Coach House Museum

When you step through the doors of our museum, darkness falls and silence is broken by the sound of birdsong.

Kokako, Huia, Kereru and Tui are among the 16 native birds that will greet you. They all once flourished in the dense forest of Totara, Kowhai and Kahikatea trees in Kawakawa, or Feilding as it is now named.

This is where the journey begins through our vast museum, and it is vast!

A walk though, shows in great detail, the stories of those hard working families who came to settle in New Zealand with dreams of a better life for their families.

Through blood, sweat and tears, with pure grit, determination and belief, the land was cleared to make way for farming to feed a hungry world and provide a livelihood for so many families.

Massive permanent displays of horse-drawn vehicles ranging from heavy vehicles used to establish the district, through to the social and commercial vehicles used by settlers, traders and farmers. 

Historic farm machinery and agricultural equipment used by farmers in the region, and settler lifestyle displays from the horse-drawn era and beyond can be seen.  

One of the rarest and internationally significant items of machinery in our Museum collection can be found within the Spall Collection - an impressive private collection of restored vehicles and stationary engines, including the rare "Fitch Four" tractor (one of only a few in existence world-wide.)