The Museum of English Rural Life

04/09/2026

Making plans in Reading? Don’t miss Cold Comfort Farm, the iconic rural comedy, taking place at Progress Theatre from 3-12 September.

The cast popped by the museum this week for some critical research (aka, playing on our climb-on tractor).

Book now: https://progresstheatre.co.uk/2026-cold-comfort-farm

02/09/2026

Psst do you like news? We have news! After being broken for an embarrassingly long time, we've just repaired our newsletter signup form. So if you'd like a bit of the museum in your inbox every now and then, go ahead and sign up!

https://merl.reading.ac.uk/ -signup

(we will never send you eggs, but we will always send with care)

01/09/2026

All of us at The Museum of English Rural Life are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Robert Davey - a longstanding member of our community, and a beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

As we extend our love and thoughts to Robert's family, we reflect on his immense contributions and connections to the life of our museum.

All of us at The Museum of English Rural Life are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Robert Davey - a valued member of our community.

24/08/2026

Last week, we brought you the story of Merle the bat - her rescue from our galleries and her rehabilitation by our volunteer Rose-Ann, a licensed bat carer.

Yesterday evening, Merle was safely released back into the wild, flying off healthily into the night 🦇

Our huge thanks to our volunteer Rose-Ann for rescuing Merle, nursing her back to full health, and releasing her so that she has another chance at a good life 🖤

Our thanks, also, to Charlotte Allchin for capturing the video 🖤

21/08/2026

Don't ask us how our rats do very hard jobs while remaining incredibly stylish...they're just that good.

19/08/2026

We rescued a bat from our galleries! If you've followed us for a while, you'll know this isn't our first bat-rescuing rodeo. Both bats were rescued by our volunteer Rose-Ann, who is a registered bat rescuer.

Unlike 2018's bat (Merlin), this little lady is a soprano pipistrelle, and we've called her Merle. Learn more about her story and the rescue on our blog!

12/08/2026

In 1912, a young writer in Reading watched an eclipse. In his journal, he described 'the sky was clear, and very weird the universe seemed; the atmosphere dulled as if charged with volcanic dust, especially on the horizon.' His name was Wilfred Owen.

Find out more about Owen's links to the University of Reading, his friendship with botanist Dr Mabel Rayner, and their shared love of plants and poetry.

In our new blog, Dr Rhi Smith reveals the story of Wilfred Owen and Mabel Rayner's chance meeting during a solar eclipse and the impact of each on the life of the other.

10/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our Summer Celebration, including the Miller's Ark animals!

We're open every week of the summer holidays (every day but Monday), so come on by for a free day out to remember 🥰

04/08/2026

It's been one month since our Romany and Traveller Heritage Day - bringing people together from across Reading and beyond to celebrate Romany and Traveller culture, creativity, and resilience.

Here are some of the highlights of the day!

Thanks to our partners and funders Gypsy-Travellers Essex & Arts Council England

03/08/2026

so if Interview with the Vampire is canonically set in our universe, you're telling us there's a chance that Lestat de Lioncourt *did* visit The Museum of English Rural Life?