 The Discovery Museum in 2018 | |
  | |
| Established | 1934 |
|---|---|
| Location | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Coordinates | 54°58′08″N1°37′30″W / 54.969°N 1.625°W |
| Public transit access | Newcastle Central Station |
| Website | Official website |
The Discovery Museum is a science museum and local history museum situated in Blandford Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It displays many exhibits of local history, including the ship, Turbinia . It is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. [1]
The Discovery Museum started life in 1934 as the Municipal Museum of Science and Industry. [2] The collections were housed in a temporary pavilion built for the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition in Exhibition Park, Newcastle. [3]
The collections and displays grew for another forty years, until the temporary pavilion could no longer meet the museum's needs. In 1978, the museum was re-located to Blandford House, the former Co-operative Wholesale Society Headquarters for the Northern Region. [4] Designed by Oliver, Leeson & Wood in 1899, the building had been the distribution centre for over 100 Co-op stores across the region, and contained extensive warehouse space and offices. [5]
The museum was re-launched as Discovery Museum in 1993 at which time the Turbinia was moved from Exhibition Park. [2] In 2004 the £13 million redevelopment of the museum was complete [2] and the following year the venue attracted 450,000 visitors. [6]
The museum includes Turbinia , the 104 feet 9 inches (31.93 m) ship built by Charles Algernon Parsons to test the advantages of using the steam turbine to power ships, which could go up to 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h). [7] [8] It houses the regimental museum for the Light Dragoons (and its antecedent regiments) and the Northumberland Hussars, exploring the human side of 200 years of life in the army. It is a "hands-on" museum designed to interest both children and adults. [9] It also features examples of Joseph Swan's early lightbulbs which were invented on Tyneside. [10]
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Tyne and Wear is a ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend.
The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland. The network opened in stages from August 1980 and now serves a total of 60 stations, with two lines covering 77.5 km (48.2 mi) of track. The Metro can be accessed from a mixture of underground and above-ground stations. It has been described as the "first modern light rail system in the United Kingdom". The system is currently owned and operated by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, thus is fully under public ownership and operation.
Turbinia was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, Turbinia was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships, the majority of which would be turbine powered. The vessel is currently located at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, while her original powerplant is located at the Science Museum in London.
Wylam is a village and civil parish in the county of Northumberland. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It was opened in 1904 and is now managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In front of the gallery is the Blue Carpet. The building, which was financed by a gift from a local wine merchant, Alexander Laing, is Grade II listed.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Northumberland Park is a Tyne and Wear Metro and future National Rail station, serving the village of Backworth and suburbs of Northumberland Park and West Allotment, North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It joined the network on 11 December 2005, and is the second-newest station on the network as of March 2022.
The Great North Museum: Hancock is a museum of natural history and ancient civilisations in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Exhibition Park is a public park connected to the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The park is home to numerous facilities including sports areas, a boating lake, playgrounds and a skatepark.
Tyne and Wear Archives is the record office for the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Tyne and Wear Archives preserve documents relating to the area from the 12th to the 21st century. It is based in the former headquarters of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, which it shares with Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Shipley Art Gallery is an art gallery in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, located at the south end of Prince Consort Road. It has a Designated Collection of national importance.
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan area covering the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, as well as North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and Washington.
St Nicholas Hospital is an NHS psychiatric hospital located in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. The entrance is located on Jubilee Road. The buildings range from Victorian-era to modern facilities and occupy 12 hectares of land. The hospital is managed by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
The North East Coast Exhibition was a world's fair held in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear and ran from May to October 1929. Held five years after the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley Park, London, and at the start of the Great Depression the event was held to encourage local heavy industry.
Fenham Barracks is a military installation in Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England.
Percy Main is a small village absorbed into North Shields, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it is now part of Tyne and Wear.
Harry Ferris Brazenor was a British taxidermist. He was known especially for his work for Manchester and Salford museums, besides other institutions in Northern England. At Manchester Museum he was recognised for his taxidermy-mounted sperm whale skeleton, giraffe, polar bear, and a wolf with painted "blood" on its teeth. His work for Salford Museum included an Asian elephant displayed next to a tiny shrew. His Salford tiger was transferred to Leeds City Museum and is still displayed there. For Hancock Museum at Newcastle upon Tyne he mounted a bison bull, and for the former Belle Vue Zoological Gardens he mounted an Indian rhinoceros.
