Beamish, The Living Museum of the North
Beamish
Britain’s best-known open-air living museum, recreating towns, coal mines and farms from 1820 to the 1950s, with vintage trams running between the areas.
Beamish covers about 140 hectares and brings the everyday life of north-east England to life with real buildings. The 1900s town has a sweet shop, a bank, a newspaper office and a pub, where you can buy freshly fried fish and chips. The pit village lets you go down into a real coal mine. There are also a Georgian farmstead, a wartime farm from the 1940s and a 1950s street. Staff in period costume give talks, and old-fashioned trams and buses travel between the different areas. Adult admission is about £30, which includes unlimited re-entry for one year. Plan to spend a full day. It is about 15 km from Newcastle and can be reached by bus route 28.
Opening hours
10:00–17:00 (until 16:00 in winter)
Nearby sights
- Crook Hall & Gardens
- Durham Market Place
- Finchale Priory
- Palace Green Library
- River Wear Cruises & Rowing Boats
- Durham Cathedral & Castle
- River Wear Riverbanks & Prebends Bridge
- Oriental Museum