Northumberland Museums

Armstrong Household & Farming

Six rooms depicting rural life in Northumberland from a byegone era: A kitchen, bothy (with farming tools), milking parlour, washing room, nursery (with clothes and toys) and a show room with quilts, rugs, glass, china and literature.

Chathill  Nr Alnwick, NE67 5HP  Tel: 01655 579443
 
Bailiffgate Museum
 
Museum telling the story of Alnwick in an exciting interactive style.
 
14 Bailiffgate, Alnwick   NE66 1LX   Tel: 01665 605847   Email

Berwick Barracks Museum

One of the earliest purpose-built Barracks in the country now houses 3 museums including "By Beat of Drum" chronicling the history of the British Army, the Berwick Borough Art Gallery and the Kings Own Scottish Borderers Regimental Museum.

The Art Gallery includes a significant portion of the Burrell collection, more usually associated with Glasgow.

At Berwick, the collection includes paintings by Degas and Japanese "Arita" pottery. "A Window on Berwick" is a dramatic reconstruction of life in bygone Berwick.  
 
The Parade, Berwick-upon-Tweed. TD15 1DG Tel: 01289 332817

Brigantium Archaeological Park 
 
Roman and pre-Roman building reconstructions in country setting.
 
Rochester  Otterburn, NE19 1RH   Tel: 01830 520801
 
Bellingham Heritage Centre

Small exhibition with changing displays on the history of farming, railways and everyday life in the North Tyne Valley. Large collection of local history photographs by Walter Percy Collier (1875 - 1937) and a re-creation of the photographic shop he kept in Lock-up Lane, Bellingham. Collection of maps, photographs and artefacts from the Border Counties Railway which closed in 1958. The Heritage Centre also has a database which can be consulted by visitors, holding 30,000+ names of people who were connected to the area.

Station Yard Woodburn Road Bellingham. NE48 2DF  Tel: 01434 220050   Email

Chantry Bagpipe Museum

Northumberland is the only county with its own musical instrument, the Northumbrian pipes. This museum follows the development of bagpipes around the world using a unique sound system with personal headphones.

The Museum sells a wide range of music for the Northumbrian pipes and also an excellent range of CDs and cassettes. It is also the venue for some important bagpipe events including the Northumbrian Pipers' Society annual competitions which are a key feature of the Northumberland Traditional Music Festival.

Bridge Street, Morpeth NE61 1PJ  Tel: 01670 500717   Email

Chesters Roman Fort

The best preserved Roman Cavalry Fort in Britain - built to house 500 men. It sits beside the banks of the River Tyne and has a particularly impressive bath house. The Museum (built in 1896) includes the important Clayton collection of sculptures and Roman inscriptions.

Humshaugh  Hexham, NE46 4EP  Tel: 01434 681379

Corbridge Roman Site 

The extensive remains of a major Roman town and supply base for Hadrian's Wall - with particularly well preserved granaries. The remains provide evidence of a succession of buildings on what was, in Roman times, the main road from York to Scotland. The museum displays artefacts from the site including the famous Corbridge Lion fountain head.

Corbridge, NE45 5NT  Tel: 01434 - 632349.

Grace Darling Museum

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) museum commemorating the life and times of lifeboat heroine Grace Darling who, with her father, rescued survivors from the shipwrecked SS Forfarshire in 1838. Amongst the mementoes is the original boat used in the rescue.

Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh. NE69 7AE  Tel: 01668 214465

House of Hardy Museum

This fascinating museum presents a history of rods and fishing tackle from the world's finest manufacturer of these products. Factory tours are available by pre-appointment.

Willowburn, Alnwick. NE66 2PF  Tel: 01665 510027

Lindisfarne Heritage Centre

Experience the beauty of the Lindisfarne Gospels through a computer-based version of the book in an exhibition called "Turning the Pages", created by the British Library. The Heritage Centre also houses an exhibition of island life, its flora, land, people and the sea. Modern artwork based on the calligraphy of the Gospels and other celtic inspired artwork is available from the Lindisfarne Sciptorium.

Holy Island, Berwick upon Tweed  TD15 2SD  Tel: 01289 389004. Email
 
Norham Station Museum

Original signal box and station with model railway and collection of Victoriana

Station House, Norham, TD15 2LW   Tel:  01289 382217

Vindolanda Fort & Roman Army Museum

Fort and civilian settlement with ongoing excavations  and fascinating museum of Roman Military life with reconstructions, life size models and audio-visual shows. The museum provides a unique insight into the daily life of a Roman soldier based on Hadrian's Wall.

Bardon Mill, Hexham, NE47 7JN  Tel: 01697 747485. Email

Seahouses Marine Life Centre

Display tanks show a wide variety of local marine life including fish such as haddock, whiting and dog fish, crabs and lobsters. There is also a reconstructed fisherman's cottage and a museum of the life and times of Northumberland fishermen.

Main Street, Seahouses  NE68 5RG  Tel: 01665 721257   Email

Woodhorn Colliery Museum

A fascinating museum based in original colliery buildings recording the social and mining history of the area. Life size models, reconstructions, miner's banners, paintings and local crafts all help to portray life in the mining communities of Northumberland. The museum houses works by the Ashington Group, an amateur art group founded in 1934 by local miners. Their work depicts the everyday events of their lives, both at home and in the mines. As such, it is an important social history record. Set on the edge of the QEII Country Park with which it is linked by a new light railway.

QE11 Country Park,  Ashington. NE63 9YF  Tel: 01670 856968   Email

Wylam Railway Museum

A small museum remembering the work of William Hedley, George Stephenson and other local railway pioneers and showing the importance of Wylam in the history of the railways.

Falcon Terrace, Wylam.  NE41 8EU  Tel: 01661 852174   Email