Inaugurated in 1984, the Museum occupies some of the buildings of the original 19th century works site of Richard Garrett & Sons. Once world-famous manufacturers of agricultural machinery and steam engines, the Garrett family were innovative, entrepreneurial and, comparatively, enlightened. The Long Shop itself, built in 1852, was an early prototype of assembly line production, and embodies the Garrett family traits. Garrett’s designed, manufactured and marketed a huge range of products over its 200 year history and the business was an important factor in the way that the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions changed forever the way that rural communities lived and worked. Today, the museum conserves the buildings and objects at the heart of a business that dominated the growth of a Suffolk community, turning it from a rural hamlet into an industrial town.