A few hundred metres east of the Abbey, the Somerset Rural Life Museum lives in the magnificent 14th-century Abbey Barn — once part of the monastery and one of the finest tithe barns in England. The collection covers Somerset farming and country life: cheesemaking, cider-making, peat cutting on the Levels, willow weaving, the local woollen industry.
It is small but well-curated, with hands-on displays for children and live demonstrations on summer weekends. The free admission is a useful counterbalance to the paid entry at the Abbey next door. Easy to combine: an hour here, two hours next door.