Visitors can follow the farming year from seed to harvest and explore the tools and techniques that were used to manage the land.

Highlights include the Marshalls of Gainsborough threshing machine, Sir Berkeley Sheffield’s model locomotive The Great Bear and a 1946 Fordson Major tractor. Throughout the Living on the Land Gallery visitors can view aerial photographs of the Normanby and Burton-upon-Stather modern agricultural landscape by Jason Butler.

On the first floor, rural North Lincolnshire comes to life through an array of businesses that would once have been at the heart of the community. 

Displays include a saddler, wheelwright, printer and blacksmith, as well as more familiar establishments such as a chemist and village store. Families can take part in the mouse trail and little farmers will love the under-five activities on offer.

New Exhibitions for 2026

Vermuyden400, Ground floor, Living on the Land Gallery

The first of a series foo exhibitions commemorating the 400^th anniversary of the signing of the contract between King Charle I and Cornelius Vermuyden, starting the process of draining the Isle of Axholme. This exhibition will look at the Isle of Axholme, its people and the way they lived before 1626 as well as what the changes through drainage of the land meant for them. Vermuyden400 is a series of exhibitions and other events throughout 2026.

A Gallus Un by Tracy Satchwill, First floor

Contemporary artist Tracy Satchwill has been commissioned to create an art installation for the Rural Life Museum. The project draws on rural folklore and dialect stories collected by local folklorist Mabel Peacock (1856-1920). It explores superstition, feminine power and strange countryside wisdom. The installation features stitched banners, sound and symbolic materials.