Fawley Museum
Welcome to the Fawley Museum website.
Fawley Museum is a private museum established in the 1960s by the late Sir William McAlpine at his estate near Henley on Thames. It hosts a fine collection of memorabilia and models relating to railways and other forms of transport together with a working standard gauge railway operating on the steepest gradient in the country.
Since its inception, the railway and museum have grown steadily with artefacts and buildings arriving from locations all around the the country. Many buildings have been rescued and reassembled at Fawley Hill to save them from demolition, creating a unique urban landscape in a country estate. More detail of this can be found at our History of the Railway page
The museum includes a wide range of interesting and unusual transport artefacts which will appeal to visitors of all ages. The park contains a variety of animals including rheas, peacocks, wallabies and many species of deer.
The museum and railway are open on a limited number of days during the year and admission is only by prior application and invitation. Capacity is limited and tickets are not available on the day. For more information, please visit our Events page.
Fawley Museum is run and staffed entirely by a group of friendly volunteers who undertake almost all of the necessary maintenance tasks associated with a working railway. If you would like to join our team and contribute to the day-to-day operation of the museum in a highly sociable environment, further information can be found on our Volunteering page. We have a need for a variety of skills so you don't have to be an expert on railways.
APRIL UPDATE (Updated):
Stop Press: We are delighted to announce that David Buck has kindly agreed to lend us his Aveling and Porter Works 0-4-0WT compound locomotive 'Sir Vincent' which should be in action during the NTT Weekend Festival next month. A photograph of this iconic locomotive at Fawley should be available on the Our Locomotives page by the end of the month.
The overhaul of No 31 is progressing well at Didcot Railway Centre where she is currently being disassembled for her 10-year overhaul. You can follow her progress at the top of the Our Locomotives page. We have now agreed with the Great Western Society that their Hunslet 0-6-0T locomotive No. 2409 'King George' will visit Fawley and be in residence throughout the Fawley Hill Vintage Festival Weekend on 17th-19th May. We are looking forward to her tackling our 1 in 13 gradient hill. Details of this charity event can be found on the Events page. We are currently seeking another steam locomotive to fill the gap left by No 31 later in the year.
The repairs to our Lancashire and Yorkshire half-coach 'Judy' are going well with the new body panels having been cut and fitted. It is hoped that painting will commence before the end of the month. We are looking forward to the refurbished body being reunited with the chassis.
Several of our Invitation Days are now fully booked so if you are looking to visit us this year, please don't delay in making contact through the web-site or e-mail addresses on the Events page.
Credit: Lucy Leo
Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers look forward to welcoming you to Fawley Museum soon.
Details about the Fawley Hill Estate can be found at www.fawleyhill.co.uk
We hope that you enjoy browsing the pages of the web-site. If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of each web-page.
