MUSEUM

The Market Hill, Woodbridge. During its long history the Society had amassed a huge collection of artefacts relating to the breed, the most important part of this collection being about fifty pictures, including oils, watercolours and drawings, the earliest one dating back to 1790 by the artist Hobart of Monks Eleigh. The Society had its office in the Suffolk Seed Stores building in Woodbridge for very many years but when the tenancy came to an end it managed to acquire the lease, through the generosity of Woodbridge Town Council, of the upper floors of the old courthouse building in the centre of the town. With the full and material support of the Society's Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, an appeal was set up to convert these premises into a Museum, a working office for the Suffolk Horse and Red Poll Cattle Societies and a large storeroom for the archives. This was undoubtedly an audacious ambition for a very small Society but the results were spectacular and at Easter 1994 the Museum was opened to the public. The Society was extremely fortunate in the way so many unexpected things happened. Nearly five hundred people and organisations gave money and others gave goods or services and the skills of those employed to create the exhibitions surpassed the Society's high expectations. Truly all these people cannot be mentioned here but the support of The Princess Royal and Lord and Lady Somerleyton, the arrival of the Head Horseman from Youngs Brewery in London on the day of the opening of the appeal with a large cheque, the donation of a very large quantity of oak by the American Hardwood Company through Michael Buckley, the donation of a magnificent painting by Dame Laura Knight by the late Mrs. B. Brotherton, the present of illuminated glass cases by Bryan Gillings, the placing of a very large collection of items by Ray Hubbard from Diss and the major financial support of the Suffolk Agricultural Association gave the Society enormous enthusiasm at an early stage in the proceedings. The 1930s Farm Office. The membership of the Society can be very proud of the superb exhibition which has been created. The displays were fashioned by Jon Laurie and David Truzzi-Franconi of Drummer Design with the major building work within the Elizabethan courthouse being in the hands of the architect, David Schofield of Mullins Dowse and the builders, Gold Star Construction. The compliments of the Museum's visitors have been overwhelming, with the most common comments being pleasure at the beauty of the exhibits and layout and astonishment at the sheer quantity of material presented. The lighting, by Eastern Electricity, is superb. The Blacksmith's Shop. The Museum has been laid out to illustrate various themes in different areas. An introduction explains to the visitor the nature of the Suffolk horse and its Society, an office setting of the 1930s displays the Society's most valuable paintings and explains the history of the Suffolk Horse Society and the fascinating tale of its Stud Book, the volumes of which are undoubtedly the most attractive of their type in the world. A horse is nothing without his feet and a blacksmith's shop discusses this and explains yet another unique feature of the breed, the holding of competitive classes at shows for Suffolk feet. The working area explains the work these horses did and how they did it. Work techniques of the horse era were done with an exactitude which would amaze the modern young farmer but it must not be forgotten that the very considerable skills involved were accompanied by extremely hard physical work. Horse work could only be done with the aid of a fork but this humble tool came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, as is demonstrated by the collection of forks exhibited. The Harness Maker's Workshop. The horseman was the most important man on the Suffolk farm and his life is illustrated in a kitchen setting with his clothing and possessions in it. A horse could not, of course, be used without harness and this word comprises a very large amount of equipment, all of which is on display, alongside a fully equipped harness maker's workshop. An area shows how Suffolks were housed and fed with the aid of a scale model of a Suffolk farm made by David Merryweather. A section of the Museum is devoted to the other Suffolk breeds: the Red Poll cow, Suffolk sheep and Large Black pig, many of whose early breeders were also involved with Suffolk horses. Finally, shows and showing have their place, with pride of place going to some of the most magnificent silver trophies. Since the Museum has been in existence it has continued to receive gifts of many lovely things to complement the existing collections. The Suffolk Farm. This Museum covers a wide variety of interests. Besides telling the story of the most perfect working animal ever produced by man, it offers a sumptuous feast to the lover of paintings, to those interested in history and to those who want to know how people lived and worked and to those interested in photography, as some of the photographs are very old and many are indeed works of art. The large and important documentary archive collection will be available to those who wish to use it for serious study and school visits to the Museum are especially welcome. While the Exhibition is called a Museum, it is very important to note that it is not only about the past but about the present and the future. There is a most important place for the working horse in the modern world. Transport in towns can be done more cheaply and efficiently by horses and horses are very suitable for jobs on farms such as short haulage tasks around farm buildings, for arable work on smaller farms and for forestry. Tourism is now a major rural industry and heavy horses play an increasingly important part in this. It is essential to explain to young people that the working carthorse is not just a useful antique but has an important part to play today. The Suffolk Horse Museum.