The National Folk Museum at Cregneash is a living museum of a Manx upland crofting community including thatched cottages and farm buildings illustrating a traditional way of life around the 19th and early 20th century.

• Visit Harry Kelly’s famous cottage and smell bonnag cooking on the open fire.
• Watch demonstrations of traditional farming and craft techniques.
• Step inside the Joiner’s Workshop
• Join the Blacksmith in his Smithy.
• Listen to some great Manx speakers in Ned Beg’s Cottage.
• Take a look inside the Farmhouse
• Walk the Farm Trail from Church Farm
• Count the flock of Manx loghtan sheep and see the spring lambs
• Enjoy refreshments in the Village Tea Rooms
• Join a service at St Peter’s Church
• Enjoy the coastal footpaths leading to Spanish Head, The Sound and the Chasms.

Information for Disabled Visitors:

Disabled parking by arrangement – please call. Some uneven pathways. Staff receive some disability awareness training. Most of the cottages on site are accessible by wheelchair. Guided tours can be arranged for visually impaired and blind visitors and large format information about the site can be provided. It is the policy of Manx National Heritage to admit the assistant or carer of a disabled person free of charge. The nearest wheelchair accessible toilet facilities are at The Sound Restaurant. Registered assistance dogs are welcomed.

Click here to view a 360 degree panoramic view of the National Folk Museum at Cregneash.

• By foot and road: situated on the A31 Sound Road. Also accessed via public footpath from Port Erin, the Sound, the Chasms and Head Road.
• By bus: 1 – services commence from Douglas and Port Erin Bus Stations.

Parking: car park available with blue badge parking.

Admission Charges: £2.00 Children (under 18 years) and Students, £4.00 Adults, £9.50 Family (2 adults and 2 children).

Group discounts are available for groups of 15 or more people, with the greatest savings available to pre-booked groups. For further details, please click here.

Free admission is available to holders of a valid 5 Site Pass, 10 Day Heritage Explorer Pass, ACE Card holders and reciprocal agreement members.

Please note that you are welcome to freely walk the open roads around the village, but if you wish to enjoy the demonstrations and go inside the traditional buildings, you must purchase an admission ticket from the Village shop.

Heritage attractions nearby: The Sound Visitor Centre and Restaurant, The Sound. Castle Rushen, the Nautical Museum, the Old House of Keys and the Old Grammar School, Castletown.

Whilst planning your journey around our beautiful Island, you will find our Visitor Information page useful when planning visits to the Isle of Man's amazing museums, interpretive centres and historic sites. Alternatively, you can click here to watch a short film on the Story of Mann.

Demonstrations at The National Folk Museum:

Monday

Watch our needlecraft and dressmaking demonstrations in the farmhouse.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

See the joiner working in the Joiners Workshop.

Tuesday

Watch our needlecraft and dressmaking demonstrations in the farmhouse.

Speak to our gardener as they work in the traditional cottage gardens.

Look out for the blacksmith as he works in the Smithy.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Wednesday

Watch the Manx Guild of Spinners and Weavers in Crebbin’s Cottage.

Look out for the blacksmith as he works in the Smithy.

See knitting or wool craft demonstrations in the farmhouse.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Thursday

Watch knitting or wool craft demonstrations in the farmhouse.

Enjoy Manx Patchwork in Crebbin’s Cottage.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Friday

Watch spinning demonstrations in the farmhouse.

Enjoy Manx Patchwork in Crebbin’s Cottage.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Saturday

Enjoy wool crafts in the farmhouse.

Learn some Manx phrases with our native speaker in Ned Beg’s Cottage.

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Sunday

Enjoy wool crafts, patchwork or cooking in the farmhouse (varies weekly)

Listen to our experts talk in Harry Kelly’s Cottage.

Further Information

The National Folk Museum at Cregneash provides a living, working illustration of life in a typical 19th century Manx upland crofting community.

Nestling under Meayll Hill and overlooking the Calf of Man, Cregneash is isolated from the rest of Mann and at the beginning of the 20th century was one of the last strongholds of the traditional customs, crafts and skills which characterised the Manx Crofter’s way of life.

The threat posed by modern developments initiated practical steps by a small band of Manx patriots, scholars and enthusiasts towards preserving this unique site.

Professor Carl Marstrander, Professor of Celtic at the University of Oslo, made the first sound recordings of Manx speech with Harry Kelly, a crofter and fluent Manx speaker, and as a result of this work and through the efforts of William Cubbon, the Director of the Manx Museum at the time, Harry Kelly’s cottage became the starting point of the National Folk Museum at Cregneash, when it was restored and opened to the public for the first time in 1938. The subsequent addition of other buildings together with large areas of the surrounding countryside have further enhanced this authentic picture of traditional Manx crofting life.

The village now forms a centre for traditional farming practices and skills. Visitors can see the fields being worked with horse-drawn equipment, thatching of the roofs, dying of wool, spinning, weaving, wood-turning, black-smithing and a range of skills in the growing and preparation of food.

Find out more about Cregneash in our Souvenir Booklet and Site Guide, available at the Manx Museum and The National Folk Museum Heritage Shops.