Although its primary focus is on the preservation and display of historic buildings from South-East England, the Weald and Downland Living Museum offers other fascinating insights into the lives of ordinary people in times past. A notable highlight of our visit last October was to be able to watch a team of horses ploughing a field that forms part of the Museum’s land. Only a few decades ago such a sight would have been totally unremarkable anywhere in rural England, but these days draught horses have little if any role in country life beyond their participation in ploughing competitions that hark back nostalgically to the pre-industrial world.
The term “draught” horse is derived from the Old English word dragan, meaning “to haul” or “to draw”. They are also referred to as carthorses, work horses or heavy horses. And these terms, I guess, tells us all we need to know. Back in the day, when heavy loads needed to moved or agricultural land had to be worked, the horse was England’s go-to beast of burden. Even as the Industrial Revolution started to kick in, horses toiled along towpaths hauling canal barges laden with raw materials and manufactured goods.
In these modern times, when internal combustion and diesel engines rule the roost, it’s difficult to imagine a moment when we depended not on them but instead on the humble horse. The Weald and Downland Living Museum’s mission is to celebrate and remind us of the world we have lost, and watching three magnificent horses going about their business did just that.
The Museum’s horses are Percherons, a breed of draught horse that originated in western France. Usually grey or black in colour, Percherons are sturdy animals known for their intelligence and willingness to work. They were originally bred as war horses, but later became sought-after animals for agricultural work and hauling heavy goods. As well as ploughing, the horses we encountered also help out with a number of other seasonal farming tasks. These include sowing, haymaking and harvesting, as well as timber-extraction from the Museum’s woodland.
The Museum’s Percherons seemed content in their work, and the guy leading them clearly cared deeply for their welfare. He was practising for a ploughing competition the next day, and although I’m no expert it seemed from what I saw that he and his horsey team were in with a good shout!
In addition to its draught horses, the Museum has several fine examples of historic horse-drawn vehicles. These include a spectacularly colourful gypsy caravan dating from the late 19th century, and a far more humble “living caravan” which would have been home to labourers who travelled the countryside in search of opportunities for paid work.
Like the rest of the exhibits on display at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, the Percherons and horse-drawn vehicles we saw there offered fascinating insights into a world that is almost beyond comprehension from our comfortable, 21st century perspective. I strongly recommend a visit!
Now I'm 64 
I recall horses being used on my uncle’s farm as a child – ploughing, harrowing, lifting potatoes etc. One of the very enjoyable children’s jobs was “swinging” haycocks from the fields to the haggard. My uncle’s mare, ‘Dolly’ was a huge animal and I remember I used not be able to get my heels around her belly to hold one so used have to sit/kneel on her back. A rope was taken from one side of her harness, around the haycock being tucked in under the edges, and then tied at the other side of the harness. We would walk the horses then, still riding on them, into the farmyard where the neighbours – for all gathered for such a big day’s work – would make the hay into a reek which, for all the world looked like a house-shaped construction made from hay. Then there was the fun of the gallop back to the field with jostling and pushing and not the infrequent fall from the horse!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much for sharing your memories, Paddy. Accounts like this bring to life some of the realities of the agricultural world before mechanisation. It sounds carefree, almost idyllic, but I guess it was a hard life too?
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a child, visiting my uncle’s farm, it was the very best of fun. My mother and father were both from a very rural area but came to live in town when they married. However, we always went back to help out at certain times of the year – picking the spuds, saving the hay and my mother was always the one who made the black puddings when a pig was killed in autumn. I still remember the fun of chewing a slice of salted pig’s ear – the pig’s head would be hanging in the kitchen until needed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely fascinating! These recollections are so important for the insights they provide into a world that is gone and will never return. Maybe you could write them up in a bit more detail and offer them to your local library, or some other suitable body, as a contribution to local history / the preservation of community memories? Just a thought!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely horses and caravan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great, aren’t they!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an amazing place. And, like you say, it wasn’t all that long ago when horses played an important part in the workforce.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, how the world has changed! It’s good that the Museum helps preserve tangible evidence of this way of life…simply reading about it in books just isn’t enough to truly appreciate some of the realities of the agricultural world before mechanisation took over.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those horses are beautiful! What a treat to see them at work. Funny to think how, at one time, horses were used for so many things. Same is true in the U.S. as well. Thought you might like to know that here we call them daft horses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful, aren’t they. I know it’s wrong to project human emotions and attributes onto animals, but I always think of working horses as noble creatures.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such beautiful creatures. I often think of all the animals throughout the ages who have made life possible for humans in a number of different ways. I suspect that most of them weren’t sufficiently honored or appreciated, unlike these three Percherons.
If you are watching the most recent version of “All Creatures Great and Small,” you might remember the nightmarish scene when Siegfried was asked to kill all the horses that had served in WW I when British troops were getting ready to return home from the continent. I still shudder at the memory. And these were the horses who had survived unspeakable events.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Siegfried generally comes across as brusque, pompous and a bit unfeeling, but in that heart-breaking scene we can see the other side of him, someone who cares deeply about both people and animals. It’s a beautifully written and delivered sequence, very moving, and I’m feeling a bit emotional just thinking about it as I type this.
Your comment reminded me that in London’s Hyde Park there is a memorial “to all the animals that served, suffered and died alongside the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces in the wars and conflicts of the 20th century.” It was unveiled in 2004, to mark the 90th anniversary of the start of WW1. To my shame I’ve never seen it, but if/when I get back to London I really should look it up. You can find out more about it here: https://animalsinwar.org.uk/
A statue specifically commemorating the role of horses in WW1 can be found at Romsey in the county of Hampshire. Again I’ve never seen it, but would like to: this link will take you to a photo and some info: https://www.visitromsey.org/visit/the-romsey-war-horse
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the links to the monuments. They are very touching, but it’s a sad statement about us humans that the need for these types of memorials exist. If we had used all the money and resources that went into fighting wars towards making sure every living being has access to a shelter, food, and education, the world would be a better place.
As far as Siegfried is concerned, everybody knows that a good heart beats beneath that crusty shell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Dad told me that his father had had a little dairy and used to deliver the bottle of milk using his horse and cart. (That must be going back to around the 1940s.) I also have a vague memory of seeing a shire horse on a farm near us – probably long retired by then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doesn’t that demonstrate how our horizons have been altered by the internal combustion engine. Realistically your grandfather’s round can only have been within a radius of a few miles from the farm. I hate to think how far the milk we buy at Aldi every week has travelled to get there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely – and he must have known each of his customers and presumably spoke to them regularly.
LikeLiked by 1 person