Mission

To provide a museum on the site of Leiston's former Garrett Town Works, to celebrate and encourage people to be inspiredby Leiston and Garrett's history of engineering, innovation, creativity and craftmanshhip and Garrett enterprises within Suffolk and across the world.The history of the Garrett Family and the social history of Leiston is also collected and preserved within the museum.

Category

Education and Skills

Additional Information

The Long Shop Museum located in Suffolk, is an iconic regional museum founded in 1981 to preserve the historic Long Shop. The Long Shop is the first known building constructed for assembly line production of portable steam engines. The Company founded by Richard Garrett I ,was originally involved in the maufacture of agricultural implements and machinery. In the late 1840's the company began producing portable steam engines. In the 20th Century it continued to grow adding a second factory site andmaking a wide variety of products including shell casings ,aircraft and anti-aircraft guns. At its peak in the First World War it employed over 2,000 people - and that in rural Suffolk.The factory closed after a number of takeovers in 1980