UPDATE: Under the government’s COVID-19 national lockdown, the museum is currently closed.
We’ll be keeping you updated on our social media and website as we continue to follow the government’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Pockerley Old Hall
Visit the ‘new house’ – the home of the tenant farmer – and the ‘old house’, which dates back to at least the 1440s. Look out for traditional Georgian cooking and craft activities.
Pockerley Gardens
This beautiful terraced garden features Georgian-era plants, herbs and vegetables, which can often be sampled in recipes cooked in the hall.
Pockerley Waggonway
Take a steam train ride at the Waggonway, which tells the story of the birth of the railways, and is home to replica engines the Steam Elephant and Puffing Billy.
Joe the Quilter’s Cottage
The cottage is a recreation of the “lost” home of renowned Georgian quilter Joseph Hedley, who was murdered in 1826, in an appalling crime that shocked the nation. The cottage features stones from Joe’s original home, including flagstones where he stood 200 years ago. The remains of Joe’s cottage in Warden, near Hexham, Northumberland, were uncovered during an archaeological dig by Beamish staff and community members. The exhibit, which tells the story of quilting and the growth of cottage industries in the early 1800s, has been painstakingly recreated by skilled museum staff. A drawing on a postcard that was produced after Joe’s murder gave valuable details about how his home – which was demolished in 1872 – looked. Click here to find out about the story of Joe the Quilter’s cottage.
Joe the Quilter’s cottage was the first building to open as part of the Remaking Beamish project. Thanks to the money raised by National Lottery players, the Remaking Beamish project has been awarded £10.9million by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
St Helen’s Church
Nestling in the Georgian landscape is this beautiful medieval church, St Helen’s, from Eston, near Middlesbrough. The church was due to be demolished due to vandalism until it was saved and rebuilt at the Museum.
Georgian Landscape
Take a walk through the picturesque landscape, as you step back into the Georgian era, with its dry stone walling, riven oak fences, and traditional breeds of animal. The horse-powered whim gin would have been used to raise coal and men out of the mines. Look out for the gibbet looming in the distance.