Our Current Temporary Exhibitions
Our display cases are periodically refreshed with their contents featured throughout this website, but we also have a regularly rotating showcase at the front of the museum, a rotating costume display, a roving community display case and a hireable memory box.
MAIN ROTATING CASE
Agriculture in Henfield: over the centuries
February 2026 - 12th June 2026
Henfield's fertile greensand ridgeline was likely a key reason for the Saxon foundation of 'hēan felde' (at the open fields) in the spot and was central to most Henfieldians' working lives across its history. The measures of taxable value in the Domesday book of 1086 tell the story, with the 'Swine render' showing just 3 for the fields of Henfield, but the capacity to support 13 in the woods of aptly named nearby Woodmancote. Likewise, Henfield comprised 20 'ploughlands', with Woodmancote on 9.
Whether it was raising livestock, growing grain for food, or linen for clothing, this was the day-day experience for most. By the 20th century, the arrival of the railway in 1862 had transformed the rural economy to one focused on market gardening, with the village dispatching vegetables to markets in London and Brighton - as well as the famous Allen-Brown violets around Britain and to the world.
Agriculture in Henfield: over the centuries
February 2026 - 12th June 2026
Henfield's fertile greensand ridgeline was likely a key reason for the Saxon foundation of 'hēan felde' (at the open fields) in the spot and was central to most Henfieldians' working lives across its history. The measures of taxable value in the Domesday book of 1086 tell the story, with the 'Swine render' showing just 3 for the fields of Henfield, but the capacity to support 13 in the woods of aptly named nearby Woodmancote. Likewise, Henfield comprised 20 'ploughlands', with Woodmancote on 9.
Whether it was raising livestock, growing grain for food, or linen for clothing, this was the day-day experience for most. By the 20th century, the arrival of the railway in 1862 had transformed the rural economy to one focused on market gardening, with the village dispatching vegetables to markets in London and Brighton - as well as the famous Allen-Brown violets around Britain and to the world.
