British Lawnmower Museum

Edwin Beard Budding was designing a machine that could trim the nap from guardsmen’s uniforms when he discovered that, instead of trimming cotton, his invention could trim grass. Previously the job of sheep, it was then in 1830 that the lawnmower was invented, an idea so bold that Budding was forced to test his machine out in the darkness of night.

Lawnmower designs have changed significantly since then, and the British Lawnmower Museum has chronicled its history over the past few centuries. From simple scythes to horse-powered machines, the museum’s collection includes the world’s largest assortment of toy lawnmowers and even includes preliminary blueprints from 1799 – forty years before Budding’s invention!

As a leading authority on vintage lawnmowers and antique garden machinery, the British Lawnmower Museum’s collection consists of over 600 rare machines, including the world’s fastest, smallest, and first solar-powered “robot” mowers. Additionally, visitors can learn about the term, “Shank’s Pony,” see celebrity-owned machinery – such as Princess Diana’s former mower – as well as view some vintage FlyMo hoovercrafts.