Brighton Toy and Model Museum – Brighton, England

Located an hour outside of London, UK, Brighton Toy and Model Museum highlights objects of play from European-based toymakers.

Opened by Chris Littledale in 1991 to showcase his personal collection of model trains, Littledale and his team evolved the Museum to include over 10,000 objects of play in the 4,000-square-foot Museum. Instantly recognizable names in the toy industry – such as Dinky Toys, Bing, Hornby, Meccano, Steiff, and others – are included in the vast collection. The objects date back to the mid-twentieth century, with a focus on the Golden Age of European toys. The Museum also has a research library, educational programming, and digitized research materials to make its preservation work more accessible.

The museum’s building itself is of historical significance. The Victorian arches structure was built in the 1840s to support a railway station forecourt and was painstakingly restored when Littledale took over the space.

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