The site is composed of about 50 buildings from across the South of England, ranging from the 13th to the 19th centuries. This corresponds to a period ranging from the medieval to Victorian eras. All buildings have been carefully disassembled, transported from their original sites, and rebuilt in the
Open Air Museum. Restoration work has been carried out where necessary.
Later this year, an Anglo-Saxon style wooden hall is to be finished; it will be historically accurate but is not restored like the other buildings. No wooden structures survive from the Anglo-Saxon era, so this is based on archaeological records of a house from 950 AD. When I was at the site the building was under construction, but was taking form nicely; it was visibly recognisable as a Saxon building. The Gateway Project, which aims to reconstruct dismantled buildings, is also underway.
We visited several houses around the site, which were very interesting to explore, especially compared with each other. The variations in house age made it possible to witness the differences between medieval, Tudor and early modern housing After early modern housing it was possible to witness the innovations made over the ages. Some of the houses had guides who were well-educated and very helpful. Many of the houses had period-appropriate gardens as well, for example there were no potatoes in the Tudor gardens. None of the houses had modern heating, although they had either firepits or fireplaces, and none of them had obvious electricity either. Some of the houses, like Tindalls Cottage had discreet electric lights for safety. All of the buildings were furnished, some very modestly, and others more comfortably. This was based on the affluence of the inhabitants.
This is an image of one of the information booklets present in each building, which describe where the building was originally located, when it was built, and who lived in it.
