Woodhorn Museum, a mining museum in North East England, is marking 20 years this October since it re-opened, after a £16m redevelopment which created exhibition spaces, community, and learning facilities and a cafe. The renovation also restored the colliery’s two heapsteads or pit heads, which are again undergoing restoration work. Since 2025 the former colliery has been run by North East Museums, which runs 12 museums across the region.
The 2006 scheme included the opening of the Cutter Building, which became a permanent home for the Ashington Group (also known as the Pitmen Painters) collection of artworks, alongside the collections of Northumberland Archives. The Woodhorn Museum, which is located in what was once the largest pit village in the world, chronicles the life of the Ashington coalmining community. Jo Raw, Northumberland venues manager for North East Museums, said: “Completing the restoration of the heapsteads makes this anniversary particularly special, allowing us to protect an important part of our industrial heritage while reopening more of the historic site for visitors to enjoy.”
The site is also looking to develop a low carbon future. It is part of the Borderlands Energy Investment Programme (BEIP) which aims to provide a strategic opportunity to accelerate the region’s transition to net zero. Across a range of sites it will seek to reduce carbon emissions, strengthen energy resilience, and create new green jobs and skills in South Scotland and the North of England.
The ‘Powering the Past and the Future’ project at Woodhorn Museum is led by Northumberland County Council, and will install ground source heat pumps (GSHP), solar panels, LED lighting upgrades, solar carports and battery storage at the former colliery. Using the region’s industrial heritage, it will showcase the economic and environmental benefits of low-carbon technologies, reduce the museum’s carbon footprint and energy costs, enhance the visitor experience, and support local STEM education.
Further details of this new project can be found here: Borderlands Energy Investment Programme
