National Folk Museum,Cregneash
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.
