Beamish, The Living Museum of The North

Om museet

Beamish grew from the ideas of Frank Atkinson, who became director of the Bowes Museum in 1958 and saw that the traditional industries and communities of North East England were disappearing. Inspired by open-air folk museums in Scandinavia, he persuaded Durham County Council to start collecting everyday objects, buildings, vehicles and machinery on a large scale. His approach was to collect widely and to offer a home to whatever local people wished to donate.

Beamish Hall was chosen as the site of the museum in 1966, and the museum was established in 1970 with Atkinson as its first full-time director. It opened to visitors on the present site in 1972. Over the following decades buildings were moved to the site or rebuilt, including a railway station, a colliery winding engine, miners' cottages, a drift mine, a town street and a farm. Trams began to run on a short line in 1973, and the town area officially opened in 1985.

Today the museum covers a large estate with areas set in the 1820s, the 1900s, the 1940s and the 1950s. Costumed staff take the roles of people who lived and worked in the past, and trams and vintage buses carry visitors around the site. The recent Remaking Beamish project added a 1950s town and farm and expanded the 1820s area. The museum was named Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2025.

Højdepunkter

• 1900s Town, an Edwardian street with shops, a pub and houses
• 1900s Pit Village and Colliery with a drift mine and cottages
• 1820s Pockerley Old Hall, Georgian landscape and early railway
• 1950s Town and farm with a welfare hall and fairground
• Trams and vintage buses running around the site

Permanente udstillinger

• The 1900s Town – An Edwardian town street showing how families lived and worked in 1913, with shops, houses and public buildings.
• The 1900s Pit Village – A colliery community at the time of peak coal production in the North East, with cottages and a drift mine.
• 1820s Pockerley Old Hall and Landscape – A Georgian manor house, farm and gardens with an early waggonway telling the story of the birth of the railways.

Grundlagt

1970

Ejer

Beamish Museum

Entrépriser & rabatter

All ticket prices are for the Unlimited Pass, which allows unlimited visits for 12 months from the date of purchase; the pass is not valid for some special evening events. Discounts are offered for Max Card holders (25%, bought at the entrance), serving and former armed forces members (25%), visitors arriving on a Go North East bus (25%) and National Art Pass holders (50%).

Tilgængelighed

• Delvis kørestolsvenlig
• Elevator: ingen oplysninger
• Handicaptoilet
• Handicapparkering
• Servicehunde tilladt
• Taktile tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Rundvisninger på tegnsprog: ingen oplysninger
• Letlæste tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Synstolkning: ingen oplysninger

Beamish is a large open-air site with uneven and cobbled surfaces, steep slopes and some buildings with steps. A wheelchair accessible vehicle with a tail lift runs on call every day the museum is open, and two accessible buses with tail lifts can carry wheelchairs but not scooters. Wheelchairs can be hired for a refundable 10 pound deposit and mobility scooters for 12 pounds plus a refundable 25 pound deposit. Accessible toilets are in most areas, and a Changing Places toilet is in the 1950s welfare hall. A quiet space is available there, and sensory bags can be borrowed for a refundable 10 pound deposit. Assistance dogs are welcome throughout the museum. Free accessible parking is on the lowest level of the car park beside the entrance building. Some areas are dimly lit, and photo packs are available for exhibits that cannot be reached.

Børn og familie

Velegnet til børn og familier

• Familieomvisninger & workshops
• Interaktive stationer
• Puslerum
• Legeplads / legehjørne

The museum encourages families to join in with costumed staff, fairground rides and 1950s activities in the welfare hall. Coronation Park in the 1950s area has play equipment. Baby changing facilities are in several areas. Folded pushchairs can be carried on most trams and buses, space permitting.

Transport & parkering

By car, leave the A1(M) at junction 63 and follow the A693 towards Stanley for 4 miles; sat-nav postcode DH9 0RG. Bike racks are outside the entrance building and the C2C cycle route passes nearby.

Service & spisesteder

• Café
• Museumsbutik
• Garderobe: findes ikke

Food outlets include the Coffee Pot Cafe at the entrance, the Tea Rooms, Sun Inn pub and bakery in the 1900s Town, John's Cafe and a fish and chip shop in the 1950s Town, and Drovers Tavern in the 1820s area. Admission applies to all outlets except the Coffee Pot Cafe. There is a gift shop at the entrance. Luggage cannot be stored.

Arrangementer & udlejning

• Lokaler til leje
• Firmaarrangementer

Op til 50 personer.

Meeting rooms for corporate events include a 1950s living room for up to six people and the Bank Board Room for up to 50, with catering and optional activities.

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