The Wye Rural Museum Trust was formed in 1996 to take over the ownership of the Museum buildings and collections from the then Wye College (University of London) which is now Imperial College at Wye.
The formation and early activities of the Trust were under the leadership of the late Michael Nightingale of Cromarty, a well-know Kent activist in many fields including local history and environmental protection. As a student at Wye College in the late 1940’s he had been instrumental in bringing the foundation of the collections to Wye from East Malling Research Station where they had been stored for safety during the second World War.
With the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a number of corporate and private donations the Trust was able to buy the site and buildings from Wye College, which then gifted the collections to the Trust, which took formal control in May 1997.
