The museum has its roots in the Abbey Folk Park which was established by Rev. John S.M. Ward (1885-1949) at Barnet, north of London, in 1934 [REF].
When it was forced to close in 1940 at the height of the London Blitz, the Abbey Folk Park housed 30 relocated historic buildings, replicas of ancient structures and a collection of more than 40 000 artefacts [REF].