Welcome to The Fairground Heritage Trust

Welcome to The Fairground Heritage Trust

Our operating arm, Dingles Fairground Museum closed permanently on the 2nd November 2024.

Welcome to the website home page of the Fairground Heritage Trust. Our aim is to preserve historic fairground equipment, imagery and memorabilia for future generations, in the hope of fostering understanding of, and support for, a genuinely national institution. As a vital ingredient in the genesis of leisure in this country, the Fairground Heritage Trust believes that fairground has played just as important a role as any other type of popular entertainment in shaping today’s society.

Established in 1988, The Trust has been successful in building up a large collection of rides and fairground-related artefacts, many of key historical significance. Since 2003 the Trust has had its base in Lifton, Devon. Initially at Dingles Steam Village, an established high quality heritage attraction in its own right.  A new extension of 25,000 square feet was completed in Spring 2006 and this has enabled the Trust to safely house and display a much greater proportion of its collection, and give visitors a much more enjoyable and interactive experience. For the 2007 season, this reopened as the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre.

During covid we had to close and the future of the museum was somewhat in jeopardy. However through the work of many volunteers and support from West Devon District Council and The Arts Council the Trust were able to keep operating.

Rebranded in 2022 as Dingles Fairground Museum we reopened with a new building, a 25,000 square foot extension.

For many years the Trustees have been deeply concerned about the viability of the location in rural Devon and following the review of numerous options it was announced, in March 2024, that Dingles Fairground Museum would close and a new partnership had been agreed to house the collection in Statfold Barn Railway and Hollycombe Steam in the Country.

As a result, Dingles Fairground Museum closed permanently following it’s last operating day on the 2nd November 2024.