This regional open air Museum was
established in 1970 and is administered by a Joint
Committee representing North Eastern City, County and
District Councils. It was established as " an
Open Air Museum for the purpose of studying, collecting,
preserving, interpreting and exhibiting buildings,
machinery, objects and information illustrating the
development of industry and agriculture and way of
life in the North of England".
The Spirit of Beamish
Beamish is a world famous open air museum. We tell
the story of the people of North East England at
two important
points of their history - 1825 and 1913. In 1825 the
region was rural and thinly populated. The industrial
revolution, especially the coming of the railways, accelerated
change. By 1913 the region's heavy industries were at
their peak.
Beamish is not a traditional museum.
Most of the houses, shops and other buildings have
been "deconstructed" from
elsewhere in the region and rebuilt here. A few, the
Drift Mine, Home Farm and Pockerley Manor were here already.
All are buildings filled with objects, furniture and
machinery - real things from our extensive collections.
Scholarship and detailed research is behind everything
we do.
You will find here no glass cases and
few labels. Within our buildings you will find costumed
people
who are trained
to talk to visitors and to answer their questions.
The staff are proud of their heritage. We believe that
the
reality of human beings is better than technological
virtual reality. It is this belief that distinguishes
us from other museums.
History
Beamish is the first English museum to be financed
and administered by a consortium of County Councils
and it is the first regional open air museum in England.
The development of this regional Museum can best be
described in three stages. Between 1958 and 1970 the
project was conceived and planned; from 1970 to early
1974 a beginning was made and the project was financed
by a complex Joint Committee of nine Local Authorities.
In 1974 the Museum was formally taken over by a new
Joint Committee representing four County Councils and
it is now administered by a Joint Committee of City,
County and District Councils.
The project is one of regional significance and collections
cover the counties of Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland
and Tyne & Wear. The first staff were appointed
in 1970 and Beamish opened with an introductory exhibition,
in Beamish Hall, over twenty weekends in 1971. By 1972,
for the first time, visitors were able to see a little
of the site. Development has been carried out since
then to achieve the Beamish we see today, which covers
over 300 acres.
Development
Beamish stands on over three hundred
acres of pleasantly rolling wooded land, crossed by
the Beamish Burn, some
nine miles to the south west of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Development of the complex has been planned somewhat
along the lines of well-known Scandinavian 'open air'
or 'folk' museums. Buildings are re-erected in appropriate
settings on the site, followed by their restoration
and furnishing. It differs, however, from such museums
by extending further these techniques to significant
buildings and structures of social and industrial interest.
The phrase 'open air' is intended to indicate that
the objects are shown in their appropriate buildings,
rather than in glass cases as in a traditional museum.
By this technique the object is shown in its full social
context and environment, instead of being divorced
from its surroundings and associated material. It is
also this Museum's remit to show complete areas of
operation rather than merely re-creating single buildings
as is sometimes the case in other 'open air' museums.
Thus the following areas have been created:
Early 1900s
The Award-winning Town
Colliery Village & coal mine
Railway Station
Home Farm
Early 1800s
The 1825 Railway-Pockerley Waggonway
Pockerley
Manor
The Regional Heritage
Although great importance is attached to the enjoyment
and interest of visitors Beamish is particularly concerned
to preserve the heritage of the North East region.
A vast collection of museum objects is held in store,
awaiting use in an appropriate setting, and also as
a research collection for students. Behind the scenes
a mammoth task of regional recording of the recent
past steadily proceeds.
Much research is needed prior to the selection of
a building to be dismantled and moved to the Museum,
and very careful recording needs to be carried out.
The vast Photographic Archive and Reference Library
are together an invaluable reference and research tool.
See Photographic Library for more information.
Finance
It costs approximately £3
million each year to cover the running costs of Beamish.
The Museum receives little funding from the local authorities
whose history we tell. 95% of our revenue costs must
be found from admission charges, retailing and catering
profits, corporate hires, sponsorship and special events.
Beamish is a partner in the North East Regional Museums
Hub, part of the Renaissance programme. This is
a ground- breaking programme funded by central Government,
investing in England's regional museums with the aim
of ensuring that they are great centres for life and
learning. Financial support from Renaissance North
East has enabled Beamish to undertake ongoing initiatives
in Care of Collections, Education, Collections Access,
Training and Publications.
Our capital development finance has come from the
European Regional Development Fund, English Tourist
Board, Countryside
Commission, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and
the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Beamish Development
Trust, a registered charity, exists to encourage support
from local industry, commerce and charitable trusts.
Assistance, predominantly in kind, is also provided
by the Friends of Beamish and volunteer groups.
Visitors
Around 350,000 visitors are attracted
to Beamish annually. Approximately 70% of adult and
family visitors come
from outside the Northumbria region and 30% are local
(from the Counties of Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland
and Tyne & Wear). Over 50,000 children visit Beamish
in booked school parties. Beamish is thus fulfilling
the dual function of education and entertainment.
Employment
Beamish has more than 90 people
employed on a full-time basis but this number can increase
to over 200 people in the peak summer season.
THE BEAMISH CHARTER
Our mission is to present, in a dynamic museum, the
social history of the people of the North East
of England, and to ensure that our visitors are engaged,
informed,
entertained, educated and become our best advocates.
Guiding Principles
We will carry out our Mission according to the
following Guiding Principles; that we will:
- Maintain our integrity as a museum
by studying, collecting, preserving, interpreting
and exhibiting
to the public,
buildings, machinery, objects and information,
illustrating the development of industry and
agriculture and way
of life in the North East of England.
- Present
the social history of the North East
region, throughout the museum including specifically
the 1820's and
the 1913 period areas as indicated in
the
Beamish Development
Strategy.
- Inform our visitors, entertain
our visitors, educate and involve our visitors,
without compromising
our historical integrity
- Seek to achieve
and maintain the highest standards of customer
care in all aspects
of our work.
- Ensure financial security,
business integrity and sustainability.
- Treat
each other
with
dignity
and respect, and ensure a happy
and safe working environment where innovation is
encouraged
and where the contribution
of each and every person involved
in the Beamish project is valued.
- Maintain our identity
as the Region's Museum,
by ensuring that we contribute
to economic regeneration, lifelong learning, education,
social inclusion
and the region's identity.
- Develop
appropriate
partnerships
within the Region.
- Maintain our
links
with and involvement in the immediate
community as well
as the North East
region as a whole.
- Continue
our work in
maintaining Beamish as a world class
museum with internationally important collections.
Meet the Friends of Beamish
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