Shuttleworth Collection

The museum

The Shuttleworth Collection preserves some of the world’s oldest airworthy aircraft in working condition at Old Warden, alongside engineering workshops and historic vehicles.

The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden is unusual because preservation often means keeping the aircraft capable of flight. Its hangars contain flying survivors, restorations and carefully identified reproductions from the Edwardian era through the Second World War. Instead of comparing only objects behind barriers, visitors can sometimes see engines being prepared and historic machines flown from the grass airfield.

The institution’s six-page collection catalog names aircraft including the Blériot XI, Avro 504K, Bristol F.2B Fighter, Blackburn Monoplane, Gloster Gladiator, Hawker Hind and Hawker Hurricane. Its de Havilland types, light civil aircraft and early prototypes reveal a different side of British aviation from the major national museums. Reproductions such as the Bristol Boxkite and Sopwith Triplane are listed as such rather than presented as original airframes.

The official collection should not be confused with visiting aircraft advertised for an airshow. The Air Archive records 54 named aircraft from the catalog, while flight availability, restoration work and temporary display locations must be checked for a particular date.