Permanent Collections & Galleries
A museum, art gallery, exhibition space and Winter Gardens combine to create a stunning visitor attraction in the heart of the city centre. Exciting displays interpret the wide variety of collections, using hands-on exhibits, computer interactives and video presentations. Free entry.
Textile Traditions
Wonderfully crafted quilts, rag rugs, embroideries and ganseys represent the rich tradition of textile crafts found in this region. See how the work of the past has inspired today's makers in a collection of contemporary craft works.
Pottery Gallery
The world's largest collection of Sunderland pottery, including
examples of the famous pink lustreware, is on show in this gallery.
Visitors can learn about what it was like to work in a pottery, and
the techniques used to make and decorate Sunderland pots in this
stunning display.
Time Machine
Weird, wonderful, wacky - the Museum's craziest collection! This gallery is full of visitors' favourite exhibits as well as many of the fascinating objects that have made their way into the Museum's collections over the years.
Coal
This display is a lasting tribute to nearly 200 years of mining in the East Durham coalfield. Focusing on the unique communities which developed there, the display re-creates the day-to-day lives of miners and their families.
Secrets of the Past
Meet the ancestors and find out what a prehistoric burial can tell us about the way people lived in Sunderland thousands of years ago. Learn about the Anglo-Saxon monks who lived at St Peter's Monastery, Monkwearmouth - home of the young Bede - and find out about the archaeological techniques which enable us to uncover the secrets of the past.
Glorious Glass
Glassmaking in Sunderland has its origins in Anglo-Saxon times when coloured glass windows were made for St Peter's Monastery at Monkwearmouth, more than 1,300 years ago. This glittering display features highlights of the great range of glassware made during the last 200 years, when the glassmaking industry on Wearside led the world.
20th Century Sunderland
One hundred years of the history of Sunderland can be seen through
the eyes of women. Watch four characters come to life in the video
presentations, then experience their surroundings for yourself in
four atmospheric room sets. Explore the themes of seaside, fashion,
diet, cost of living, public entertainment and housing over the
century. Find out how politics, convention and fashion have shaped
and changed all our lives.
Worlds Alive
Find out about the huge variety of life that exists on the planet. Explore the themes of diversity, adaptation and extinction and see animals at home in a range of recreated habitats. Live insects, spiders, amphibians and fish are all part of the attraction.
Lost Worlds
Learn about the local geology of Sunderland and how the area has
been a place of steaming swamps, a baking desert and a tropical
reef. The sounds of lapping waves, roaring winds and bubbling
swamps add to the atmosphere of a gallery where millions of years
of history have been squeezed into one fascinating space.
Launched on Wearside
Find out about shipbuilding on the Wear between 1880 and 1950. The gallery shows not only the technical side of the industry but also looks at the life of shipyard owners, the workers and their families. Discover what made a Wearside ship, how it was built, who built it, where it travelled to in the world and what cargoes it carried.
Winter Gardens
This amazing glass and steel structure surrounds a world of plants
in miniature. Come and experience a garden for all seasons, and
discover the plants that feed, clothe and protect us in our daily
lives including tea, coffee, sugar, citrus fruits, date palms,
bananas, pineapples and mangos.
The Winter Gardens is home to over 2,000 of the world's most exotic
and unusual flowers and trees. It also includes exciting water
features and a stunning treetop walkway, from which visitors can
look down on the plants below.
Mowbray Park
Restored to its former splendor, this Victorian park has much to offer throughout the seasons. With an unusual blend of historic and modern features, the park creates a fabulous green space in the heart of the city.
Art Gallery
See fine oil paintings in all the splendour of a Victorian collector's private gallery. Many works by L. S. Lowry are also on display (see www.twmuseums.org.uk/sunderland/lowry for more information), together with a selection of paintings and watercolours from all periods.
Temporary Exhibition Gallery
The Museum holds regular temporary exhibitions. Please see What's On for further information.
Open Space
The Open Space offers changing exhibitions by local community groups.