List of museums in Tyne and Wear facts for kids

This list of museums in Tyne and Wear, 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	Region	Type	Summary
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum		South Shields	South Tyneside	Archaeology	Excavated and reconstructed Roman fort, museum of artefacts and life of a Roman soldier
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art		Gateshead	Gateshead	Art	Contemporary art
Bessie Surtees House		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Historic house	Operated by Historic England, two five-storey 16th and 17th century merchants' houses
Bowes Railway		Springwell	City of Sunderland	Railway	Preserved operational standard gauge cable railway system built to transport coal to boats, built by George Stephenson in 1826
Castle Keep		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Historic house	Keep and remains of the medieval castle
Centre for Life		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Science	Permanent exhibits about human life
Customs House		South Shields	South Tyneside	Art	Arts centre with exhibit gallery, theatre and cinema
Discovery Museum		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Multiple	Science, local history, shipbuilding and industrial heritage, Turbinia, first steam turbine powered steamship, regimental museum for the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars and the Northumberland Hussars, costumes, art exhibits of painting, photography and sculpture
Fulwell Windmill		Fulwell	City of Sunderland	Mill	website, restored early 19th century windmill
Gateshead Heritage @ St Mary`s		Gateshead	Gateshead	Local	website, local history, culture,
Globe Gallery		North Shields	North Tyneside	Art	website, contemporary art
Great North Museum: Hancock		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Multiple	Natural history, archaeology and Roman Britain, Ancient Rome and Egypt, dinosaurs and fossils, ethnography
Hatton Gallery		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Art	Part of Newcastle University
Holy Jesus Hospital		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	History	Operated by the National Trust, medieval building in use for 700 years, exhibits about its use as a 14th-century Augustinian friary, 17th century almshouse and Victorian soup kitchen
Jarrow Hall		Jarrow	South Tyneside	Multiple	Life and times of monk, scholar and author Venerable Bede, includes artifacts from the adjacent medieval church, museum exhibits, Anglo-Saxon demonstration farm with heritage breeds of animals
Laing Art Gallery		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Art	Collections include 18th and 18th century British oil paintings and sculpture, watercolours, ceramics, silver and glassware, 20th century art
Monkwearmouth Station Museum		Monkwearmouth	City of Sunderland	Railway	Railway and transportation history and heritage
National Glass Centre		Sunderland	City of Sunderland	Art	Historic and contemporary glass, history of glass-making
Newburn Hall Motor Museum		Newburn	Newcastle upon Tyne	Automotive	information
North East Land, Sea and Air Museums		Sunderland	City of Sunderland	Aviation	Historic aircraft, aviation history, Military vehicles, historic emergency services vehicles, buses and trams.
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art		Sunderland	City of Sunderland	Art	Contemporary art
Northumbria University Gallery		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Art	website, part of Northumbria University
Old Low Light		North Shields	North Tyneside	Maritime heritage	website - Galleries, exhibits, activities, viewing platform and café, housed in a former lighthouse
Path Head Watermill		Blaydon	Gateshead	Industry	Restored water wheel and joiner's shop
Reg Vardy Gallery		Sunderland	City of Sunderland	Art	website, information, contemporary art gallery of the University of Sunderland
Ryhope Engines Museum		Ryhope	City of Sunderland	Technology	Victorian pumping station with two beam engines, steam engines and pumps, boilers, a blacksmith's forge, waterwheel, replica plumber's shop
Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum		Wallsend	North Tyneside	Archaeology	Excavated Roman fort along Hadrian's Wall, museum of artefacts and life of a Roman soldier, shipbuilding and coal mining industries, reconstructed Roman baths
Seven Stories		Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	Art	Art of British children’s books
Shipley Art Gallery		Gateshead	Gateshead	Art	Contemporary crafts and design, fine art
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery		South Shields	South Tyneside	Local	website, local history, culture, art
Souter Lighthouse		Marsden	South Tyneside	Maritime	Operated by the National Trust, lighthouse's engine room, light tower and keeper's living quarters
St. Mary's Lighthouse		St Mary's Island	North Tyneside	Maritime	Lighthouse to tour, exhibits about the lighthouse and island's wildlife
Stephenson Railway Museum		North Shields	North Tyneside	Railway	Steam-powered electric and diesel engines, history of area electric transport, northern terminus of the North Tyneside Steam Railway
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens		Sunderland	City of Sunderland	Multiple	Art, textiles, pottery, glass, coal mining, local history, social history, natural history, industry, geology
Tynemouth Castle and Priory		Tynemouth	North Tyneside	Historic house	Operated by English Heritage, remains and exhibits about the Anglo-Saxon settlement, Anglican monastery, royal castle, artillery fort and coastal defence
Tynemouth Life Brigade Watch House Museum		Tynemouth	North Tyneside	Maritime	website, history of area lifesaving, shipwreck artifacts
Tynemouth Toy Museum		Tynemouth	North Tyneside	Toy	website, toys, dolls, prams, puzzles, games
Washington 'F' Pit		Washington	City of Sunderland	Technology	website, Victorian steam engine, engine house and headgear for a coal mine
Washington Old Hall		Washington	City of Sunderland	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, 16th century stone manor house, ancestral home of the family of George Washington, the first President of the United States

Defunct museums

• Dial Cottage, West Moor, Killingworth, one of the homes of George Stephenson from 1804 and where the infant Robert Stephenson grew up
• Military Vehicle Museum, Exhibition Park, Newcastle, closed in 2006, may reopen
• Municipal Museum of Science and Industry, Exhibition Park, Newcastle, collections now part of Discovery Museum
• Museum of Antiquities, collections now part of Great North Museum: Hancock
• Shefton Museum, collections now part of Great North Museum: Hancock