About Mossman Carriage Collection, Luton

The Mossman Carriage Collection is a museum housing the largest provate collection of horse-drawn vehicles in the United Kingdom. It includes original vehicles dating from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. (See also entry for Arlington Court Carriage Museum)

The collection was donated to the Luton Museum Service in 1991 and is now housed in the Stockwood Discovery Centre, which forms part of Luton Culture. It contains a comprehensive range of horse-drawn road vehicles and carrages used in Britain dating from Roman times up until the 1930s. It incoporates examples of vehicles used by tradesmen and ordinary people as well as luxury vehicles and state coaches used by the British nobility and on the large British estates.

The collection was put together by George Mossman, born in Luton in 1908, whose lifelong interest in horse-drawn transport began when he started work as a delivery driver for a local butcher. His career was varied, running a farm as well as several businesses, including a leasing company providing horse-drawn carriages for special events such as weddings, carnivals and public occasions. Mossman not only drove his carriages in London’s Lord Mayor's Show for twenty five years, but he also provided both carriages and drivers for Queen Elizabeth's coronation procession in 1953.

The museum houses fifty four registered vehicles of Mossman's, including replicas made for Mossman's work with Pinewood and Elstree firm studios in the latter part of the 20th century. There are a further nine carriages from the Luton Museum Services collection.  Unusual vehicles include an 18th-century landau, an early-19th-century barouchean and an 1890s char- -banc, all in very good condition.

The museum is of national significance as the largest private collection of horse-drawn vehicles.