Learn hands on at The Discovery Museum, Newcastle The Discovery Museum in Newcastle.
Where is Discovery Museum located?
Discovery Museum is situated on the very edge of the city centre of Newcastle, just off St. James ' Boulevard, making it easy to get to by public transport and by car.
What is the history of Discovery Museum to the present day?
Discovery Museum is located in the old Blandford House, a property of the Co-operative Wholesale Society. It was opened in 1899, and soon became an landmark structure in downtown Newcastle. In 1978 Blandford House became a museum, and in 1993 it was re-launched as a Discovery Museum.
Discovery Museum started life as the Municipal Museum of Science and Technology, the first science museum outside of London, in Exhibition Park, Newcastle in 1934. This was installed in the temporary pavilion, constructed for the North East Coast Exhibition of 1929.
What is there to see and do at Discovery Museum?
The Discovery Museum is probably most famous for its Turbinia exhibit – the first vessel to be powered by a steam turbine and dreamt up by Charles Parsons, who served his engineering apprentice at a Newcastle firm. However, this city centre gem of an attraction has much, much more to see and will keep visitors from 1 to 100 fascinated, such is the eclectic mix of exhibits, many pleasingly hands-on. Tyne and Wear was a powerhouse of technical engineering for two centuries and its influence in this area touched the rest of the world. Look out also for the light bulb exhibition detailing how Joseph Swan unveiled his show-stopping light bulb invention at a lecture hall in Newcastle.
