At various times the museum plays host to temporary exhibitions of items in our stores, or loaned by private collectors - if you have a collection you would like to offer for display which seems a good fit with our purpose, please do get in touch.
Feilding Oroua Rotary's Fantasy In Light show is back at the Coach House Museum in June 2025. It is a great event for young and old.
Come and see the twinkling sparkling light display threaded amongst the old coaches and our historic collection.
Opening and closing dates to be advised.
Crabs, lobsters, shrimp – they’re Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous crustaceans. Now meet the wider gang, from barnacles with superglue to slaters in the backyard. Explore the unique features of five marine crustaceans, and take a dive into their world.
Crustacea includes lobsters, crabs, shrimps, prawns, hoppers, wood lice, water fleas, and several other groups. Most crustaceans live in the sea but some are found in freshwater or on land. The one thing they all need to survive is water, or at least a moist habitat.
They come in all shapes and sizes - get to know them through movement, storytelling, puzzles, and more!
With thanks to Te Papa
Opens late August 2025, and runs through to early November.
The Coach House Museum is the lucky recipient of a lifetime of model-making by Palmerston North man, Trevor Hobman.
Trevor – a retired floorer - hand crafted wooden models of ships, aircraft, trams and trains. All the models were made in his garage in Palmerston North using scrap wood he collected, with the only cost being the paint! Before he had a computer to access plans online, he created his own plans of the models, using just photographs and drawings and a good eye for scale.
Trevor’s favourite model was the Mikhail Lermontov, a luxury Russian cruise ship which sank in the Marlborough Sounds in 1986.
For some, the models bring about a sense of nostalgia: "A lot of the old people that come in... it brings back memories”.
Trevor started off with planes but went on to create a variety of models, including a penny farthing. He liked “to make the first ones in the world”.
On display later in the year
