Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum

The Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum is a visitor attraction at Halland, East Sussex, England. The site has a wildfowl collection a motor museum and the house and formal garden are all open to the public.

History

The house at Bentley was bought by Gerald and Mary Askew in 1937 and following the Second World War the couple developed the house and garden and started a wildfowl collection. Two large Palladian rooms were added to each end of the original house. Following the death of Gerald Askew in 1970, Mary gave the nucleus of the estate to the people of East Sussex. Mary continues to live in part of the house and the site was developed as a tourist attraction. In 2004 due to increasing running costs the East Sussex Council offered to sell the property back to the Askew family for £1.25m or it would sell the property on the open market. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/mar/11/localgovernment.uknews Guardian - Gift of country estate turns sour]

Wildfowl

In 1962 influenced by the Sussex artist Philip Rickman and a vist to the Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge the Askew's started a collection of wildfowl. A pond was dug in a nearby field which was poor agricultural land and the collection was started. The collection now has examples of 125 of the 147 species of wildfowl.

Motor Museum

As part of the 1970s development as a tourist attraction the Motor Museum was opened, it is not a collection as most of the vehicles are owned by private individuals and are on loan to the museum.

References

* Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum Guide (undated)

External Links

* [http://www.bentley.org.uk/ Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum]