The Wheelwrights are all highly skilled volunteers with proven experience.
The Wheelwright's Shop at Amberley Working Museum illustrates the kind of accommodation and tools which would have been used in the 19th century.


Fine wood & metal working


The two storey building dates from 1840, and stood in London Road, Horsham, where it was leased from the Hurst Estate by Spooner & Gordon from 1907 until the firm closed in the 1950s. It is constructed of stone and various types of brickwork, with large windows formed from numerous small pieces of glass. Carts and their wheels were made and repaired on the ground floor. The upper floor contains the paintshop and vehicles were either hoisted up through a trapdoor in the floor or winched up removable ramps from the front yard through the double doors at first floor level.

The volunteers who run the Wheelwrights today are very much in demand, creating new wooden cartwheels, or repairing old examples. They also make costermonger barrows to demand, and are currently involved in a number of projects that utilise their considerable skills. Previous projects include developing a working replica of a Ben Franklin Common Press, a 17th century printing machine.