An historic Midlands farm is set to be put firmly on the tourist map after landing a starring role in a new TV series.
Acton Scott farm in Church Stretton, Shropshire, will be the setting for a BBC2 documentary which starts next week.
The 20-acre working farm museum, which has recently completed a £1.75 million development programme, will feature in six-part series Victorian Farm.
The series follows a team of people who spend a year as Victorian farmers, using only materials and resources that were available in that era to tend to livestock, repair buildings, prepare food and make furniture and food. Acton Scott farm is regarded as one of the top farming heritage attractions in the UK, and retains the atmosphere of daily life on a late-Victorian upland farm, with blacksmiths, farriers, wheelwrights and dairy maids.
Visitor Manager Michael Turner said: “These are very exciting times for us.
“The timing of the new series couldn’t be better. It’s sure to capture the atmosphere of the farm, and now we’re better equipped than ever before for a new influx of visitors.” As well as following the day to day workings of Acton Hill farm, the programme will also feature historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn.
David Upshal, executive producer for programme makers Lion Television, said: “The Victorian period was a pivotal time in Britain’s agricultural history.
“Victorian Farm will seek to make new discoveries about a lost way of life.”
The series follows a £1.75 million redevelopment programme on the farm, which has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and Shropshire County Council.
Improvements to the visitor attraction include a new gateway building which houses a welcome and retail area, as well as a new learning space for groups.
Other developments include the creation of a new skills workshop, a schoolhouse cafe and a new cart shed to display key vehicles and machines used throughout the season.
Victorian Farm starts on BBC2 on January 8 at 9pm.
