Mouseman Visitor Centre  

Kilburn, Yorkshire YO61 4AH

Tel: 01347 868218

website: www.robertthompsons.co.uk

From a single acorn to a finished piece of beautifully hand crafted oak furniture. One man's work from start to finish. A simple ethos established by Robert Thompson - The Mouseman of Kilburn.

In perfect reflection of this, the new Mouseman Visitor Centre will take you on an amazing journey through the life and times of the Mouseman from humble beginnings to furniture legend. Visitors to the centre can pass through rooms set in the 1930s that are full of Robert Thompson's own personal furniture made with his own hands and signed with early examples of the carved mouse symbol. Learn all about the Mouseman of Kilburn from our audio-visual display then browse our Gift shop where you can purchase handcrafted items that we sell today.

Robert Thompson, born in 1876 dedicated his life to the craft of carving and joinery in English Oak. He taught himself to use the traditional tools and by 1919 he was experimenting with his own ideas for producing furniture based on the English styles of the 17^th Century.

Now the famous mouse symbol, found on every item crafted by Robert Thompson's has an uncertain history. The story told by Robert Thompson himself is that one of his craftsmen remarked that they "We all as poor as church mice" Whereupon Robert carved a mouse on the church screen he was working on. That particular mouse has never been found but it has continued as a trade mark of quality and dedication to craftsmen ever since.