Cambridge and County Folk Museum, Cambridge

Today Caoimhín and I visited the Cambridge and County Folk museum which is situated on Castle Street in Cambridge city centre. This is a private museum separate from the university run by a very small core team and  large number of volunteers. The more intimate setting of the museum and the warm atmosphere within makes it a refreshing change from the, at times, slightly more imposing university museums.

The museum is housed in the  old White Horse Inn the earliest parts of which date back to the late 16th century. The inn was run by from 1901 up until 1933 and was transformed into a museum in 1936 in an attempt to preserve fast fading ways of life for the education of the generations to follow.  The building itself is made of wattle and daub and within the shop a small display of this has been made.  Winning points with us on one of our crusades – museums that recognise their own structures as history.

The museum is mainly separated into displays partially relating to the different areas of the building that is the bar, the kitchen and partially by aspects of Cambridgeshire such as the University and the  Fenlands.  The Bar, which is the first display you encounter upon entering the museum is also one of the best displays within the building. In  the corner of this  room is the original bar of the  White Horse Inn complete with barrels, glasses, jugs and even an old sugar loaf. This is the area of the museum which I think has stayed most true to that original ambition to preserve a snapshot of life for the future and a fantastic snapshot in time it is. This is an extremely rich and display with fascinating little details – don’t miss the 1937 graffiti on the glass panes at the front of the bar for example.

The second half of the room is a hodgepodge of pub treasures such as a collection of clay pipes and my own personal favourite the old pub sign. Extending into the snug area is a random set of displays including a  display of the earliest Hoovers. The one criticism I would have about these displays is that although the the theme begins consistently with the Inn display, this tails off as you pass through into the snug and while some things are clearly identified and labelled others have been not. Both the inconsistency of theme and a persistent lack  in labelling articles crop up at times in other displays throughout the building and is what I  must call one of the only flaws in the museum.

Travelling onwards you pass into the kitchen, which I personally love, due to the sheer  quantity of items lain out where ever possible as they would originally have been. The objects on display range from an example fireplace, table and nearly every kitchen implement imaginable. A wonderful progression can be seen from the eighteenth century up until the 1930’s with the first electric irons, and early refrigerators beginning to appear. The display does show the huge amount of effort that cooking cleaning and simply running such a large area must have took even with all the mod cons of the day-  watch out for an early washing machine.

Overall the museum is very child friendly with the kitchen table in the centre of the room usually having some form of look and touch display. The child friendly aspect is repeated in other rooms of the house where possible and gets a big thumbs up.

As you progress onwards from the kitchen what will be a problem for some becomes apparent in that the rest of the house is navigated via narrow spiral stair cases and narrow passageways. While there is access to the upper floors by lift this aspect of the building and the fact that you often  have negotiate a step while moving  from room to room in these  narrow areas can make things difficult for wheelchair users. Upstairs the themed aspects of the house slip away to a certain degree although fascinating items are to be found galore. I loved the old linen press seen upon entering the university display where freshly washed linen was stored to keep it neat. Interestingly in Ireland cupboards are often still referred to as presses making me wonder if this is the originator of the phrase. Once again there are artefacts on display although this time behind glass and there are also quiz questions laid out for children.

Naturally any depiction of Cambridge must include life with the university and  the folk museum does so with an interesting if extremely bitty display. I must regard the university display as one of the most inconsistent within the museum. There is a reasonable amount of information depicting the university from its  founding including the religious influence and  the ongoing town and gown issues however the display jumps from one picture of the university to another; for example it discusses how the students of the university were incredibly poor and yet another board describes how there were only six labourers sons in the university and the remainder being wealthy men during a similar time period. In the same way the town and gown rivalry and the issue of women within the university flit back and forth between various depictions almost as though the writers can’t quite decide upon their own personal opinion of the university. While containing some interesting artefacts such as old maps and manuscripts the display really suffers from a lack of overall shape and focus. The  room does also contain a very interesting apothecary display however the WW2 display looks a little.

Other rooms in the house contain a very interesting display of crafts, most of which have died out in the last hundred years or more, within Cambridgeshire and returning to the household theme a child’s room. The child’s room displays a beautiful collection of dolls some old examples of cribs and a perambulator (circa 1895). While interesting this room is very bland unlike the bar and kitchen downstairs and to be honest was a bit of a disappointment to me.  It showed many of the standard dolls and items but failed to enlighten me on the particular character of childhood in Cambridge. The crafts display while still interesting similarly did not contain quite  so much of the vibrant atmosphere found downstairs. Overall these displays could really benefit from a bit more shape and a better balance between the artefacts on show and the information provided.

In contrast to the rooms aforementioned and of fantastic interest is the fenlands exhibition.  This display shows various aspects of fenland life ranging from the practical to folklore and superstition. It contains everything from farming equipment to shoes and a beautiful little display on different remedies such as moles feet to help with rheumatism and 18th century witch bottles buried outside a house to keep it safe. This is a lovely display of rural Cambridgeshire and life without the university domination experienced within the city centre. With suitable display boards it mixes treasures and information in a good balance

Finally the attic contains a lovely exhibition of children’s toys from the Edwardian era up until the 1950s. This is a far more lively display than that shown in the children’s room and I think it surpasses the children’s room in what it was aiming to convey. Helping the atmosphere a lot is the fact that this is the most spacious area in the museum with a box of replica toys for children to try out for themselves. There are some fantastic examples of old dolls houses and a Punch and Judy set that may bring back memories for many visitors. This room recaptures the energy that shone through in the bar and the kitchen that had become a bit lacklustre in some parts of the upstairs area and is a must not merely for  those that have children but for all visitors.

Not to be forgotten downstairs besides the shop (which is a veritable treasure trove  in its own right) the museum holds a temporary exhibit   currently on photography with examples of early cameras and pictures up to and throughout the second World War. These temporary exhibits are rotated regularly as indeed are some of the artefacts in the permanent displays meaning there is always a reason  to go back for a return visit.      

The Folk Museum is situated at 2/3 Castle Street in Cambridge city centre. It is very easy to get to and as you are right  in the middle of the city there are plenty of pubs and restaurants nearby should you require a drink or a bite to eat upon leaving the museum. The museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10:30 to 5 and Sundays 2 till5. It is normally closed on Mondays but is one of the few places open on Bank Holiday Mondays. There is a £3.50 admission fee for adults, £2 concession fee and £1 for  children.  There is a policy of  One child free per each paying adult. If you join the friends of the folk museum and association group you also get free access to the museum from then on. For more information about the museum it has an extremely good website http://www.folkmuseum.org.uk which in addition to the usual about the museum, opening hours and so on also contains a virtual tour of the bar, kitchen and yard. Despite some obvious constraints (you can’t actually move around so you can only see what is in the direct vicinity) this is still a fantastic idea and it would be nice to see it developed to include some of the less accessible rooms.

Over all the Folk Museum is a nice little museum with a refreshingly modern attitude towards rotating exhibits and using modern technology such as computers within the museum and  its up to date website. Despite the little inconstancies here and there this is on my favourites list and I would definitely recommend a visit.    

Address	Cambridge & County Folk Museum, 2/3 Castle Street, CB3 0AQ
Website	http://www.folkmuseum.org.uk/
Email	info@folkmuseum.org.uk
Telephone	01223 355159
Cost	Adults £3.50 Concessions £2 Children £1 One free child with every full paying adult
Opening	Tuesday-Saturday & Bank Holiday Mondays 10.30am - 5pm, Sun 2-5pm.  Last admissions at 4.30pm