Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens facts for kids
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens from Mowbray Park
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| Established | 1846 |
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| Location | Burdon Road, Sunderland, England |
| Type | Museum |
The Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is a cool museum in Sunderland, England. It's famous for having the only known example in Britain of a gliding reptile! This amazing fossil is the oldest known animal with a backbone that could glide through the air. It was found in a place called Eppleton quarry. The museum also has a special collection that is considered very important for the whole country.
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Discovering the Museum's Past
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The Sunderland Museum first opened its doors in 1846. It was located in the Athenaeum Building on Fawcett Street. This made it the very first museum outside London to be funded by a local town council!
The museum also made history by asking an artist to create a painting. This painting showed the opening of the new South Dock in 1850. It might have been the first time a town council ever asked for an artwork to be made.
A New Home and Famous Visitors
In 1879, the museum moved to a bigger and better building next to Mowbray Park. This new building also had a library and a beautiful winter garden. The design for the winter garden was inspired by the famous Crystal Palace.
A very important person, U.S. President Ulysses Grant, was there when the first stone of the new building was laid in 1877. The building officially opened two years later in 1879.
Rebuilding the Winter Gardens
Sadly, during World War II, the Winter Garden was badly damaged in 1941. It was hit by a special type of bomb called a parachute mine. Because of the damage, it had to be taken down the next year.
In the 1960s, a new part was added to the museum where the Winter Garden used to be. Then, in 2001, the museum got money from a lottery to make things even better. They built a brand new Winter Garden and improved all the museum's facilities.
Today, the Winter Gardens are home to over 2,000 different kinds of flowers and plants! It's a wonderful place to explore nature. In 2003, the museum was recognized as the most visited museum outside of London.
Amazing Collections and Exhibits
The museum has many interesting things to see. One of its special collections is a large group of Sunderland Lustreware pottery. This pottery was made locally and is known for its shiny, metallic finish.
Other cool things you can find at the museum include:
- A stuffed lion that was brought to the museum in 1879.
- The remains of a walrus that came all the way from Siberia in the 1880s.
- The very first Nissan car that was made in Sunderland.
- The skeletal remains of a human being.
- A dinosaur bone that was found right in the local area!
More Space for Discoveries
In 1995, the library that was part of the museum moved to a new building. This new place is called the City Library and Arts Centre on Fawcett Street. It used to be part of a big department store called Binns.
When the library moved out, it created more space for the museum to show off its amazing exhibits. The new City Library Arts Centre also has the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art. This gallery is known as one of the best places to see new artists' work in the North of England.
Lowry's Connection to Sunderland
The famous artist L.S. Lowry discovered Sunderland in 1960. He loved it so much that it became like a second home to him. He once said, "One day I was travelling south from Tyneside and I realised this was what I had always been looking for."
Sunderland Museum has a fantastic collection of Lowry's art. They have six of his works and 30 more on long-term loan. Only the museums in Salford and Manchester have more Lowry paintings than Sunderland!
