Woodhorn Museum

Woodhorn Museum, set within Queen Elizabeth II Country Park in Ashington, Northumberland, celebrates the region's proud mining heritage. Housed on the site of the former Woodhorn Colliery (1894–1981), the museum features original buildings and equipment including two headframes, a winding house, engine houses, a steam winding engine, stables, ventilation buildings, and a blacksmith and joiners shop.

Woodhorn Colliery operated between 1894 and 1981. At its peak over 2,000 people worked underground at the site and 600,000 tonnes of coal was mined each year. The colliery reopened as a mining museum in 1989, and the Cutter Building opened in 2009 housing the main museum, café, exhibition spaces and collections stores.

The museum is proud home to the Ashington Group Collection — the famous 'Pitmen Painters' — showcasing what daily life was really like for miners in and around Ashington from the 1930s. It is reputed to be the first collection of amateur art to go on permanent display anywhere in the world. The Coal Town Collection presents photographs by social documentary photographer Mik Critchlow documenting the end of mining in Northumberland.

Many original colliery buildings remain and are open to explore. The museum offers a Winding House Café, gift shop, free parking, and picnic areas with tables around the site. During Northumberland school holidays, the museum opens seven days a week. Under 18s go free. Well-behaved family dogs are welcome, and there are baby changing facilities and a Changing Places toilet.