UPDATE: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND READING ROOM TO REMAIN OPEN

Following the latest Government regulations in response to the coronavirus pandemic, The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) will close to the public at 5pm on Wednesday 4 November 2020 until the end of the lockdown period.

However, from Thursday 5 November 2020, we will continue to provide access to collections through the Special Collections Service reading room for academic research and teaching, and, where possible, this will be done through our digital access to collections service. You can find out more about our collections through our Special Collections website.

If you would like to make a booking, please ensure that you read the updated reading room guidance before contacting us as we have made a number of changes to our service.

Please note that we can only accept bookings in advance, and that our reading room is operating with reduced opening hours:

Tuesday-Thursday: 9.30am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-4.00pm (we close for an hour at lunch)
(Closed Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

Entry will continue to be via the MERL reception.

Please note that due to the closure of the MERL public galleries, we cannot guarantee that refreshment facilities will be available on site.