seen before! You don't have to be a horse person to enjoy it. It reflects the way we used to live in the 18th and 19thC and people who have visited have been quite surprised by some of the things that had never occurred to them. It does go back a lot further than the 18thC. There are actually bits from 600BC as well as Roman, Celtic and Medieval pieces. It tells the story of the development of the side saddle, of the breeding policies in England, of competition and of military equipment. It has a heavy horse section and a carriage and coaching section. There is a clothing department which my staff say is creepy because the clothes are on models and look like the real thing! There are unusual items from many parts of the world. To look at everything and to take it all in takes more than one visit. When you have had enough there is an excellent coffee shop on the premises where you can have a light lunch or tea with delicious hoomemade cakes. Downstairs in The Newcastle you can visit the Sally Mitchell art gallery which has hundreds of high quality limited edition sporting prints, beautiful greetinsg and Christmas cards and a range of gifts. Most of all it has wonderful original paintings. You can buy all your Christmas shopping in the village if you hate towns. The gallery price range for gifts is £4 - £10,000 so there really is something for everyone! There is a country clothing store next door and a modern art gallery a few doors along. There is a good portrait photographer the coffee shop is also a floritsts. Tuxford has other attractions too so it is well worth making a day of it or even a weekend in the area. In Tuxford there is a working windmill where you can buy flour made in the mill and have food too. There is a fabulous museum of handcarts and a rare early Victorian lock up. We are only about three miles from Laxton where strip farming can still be seen and also The Holocaust centre. In the opposite direction at West Markham is one of the oldest churches in England, a wonderful little Saxon church. We are close to Robin Hood's Sherwood forrest and on the other side Lincoln a lovely small city to visit. If you would like more details about the area give us a ring 01 777 838 234