List of museums in County Durham facts for kids

This list of museums in County Durham, England, contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit art galleries and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.

To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.

Name	Image	Town/City	Type	Summary
Ankers House Museum		Chester-le-Street	Religious	Located at St Mary and St Cuthbert Church, medieval room used by anchorites
Auckland Castle		Bishop Auckland	Historic house	Home of the Bishop of Durham for over 800 years
Beamish Museum		Beamish	Open air	Focus is 1825 and 1913 life in urbanized North East England, includes trains, agriculture, industry exhibits
Bishop Auckland Town Hall		Bishop Auckland	Art	Former town hall, houses Bishop Auckland's main public library, a theatre, an art gallery, tourist information centre and a café-bar
Bowes Museum		Barnard Castle	Art	Includes fine art, decorative art, ceramics, textiles, tapestries, clocks and costumes
DLI Museum		Durham	Military	History of the Durham Light Infantry, located in same building as the Durham Art Gallery
Durham Art Gallery		Durham	Art	website, modern and contemporary art, located in same building as the DLI Museum
Durham Castle		Durham	Historic house	Norman castle, part of University College, Durham, open for guided tours
Durham Cathedral		Durham	Religious	Includes tower, monk's dormitory, shrine of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, exhibits on the cathedral's construction and history
Durham Mining Museum		Spennymoor	Mining	website, mining in the Northern part of England
Durham Museum and Heritage Centre		Durham	Local	Local history
Hartlepool Art Gallery		Hartlepool	Art	Operated by the Hartlepool Borough Council, exhibits of crafts, contemporary and fine art, and photography
Hartlepool's Maritime Experience		Hartlepool	Maritime	Recreation of an 18th-century seaport in the time of Lord Nelson, Napoleon and the Battle of Trafalgar
Head of Steam		Darlington	Railway	Heritage railroad and museum
Heugh Battery Museum		Hartlepool	Military	Restored 19th century coastal defense battery and exhibits about local coastal artillery forces
HMS Trincomalee		Hartlepool	Maritime	Early 19th century Royal Navy Leda class frigate museum ship
Hopetown Carriage Works		Durham	Railway
Killhope		Killhope	Mining	Former 19th century lead mine, minerals, life of the miner and family
Museum of Archaeology		Durham	Archaeology	Also known as Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, part of the University of Durham, artifacts from prehistoric, Ancient Greece, Roman and Medieval periods
Museum of Hartlepool		Hartlepool	Local	Local history, maritime heritage, PS Wingfield Castle museum ship
National Railway Museum Shildon		Shildon	Railway	Branch of the National Railway Museum, includes over 70 railway heritage vehicles
Oriental Museum		Durham	Ethnographic	Part of the University of Durham, includes Chinese, Egyptian, Korean, Japanese and other far east and Asian artifacts
Palace Green Library		Durham	Library	Part of the Durham University Library, exhibits from the University's collections in art, history, culture, literature, website
Preston Park Museum & Grounds		Preston-on-Tees	Local	Includes a recreated period street of the 1890s, period rooms, an armoury and a toy collection
Raby Castle		Staindrop	Historic house	Medieval castle with 18th & 19th century decorations, deer park, gardens
Rokeby Park		Greta Bridge	Historic house	Palladian-style country house
Spennymoor Town Hall Art Gallery		Spennymoor	Art	Municipal art gallery
Tanfield Railway		Tanfield	Railway	Heritage railroad and shed with locomotives and equipment
Weardale Museum		Ireshopeburn	Local	Local history, mining, geology, John Wesley and Methodist memorabilia, farming, railway

Defunct museums

• Durham Miners Heritage Centre
• Vintage Vehicles Shildon, closed in 2012

See also

• Visitor attractions in County Durham