The museum consists of a complex of about 12 farm buildings ranging in date from the 1870s to the early 20th century, forming a record of past farming practices and construction techniques.
The collection consists of agricultural machinery, farm buildings (including thatched roof silage pit shed, buggy shed, woolshed and pigsties), homestead and many items of farm memorabilia. The farm is in a unique setting with the buildings and outbuildings set as it was when the last of the Wiese family farmed here. The buildings on the farm consists of: homestead (built in 1885); detached kitchen and pantry (built in 1914 – now the caretaker’s residence); cellar – restored; chaff shed – 1874; reconstructed buggy shed; stone hut – pre 1900; reconstructed silage pit shed; reconstructed pigsties; stables and harness room c1880; woolshed – 1901; dairy; blacksmith’s shed – reconstructed 1983; Jubilee150 display shed; workshop shed, office & kitchen; and a storage shed.
Clayton Farm was created when the Bordertown & District Agricultural Museum Inc undertook to preserve and restore local farm machinery that may otherwise have left the district as scrap metal. A museum member donated the use of this farm for a vintage field day to raise funds for this purpose and restoration work has been continuing ever since. The farm was purchased by the Department of Environment & Planning in January 1986, and in July 2000 it was handed back to the care and control of the Tatiara District Council.
A very enthusiastic group of volunteers come every Sunday for a working bee to restore and preserve the farm buildings and machinery for future generations to come and see how labour intensive farming was in the past.