Beamish - The Living Museum of the North
Beamish Museum
Beamish
Durham
DH9 0RG
England
Website
Telephone
0191 370 4000
Fax
0191 370 4001
Experience a real sense of your past at Beamish, and discover what life was like in North East England in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian times.
Beamish is a living, working museum, set in 300 acres of County Durham countryside. Costumed demonstrators bring to life the Edwardian Town and Pit Village, complete with original drift mine. At Home Farm and Pockerley Old Hall, experience firsthand how the Industrial revolution transformed agricultural life in the region. The buildings you see at Beamish are not replicas, but have been reconstructed brick-by-brick to give visitors a real sense of history.
Venue Type:
Museum, Library, Archive, Heritage site, Historic house or home, Agricultural site, Industrial heritage site, Transport heritage site
Additional info
Our library and photographic archive are open to the public by appointment only - Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm.
Beamish, founded in 1970 to illustrate the development of industry, agriculture and the way of life in the North East of England, is situated in 300 acres of woodland and farmland. Home Farm, a fine 19th century model farmstead, and Pockerley Old Hall, with its medieval stronghouse dating to the 1400s, are both listed buildings preserved in situ. Other typical buildings brought together represent an early 1900s town, colliery village, farm and railway, linked by an electric tramway. The early 1800s period is represented by Pockerley Old Hall and an exhibit on early railways.
The Museum's collections are all Designated Collections of national importance and include a vast library and archive of books, periodicals, trade catalogues, photographs and oral history recordings.
Designated collections which are wide, varied and extensive, covering all aspects of life in North East England, including domestic life, farming & rural life, folk art, industrial and town life and transport.
Collection details
Social History, Land Transport, Industry, Costume and Textiles, Archives, Architecture, Agriculture
Key artists and exhibits
- Victorian
- Georgian
- Railway
- Town
- Colliery
- Farm
- Manor House
- Steam train
- Rare breed
- Freemason
- Masonic Hall
- Trams
- School
- Co-op
- Designated Collection
Beamish: Growing Your Own
Learn about growing your own food
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Show of Agriculture
The annual Beamish Show of Agriculture, recreating a typical country show from the early 1900s.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Hands on Heritage
Learn hands on heritage skills.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Harvest Festival
Join us for our harvest festival.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Harvest Home and Ceilidh
Join us for our special event.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Ice Skating at Beamish
Every weekend from 26th October 2013 to 23rd February 2014
Put on some skates and take a spin on our very own, real ice rink in The Pit Village.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Halloween Evenings
Prepare to be scared ! Beware of the ghosts and ghouls in The Town, Pit Village and Pockerley Waggonway. Come in costume and enjoy the atmosphere of Halloween in these wonderful settings.
Suitable for
Admission
Ticketed event, charges apply.
Bonfire Evenings
Join us for our giant bonfire and spectacular fireworks displays
Suitable for
Admission
Ticketed event, charges apply.
Christmas at Beamish
The Town, Pit Village, Pockerley Old Hall and Home Farm take on a festive feel with period decorations and celebrations. Visit Father Christmas in his cosy fireside Grotto at Pockerley Waggonway, he’ll have a small gift for every child
Suitable for
Admission
Small extra charge applies.
Christmas Evenings
Delight in a crisp winter evening of Christmas celebrations. Indulge yourself with mulled wine, mince pies and entertainment from the times. Browse the market stalls, meet Father Christmas and take a turn on the real ice rink.
Suitable for
Admission
Ticketed event, charges apply.
Christmas Evenings
Delight in a crisp winter evening of Christmas celebrations. Indulge yourself with mulled wine, mince pies and entertainment from the times. Browse the market stalls, meet Father Christmas and take a turn on the real ice rink.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Christmas Evenings
Delight in a crisp winter evening of Christmas celebrations. Indulge yourself with mulled wine, mince pies and entertainment from the times. Browse the market stalls, meet Father Christmas and take a turn on the real ice rink.
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Agricultural Power from the Past
An extravaganza of horse power, steam power and more besides
Suitable for
Admission
Included in museum admission.
Florence Nightingale’s Nurse
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
The daughter of the house at Pockerley Old Hall is preparing to join Florence Nightingale in the Crimea as one of her nurses. Help her practice her skills by making up herbal remedies, perfecting bandaging and visiting the sick neighbour next door – who lives in a dirty, gloomy house. Can Florence Nightingale’s ideas about cleanliness help?
Appropriate for Key Stage 1 pupils
Creator
- Beamish Learning
How to obtain
Call our bookings officer on 0191 3704026 for more information or to book your class in for this exciting activity.
1½ hr session £30 (first year introductory price offer)
‘I’m an Edwardian Scout – Get Me Out of Here!’
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
Spend a day at our Edwardian Scout Camp and have a real adventure; form your patrol, set up camp, learn woodcraft and complete challenges – dare you try the camp stew?
Appropriate for participants aged 6 years and over.
Creator
- Beamish Learning
Publisher
- Beamish Museum
How to obtain
Call our bookings officer on 0191 3704026 for more information or to book your class in for this exciting activity.
Full day session £30 (first year introductory price offer)
Medicine Through Time – The Georgian Years
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
Revision was never so much fun – come to Pockerley Old Hall and try to figure out why the master of the house lies dead in his bed. Explore the theme of vaccination and Georgian living standards through solving the mystery. Meet some Georgian characters – a Quack Doctor, a Woman Healer or a Physician, and help them make some real Georgian remedies – but are you doing more harm than good?
Appropriate for GCSE Medicine through Time students
Creator
- Beamish Learning
Publisher
- Beamish Museum
How to obtain
If you would like more information, or to book this seesion for your class, please contact our Bookings Officer on 0191 3704026, or bookings@beamish.org.uk.
Half day session £30 (first year introductory price offer)
Mrs Scroggins’ Washday (Available from April 2012)
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
Listen to the story of Mrs Scroggins’ busy washday, and help her do all the housework she needs to do around her house. Sweep the floors, beat the carpets, do the washing, and polish the pans. And what’s that under the bed…?
Suitable for nursery/reception age pupils
Creator
- Beamish Learning
Publisher
- Beamish Museum
How to obtain
1 hr session £35 (max 20 children per session) (Under 5’s come in free)
Call our bookings officer on 0191 3704026 for more information or to book your class in for this exciting activity.
Tudors at Beamish
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
Come to Pockerley Old Hall and be transported back to 1569.
Meet the Hedley family – the ‘Lords of the Manor’, and experience everyday life in a Tudor household.
But be prepared for trouble! The Tudor Northeast was a dangerous place of political intrigue, and border raids were rife.
Appropriate for Key Stage 2 pupils
Creator
- Beamish Learning
Publisher
- Beamish Museum
How to obtain
Call our bookings officer on 0191 3704026 for more information or to book your class in for this exciting activity.
Cost £60 per 1½ hr session.
Who’s going to mind the bairn?
http://www.beamish.org.uk/schools-and-community/
This innovative session allows students to explore a range of issues and attitudes surrounding sex and pregnancy. Students will explore these issues through role-play, investigating the story of a teenage mother and her abandoned baby at the end of the 19th century. Students will take the role of investigators, collecting clues and interviewing characters to determine what has happened to make the mother abandon her child. Students will also decide the fate of the child, determining what should happen. This session ties into the KS3 curriculum around relationships and encourages students to use investigatory, team work and analytical skills.
Pre-visit and post-visit resources are available with this session.
Suitable for KS3 and KS4.
Creator
- Beamish Learning
Publisher
- Beamish Museum
How to obtain
If you would like more information, or to book this session for your class, please contact our Bookings Officer on 0191 3704026, or bookings@beamish.org.uk.
Cost £60 for 1 hour session.
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