Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, has won the prestigious Art Fund museum of the year award, the largest such prize in the world.
Awarding it the £120,000 prize, judges called Beamish a “joyous, immersive and unique place shaped by the stories and experiences of its community”.
The open-air museum in County Durham, which is celebrating its 55th anniversary, brings north-east England’s Georgian, Edwardian, 1940s and 1950s history to life through immersive exhibits.
Visitors engage with costumed staff and volunteers and experience regional stories of everyday life. The museum has a longstanding commitment to preserving local heritage.
The prize was presented on Thursday night to Rhiannon Hiles, the chief executive of Beamish, by the comedian Phil Wang, a judge for the awards, at a ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool.
“Beamish is a worthy winner of this year’s award,” Wang said. “Our visit was one of the most fun days I’ve had in years. An unbelievable level of commitment from staff, and a jaw-dropping amount of detail ran through everything. They had to drag me kicking and screaming out of there!”
A restored Sheffield tram is used to recreate a 1900s street scene at Beamish. Photograph: Paul Heinrich/Alamy
Jenny Waldman, the Art Fund director and chair of the judges, called the museum “a jewel in the crown of the north-east” and said the judges were “blown away by the remarkable attention to detail of its exhibits across a 350-acre site and by the passion of its staff and volunteers”.
She added: “With three-quarters of adults in the north-east of England saying museums make them proud of where they live, Beamish is a shining example of how museums enrich and celebrate local communities.”
In 2024, Beamish welcomed more than 838,630 visitors and remains the region’s most visited attraction. It recently completed its Remaking Beamish project, which included the recreation of a 1950s town developed with community input. The project involved more than 32,000 community members, 14,338 schoolchildren, and 35,000 volunteer hours to create 31 new exhibits.
The aged miners’ homes also opened in the past year, telling the story of the pioneering welfare provision for retired miners in County Durham.
The museum has been commended for its exceptional visitor experience, receiving the travellers’ choice award and the national visitor welcome award at the 2024 Museums + Heritage awards. It provides innovative educational programming for 40,000 schoolchildren annually.
The Horrible Histories author Terry Deary recently said he was a huge fan of Beamish. Back in the 1980s when he was working as an actor, Deary said he would take schoolchildren there and perform educational theatre to teach them “what war was about” – including stories of bewildered soldiers returning home, and deserters.
Beamish was one of five finalists. The other shortlisted museums were Chapter (Cardiff), Compton Verney (Warwickshire), Golden Thread Gallery (Belfast), Perth Museum (Perth & Kinross), which will each receive £15,000. The museums were commended for their deep connection with their local communities and areas.
The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the award recognised “the extraordinary contribution that Beamish has made to celebrate the heritage of the north-east and to showcase this to the world through thousands of visitors every year”.