Accessibility
We want all our visitors to have a great day out at the Museum and are working hard to make our site as accessible as possible: we hope that the information on this page helps you to plan your visit.
Contact information
If you’d like to talk to someone about your visit, need help using our online booking system, or would like to give us feedback about your experience at the Museum, please call our friendly office team on 01798 831370. You can also email us at office@amberleymuseum.co.uk.
Getting to the Museum
Amberley Museum
New Barn Road
Amberley, near Arundel
West Sussex
BN18 9LT
Planning your visit
Buying your tickets
You can book your tickets on our website or buy them when you arrive. Our weekend events often sell out so pre-booking for these is essential. As well as general visitor admission, we offer discounted rates for group and educational bookings.
We will admit an Essential Carer accompanying a disabled person (with Carer ID, Access/Compass Card or PIP/DLA front page) for free. Please select ‘Complimentary Admission’ when booking online, or ask at the ticket desk on arrival.
If you have booked online but need to cancel your visit at the last minute, you can contact office@amberleymuseum.co.uk to arrange to transfer your tickets to another date. We don’t offer refunds for tickets purchased online.
Getting to the museum
By car:
The Museum is located just off the B2139 from Storrington to Arundel, signposted to Amberley Museum and Amberley Station. If you are coming from the direction of Storrington, turn left into our car park after a sharp right-hand bend approaching the village of Houghton. If you are coming from the direction of Arundel, turn right into our car park just after passing under the railway bridge in the village of Houghton. You can use our free car park or bike racks during opening hours. There are eleven designated accessible parking bays at the front of our car park, and two electric charging points.
What3Words for museum car park: puddings.interrupt.ports
By train:
Amberley Museum is situated just metres from Amberley Station, on the Southern Railway line from Bognor Regis to London Victoria.
By bus:
Unfortunately, you can’t get to the Museum easily by public bus but West Sussex County Council run a ‘Book a Bus’ service that covers this area. Visit Book-a-Bus – West Sussex County Council for more details.
Once at the Museum
Access from the car park to the Museum is through an open gateway, down a 600ft/200m tarmac path. The gates are opened just before the Museum opens at 10am, and close at 4:30pm (4pm from November to February), with last entrance at 3:30pm (3pm from November to February). The entrance to the Museum is via the shop, where there is a ramp with a push button-activated door.
Accessible toilets can be found at three points around the site: opposite the Print Shop, in the Café and opposite the Connected Earth building.
The nearest Changing Places toilet is at Aldingbourne Country Centre, near Chichester (PO18 0JP), which is a 12-minute drive from the Museum.
At the entrance, you can collect a site map and talk to members of our Welcome Team about how to get the most out of your visit.
The museum covers 36 acres. You can use our narrow-gauge train service or shuttle bus to help you explore. Trains run up the site on the hour and half-hour, and down at quarter-past and quarter-to the hour, between 10:30am and 4pm (or 3:30pm if you are visiting between November and February). The train crew usually stop for lunch between 12:45pm and 1:15pm. The next departure is marked at Amberley and Cragside stations. The train crew use a loud whistle before leaving each station: this is for safety purposes. The shuttle bus runs an on-demand service between four clearly marked bus stops around the site. A round trip lasts about 10 minutes.
Our narrow-gauge railway can accommodate at least one standard size wheelchair (under 300kg total) per journey.
If there is more than one wheelchair user in your party, please contact us at least 48 hours in advance of your visit by phoning 01798 831370 or emailing office@amberleymuseum.co.uk so that we can arrange for our accessible train carriage to be available (this can take up to 4 wheelchairs per journey).
The café is about 90m from the Museum entrance, accessed by a flight of 15 steps or a long ramp. The café is a wide, open space where noise will carry. You may find our café loud and disorientating, when it’s busy. Consider visiting before 12:00pm or after 2pm for a more comfortable experience. You can look at the menu in advance on our website. Light refreshments are available on busy days from the Village Store and the Pepper Lane Stop, at the far end of the museum site.
You can use a quiet indoor space in one of our learning or meeting rooms. Please enquire at the office or phone us in advance on 01798 831370. There are also plenty of benches and secluded spots to relax around our large outdoor site.
Autism & Learning Disabilities
People with a learning disability
You will hear many loud sounds such as ringing telephones and bells in the Connected Earth building. These can be turned off on request: please enquire at the office or phone us in advance on 01798 831370. Other areas you might find noisy include the Stationary Engines building, the narrow-gauge railway and the Café.
You may borrow ear defenders from the ticket office. Loans are free-of-charge but we will ask you to leave a telephone number.
You may notice strong smells associated with old vehicles in Connected Earth, the Fire Station, Village Garage and Bus Garage. There is a coal furnace in the Blacksmiths’ that smells strongly at times.
Many artefacts around the museum are not behind barriers or in display cases. Some of these are old and fragile. There are signs to guide you as to what is OK to touch.
Visually impaired, Deaf or hard of hearing
Blind and visually impaired people
We are a dog-friendly site. Your guide-dog is welcome in all indoor and outdoor areas, and can make use of a number of water bowls around the Museum, including the Café. You can relieve your dog anywhere within the open-air part of the site: dog refuse bins are located outside the café and Connected Earth building.
We do not currently have audio description around our site.
You are welcome to make use of several dog bowls positioned around the Museum site.
Deaf or hard-of-hearing people
We do not currently have an induction loop installed at the museum.
Dementia
People with Dementia
Several of our staff are trained Dementia Friends.
Amberley Museum is a large, mainly outdoor site. Walking between all the exhibits is a round journey of about 1 mile/1.5 kilometres, although you can also cover much of the distance by narrow-gauge train (wheelchair accessible) or bus (not wheelchair accessible).
Most of the site has level access. Routes involving steps or steep slopes are indicated in orange on the sitemap you will receive on entry. This includes both nature trails.
