Brighton Toy and Model Museum

About

The Brighton Toy and Model Museum is a veritable treasure trove of British and European toymaking, nestled under Brighton station, home to a core collection of over twelve thousand items across four thousand square feet!

The Brighton Toy and Model Museum came to life in 1991, founded by the current director, Chris Littledale - an avid life-long collector, model maker, and restorer of models. Chris' ever-increasing collection of treasures needed a home and the property under Brighton train station was in desperate need of some TLC - indeed, the museum, even these decades later, is still closed on Mondays for various refurbishment. 

Don't let that fool you though - this place looks phenomenal. If Willy Wonka was into model trains over sweet treats, this is what his factory would look like. 

Besides a delightful day out, the museum has another key function: contributing to internationally important restoration work, research and digitisation and operating a ten thousand page online encyclopaedia and image library, proving invaluable to enthusiasts, historians and organisations across the globe.

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Inside the Museum

With over sixty different display areas and dioramas comprising of dolls, bears, dollhouse furniture, lead figures, diecast vehicles, toy kitchenry, engineered working scale models, an apparently excellent reference collection of Meccano and an extensive collection of model trains, you won't know where to go first!

Some of these publicly displayed collections are perhaps the most comprehensive in the world, and are internationally significant within the community. 

The Central Layout 

The beating heart of the Brighton Toy and Model Museum is it's central 1930's gauge 0 model railway layout. Spare a few modern tinplate locos and some post-war Exley carriages, the lion's share of the layout is straight out of a 1930's toyshop - historically accurate and wonderfully fun. 

Activities

While originally intended for small children, their minifigure trail found favour with the grownups too - complete the hunt for all the Lego people and you're in for your very own special sticker!

Of course, there's quizzes and colouring (pencils provided!) as well as an assortment of buttons to push, handles to wind, and refurbished arcade machines just begging for some 10 pence pieces. 

Aircraft

Dotted about the place above your head, are fourteen large-scale radio controlled model aircraft - even a couple of large Spitfires in the lobby. There's even an additional three working helicopter models - including a twin-rotor Kamow, rumoured to be the only successful working model of a production coaxial-rotor helicopter of its time. 

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Opening Times

Monday: Closed

Tuesday to Friday: 10:00am - 5:00pm

Saturdays: 11:00am - 5:00pm

Sunday: Closed

Last admission: 4:30pm

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Guide Prices

Tickets are available on the door.

The admission fee allows visitors to come and go as many times as they like during the same day, which is ideal for the visitor who wants to take a refreshment break at one of the areas many cafes.

Adults: £8.00

Senior Citizens (60+): £7.00

Children (ages 4 to 15): £5.00

Students (with valid ID): £5.00

Family (up to 2 adults, and up to 3 children): £17.00

Adult and Carer: £5.50

Child and Carer: £5.00

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Accessibility

The museum has been modified for wheelchair access.

Museum Foyer

Direct wheelchair access to Arch One is by the main doors.

Ticketed area, Arches 2-4

Because of Trafalgar Street's downhill slope, the floors of the Museum's ticketed area and its foyer are at different levels.

To avoid the usual route from the foyer to the ticketed area (which involves navigating some steps), direct wheelchair access is provided to Arches Two to Four from the street via a second entrance (on the left of the Brighton Belle mural) which doubles as a general-purpose emergency exit. Customers requiring full wheelchair access are requested to call beforehand to ensure that staff will be on hand to provide outside access to the doorway from the street, and to set up the wheelchair ramps inside the Museum.

Other Facilities

Inside Arch One, the toilet on the right has significantly more space for wheelchair users.

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Venue details