Secret of museum’s success ‘an absolute unit’

Even with its claims to have England’s oldest farm wagon and a pair of Michael Eavis’s gumboots, the Museum of English Rural Life is an unlikely place to set the internet alight.

Its collection of smocks is second to none and its attractions include steam-powered ploughs, a brass rubbing section and a shepherd hut. Yet it is archive pictures of chunky farm animals that have turned it into global news.

A black-and-white photograph of a sturdy ram, posted with the caption ‘‘look at this absolute unit’’, has been shared thousands of times since it was posted by the museum on Twitter.

The image of the Exmoor Horn, taken at the Devon Show in 1962, had been liked by more than 90,000 people by last night (Thursday), almost double the number of people who visit the museum each year, prompting mentions around the world including by Time magazine.

The museum’s unlikely rise to fame began when the image was posted this week by an employee, Adam Koszary stumbled across the picture. ‘‘Sometimes you find animals with unusual horns,’’ he told The Times. ‘‘I saw that picture and ‘look at this absolute unit’ was the first thing that came into my head.’’

Mr Koszary, 27, a graduate in ancient history from Manchester University with a master’s in museum studies from UCL, took on the role of looking after the museum’s social media when it closed for refurbishment in 2014. ‘‘We were forced to become more creative about how we used the collections,’’ he said.

The museum, part of Reading University, normally attracts a mixture of ‘‘hardcore agriculture specialists and just families looking for a nice day’’, Mr Koszary said.

When he joined in 2012 Mr Koszary thought that farming had an image problem.

‘‘People see it as dull and often quite retrograde, whereas the countryside is essential to English identity,’’ he said.

‘‘If you want to engage people on social media you have to lower the tone slightly.

‘‘It’s a difficult thing for many museums because their reputation is built on respectability, but it’s going to have to be eroded a bit if we are going to survive into the 21st century.’’

His love for large farm animals does not stop at the Exmoor Horn either.

The account has also posted a selection of paintings of large cows as well as one of an oversize pig, captioned: ‘‘This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.’’

Mr Koszary said that the museum had about 9700 followers when he posted the image on Monday afternoon.

‘‘I would have been pleased to break 10,000,’’ he said.