Fawley Museum
Welcome to the Fawley Museum website.
Fawley Museum is a private museum established in the 1960s by the late Sir William McAlpine at his estate near Henley on Thames. It hosts a fine collection of memorabilia and models relating to railways and other forms of transport together with a working standard gauge railway operating on the steepest gradient in the country.
Since its inception, the railway and museum have grown steadily with artefacts and buildings arriving from locations all around the the country. Many buildings have been rescued and reassembled at Fawley Hill to save them from demolition, creating a unique urban landscape in a country estate. More detail of this can be found at our History of the Railway page.
The museum includes a wide range of interesting and unusual transport artefacts which will appeal to visitors of all ages. The park contains a variety of animals including rheas, peacocks, wallabies and many species of deer.
The museum and railway are open on a limited number of days during the year and admission is only by prior application and invitation. Capacity is limited and tickets are not available on the day. For more information, please visit our Events page.
Fawley Museum is run and staffed entirely by a group of friendly volunteers who undertake almost all of the necessary maintenance tasks associated with a working railway. If you would like to join our team and contribute to the day-to-day operation of the museum in a highly sociable environment, further information can be found on our Volunteering page. We have a need for a variety of skills so you don't have to be an expert on railways.
April Update; Welcoming the return of a Royal Visitor
Welcome to the latest web-site update.
With the first of our 2025 Invitation Days almost upon us, we welcomed the return of King George, the delightful 0-6-0 tank engine that is usually resident at Didcot Railway Centre, on 23rd April. For those unfamiliar with this engine, details and images can be seen on our Visiting Locomotives page. We are delighted that King George will be with us until our own 0-6-0ST locomotive, No 31, returns from its overhaul and we have the exciting prospect of both locomotives being in steam at Fawley at the same time.
The overhaul of our resident steam engine, No. 31, is proceeding well at Didcot Railway Centre with the boiler tubes being reinstalled and repainting getting underway. The latest progress photographs can be viewed on the Our Locomotives page
Interest in our programme of weekend Invitation Days for 2025 has been high and some dates are becoming full. If you are not yet on our mailing list and would like tickets, please contact us through the e-mail address on our Events page or by using the contact form at the bottom of the page.
If you would like to join us a volunteer, we would love to hear from you. There is a wide range of activities open to newcomers, both on the railway and in the Museum. please contact us through the e-mail address on our Volunteering page or by using the contact form at the bottom of the page.
Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers look forward to welcoming you to Fawley Museum soon.
Details about the Fawley Hill Estate can be found at www.fawleyhill.co.uk
We hope that you enjoy browsing the pages of the web-site. If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of each web-page.
