Situated on Newbegin, the main street of Hornsea, is Burns Farm. For nearly 300 years it was tenanted by the Burn family. It was originally a single-storey cobble building dating back to the late 16th century. A second storey, in hand-made brick, was added in about 1740.
The farmhouse has a country kitchen with an inglenook fire place, a parlour, bedroom, dairy and washhouse, all with Victorian furnishings. Three additional rooms in the farmhouse are used for exhibitions which are periodically changed.
Behind the farmhouse there is a large garden which is flanked by workshops with hand farm implements, joiners’ and wheelwrights’ tools and a blacksmith’s shop. In the 18th century barn there are displays of farming through the seasons and the Whitedale building traces the history of the Hull to Hornsea railway and Hornsea’s fishing heritage. A Victorian schoolroom is in Swallow Cottage as well as the museum’s function room.
In the museum’s rooms and outbuildings there are old photographs of the town and surrounding villages, the Hull and Hornsea Railway, the brick and tile works, shipwrecks and lifeboats.
Numbers 15 and 17 Newbegin display over 2000 pieces of pottery charting the history of the Hornsea Pottery company from 1949 to its closure in April 2000.
A visit to Hornsea Museum is a step back into the past where you can enjoy the informal displays and relax in the garden.
