The Canal Museum

About the museum

The Canal Museum stands beside the Grand Union Canal in the village of Stoke Bruerne, close to the southern entrance of the Blisworth Tunnel, which is nearly two miles long. The museum is housed in a Grade II listed former corn mill and is described by its operator as the first museum of its kind in the country.

It is run by the Canal & River Trust, the charity that looks after the waterways of England and Wales. Its displays on three floors show what it was like to live and work on the canals in the past, with interactive exhibits, sights and sounds of boat life, and the traditional painted roses and castles that decorate narrowboats.

The museum belongs to a wider national collection. Most of the objects are kept at the National Waterways Museums at Ellesmere Port and Gloucester Docks, but the collection, which has been designated as nationally important by Arts Council England, also supplies important items shown here. Outside, the narrowboat Sculptor, built in 1935 for carrying cargo and later a fireboat in London during the Second World War, is moored beside the museum, and the village has a flight of locks, a forge and the old legging hut used by men who walked boats through the tunnel.

Highlights

• Narrowboat Sculptor, built in 1935 and used as a fireboat in the Second World War
• Interactive displays on life and work on the canals
• Traditional canal roses and castles painting
• Southern portal of Blisworth Tunnel and the flight of locks
• Tactile map of Stoke Bruerne on the ground floor

Permanent exhibitions

• Life and work on Britain's canals – Displays on three floors of a former corn mill with interactive exhibits on how people lived and worked on the waterways over the last 300 years.
• Narrowboat Sculptor – A cargo narrowboat built in 1935, used as a fireboat in London in the Second World War and later as a maintenance boat, moored outside the museum.

Operated by

Canal & River Trust

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the museum is free. Parking in the main car park is charged: £3 for 4 hours or £5 for all day, and £1 in the early morning and evening. Two passenger boats run trips into the mouth of Blisworth Tunnel and back; prices are not given by the museum. Group visits can include extras such as a boat trip or afternoon tea at an additional charge.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The ground floor, with the café, shop and welcome area, is step-free inside, with a ramped side entrance, but the galleries on the first and second floors are reached only by timber staircases, so wheelchair users cannot reach them. There is an accessible toilet with radar key access and two disabled parking bays beside the pay machine. Large print interpretation is used on all floors, and a tactile map of Stoke Bruerne is on the ground floor. Dogs are welcome in the shop side of the ground floor, and assistance dogs are welcome. The museum can be noisy during school visits and can arrange a quieter time to visit.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

There is an interactive family area on the first floor, a chance to dress up in boaters' costumes and to try painting canal roses and castles, and free activity sheets on the Canal & River Trust Explorers pages. Outside there is pond dipping, a woodland walk with wire sculptures and a nature reserve. Buggies can be left in an allocated space.

Getting there & parking

By car follow the signs from the A508; for sat nav use NN12 7SQ. The towpath between the museum and the Blisworth Tunnel entrance is in good condition. What3Words: bulk.quiet.challenge.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Café serving sandwiches, soups, cakes and ice cream, with vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options on request, and a gift shop with local gifts, canal books and a second-hand book section. Picnic areas and benches outside.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit