Cuckooland Museum

The museum was set up in 1990 by brothers Roman and Maz Piekarski, who moved to live in the premises in 1989, after bringing together a collection of antique clocks and Black Forest cuckoo clocks, the latter was continuously increased until the museum's final years. Both men were trained as clockmakers in Manchester from the age of 15, which is when their fascination with cuckoo clocks began. In Roman Piekarski's own words: When we started collecting in the 1970s no one wanted them because battery and electric clocks were all the rage. We picked many up for next to nothing. It became apparent to them that an important part of European clock-making history was liable to disappear if…

In its early years as a museum, the horological exhibition also included other kind of timepieces such as longcase, wall and bracket clocks, but later on it focused on cuckoo clocks. The museum also hosted a range of Black Forest cuckoo and quail clocks, trumpeter clocks, monks playing bells and other associated musical movements. Cuckooland came to have over 600 cuckoo clocks of different styles, ages and manufacturers. The collection contained some of the best examples of the cuckoo clockmaker's art: