Great North Museum

This museum contains several collections combined and has many partners. It was opened by the Queen in November 2009 after a £26 million refurbishment and extension programme.

Photo from Ficker

It is the principal museum of archaeology in North East England. Its visitors are those who wish to know more about the history of the region, especially Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Frontiers. It has a renowned collection of artefacts, models and archives relating to the Wall, and a full-scale reconstruction of the Temple of Mithras  at Carrawburgh. Other displays illustrate the variety of life in the region from early prehistory to the 17th century. Interactive model of Hadrian's Wall.  Located on Newcastle University's campus.

Photo by Craig Rodwey

But this is much wider, you will discover mummies to dinosaurs.

Highlights of this museum are:-

• A large-scale, interactive model of Hadrian's Wall.

• Displays showing the wonder and diversity of the animal and plant kingdoms.

• Spectacular objects from the Ancient Greeks and mummies from Ancient Egypt.

• A Planetarium.

• A life-size T-Rex dinosaur skeleton.

• The Living Planet display houses hundreds of creatures and by using a mixture of touch screen technology and hands-on investigations, you can investigate these animals and find out where they live and how they survive in such extreme places as the arctic and desert.

• Live animal tanks and aquaria are integrated into this major display where you can see wolf fish, pythons and lizards to name a few.

• A full size model of an elephant, a great white shark, a virtual aquarium, live animal displays, a polar bear, a giraffe and moa skeleton.

The main part we have explained above used to be called the Hancock Museum and was established in 1884.

There is a second location that contains at least 3,500 works of art, not all of which is on permanent show, that was the Hatton Gallery, that is now a part of the Great North Museum. Items in the permanent collection within the Hatton Gallery is not always available and you need to call them to make an appointment to see it.

There is also a large library open to the public above the Hancock section of the museum.

NOTE:- I have not visited this museum yet, but its on my list of places I must visit. If you have and have any photos please let us see a selection.

Mobile Signs - Photo from Flicker

Further information Grid   Location: Great North Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne Ceremonial County: Northumberland Grid Reference: NZ246651 Map Link: Multimap postcode NE2 4PT Postcode NE1 7RU (Hatton Gallery) Aerial photo: Multimap Route(s):   Best Times to Visit: Any day, including wet ones - see opening times below E-mail: Contact Form Website: Own   Other useful websites: Wikipedia    Wikipedia - Hancock   Hatton Geograph   Flicker image search Nearby Locations:   Other Relevant pages: Roman Frontiers    Hadrian's Wall       Hadrian's Wall - Featured Places

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Please let us know any other information that we can add to the Further information and Planning Grids or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you quote both the Page Ref and Topic or Section references from the Grid below. To print the planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area.

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By:  Keith Park	Section:	Key:
Page Ref: Great_North_Museum	Topic: Museums	Last Updated: 05/2010

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