industrial archaeology – Industrial Heritage Networks

SS Great Britain Launches Fundraiser to Complete Museum Renovation Project

March 5, 2026mikenevell

The SS Great Britain Trust is looking to raise the final £180,000 over the next six weeks to help complete the major reinvention project of the museum, which lies next to the historic ship in the Floating Harbour. On 23 February, the old Dockyard Museum closed to make way for a refreshed museum scheduled to open in July 2026. This will bring to life the remarkable stories of the passengers and crew who travelled and worked aboard the SS Great Britain. Alongside the revamped museum there will be a new community hub, a safe and accessible space for local groups to gather, research, and host workshops.

With £1.3m in investment already secured, the Trust are calling on visitors, local businesses, supporters worldwide, and the people of Bristol to get involved and help make the new museum a reality. The Dockyard Museum is being redesigned as an immersive experience focused on the “untold stories” of passengers who travelled aboard the SS Great Britain to destinations including New York, India and the Falkland Islands. The Trust has said that the “much-needed makeover” will “reveal stories from more of the passengers on board the SS Great Britain, but it will also allow today’s audiences to resonate with her history in an entirely new way”.

Further details on how to donate can be found here: All Hands On Deck – SS Great Britain

Friends of Bennerley Viaduct Launch Crowdfunder to Build New Footbridge

March 4, 2026March 3, 2026mikenevell

The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct were formed in 2019 as a community charity to help save and make accessible the Bennerley Viaduct and its surrounding environment. The Bennerley Viaduct is a Grade II* listed former Railway Viaduct connecting Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire through the towns of Kimberley and Ilkeston. The Friends‘ goal is to preserve the viaduct and its immediate surrounding area for future generations. As part of this aim they are looking to secure funding to create a new crossing over the River Erewash and to pay for materials that will help to secure the river bank that the bridge will cross.

Not only will the new footbridge over the River Erewash increase access to the viaduct and its surrounding environment, but it will also help to secure the riverbank to prevent its erosion, and so help to secure the future of the viaduct. The Friends target is £10,000, which will act as match-funding for a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid.

To contribute follow this link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/new-footbridge-next-to-bennerley-viaduct-second-pledge

*Image of the proposed new footbridge beneath the ‘iron giant’. Image courtesy of the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct.*

Museum Association Bids Farewell to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

March 3, 2026mikenevell

The 2nd March 2026 marked the start of a new era within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, as the National Trust took over the 10 museums, 35 scheduled monuments and listed buildings, and 400,000 archives of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT). The museums closed for the last time under IGMT control on the 22 February, which was marked by a special parade and ceremony of staff, volunteers, and friends at Blists Hill open air museum, the final site to close on that day.

To celebrate 60 years of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, the Museums Association interviewed the Collections team for their thoughts on IGMT and its legacy. You can read the full article, and reminescences by Kate Cademan (Collections Curator) and Jo Smith (Registrar), here: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/people/2026/02/bidding-farewell-to-the-ironbridge-gorge-museum-trust/#

The National Trust is planning a phased reopening of each site over the following months. The  anticipated reopening timeline is as follows:   

Museum of the Gorge and Toll House from late April 2026 
Blists Hill, Museum of Iron and The Old Furnace from mid-May 2026 
Enginuity from summer 2026 (school visits from April 2026) 
Coalport China Museum, Jackfield Tile Museum, Darby Houses, Tar Tunnel and Broseley Pipeworks will open later.

Further details here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/shropshire-staffordshire/our-work/our-work-in-shropshire/ironbridge-museums

**Staff, volunteers, and friends gather at Blists Hill to say farewell to IGMT, on 22 February 2026.**

Land of Iron Museum Looking to Recruit a New Museum Manager

February 19, 2026mikenevell

The Land of Iron is currently looking to recruit a new Museum Manager. They are seeking someone with a heritage background and an entrepreneurial mindset to lead their vision of being an asset to both the nation and the region.

Over the last 12 months, with support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Museum has created new jobs, strengthened its community outreach, and expanded lifelong learning initiatives. As a result of this investment, this is an exciting time to join the charity as Museum Manager.

Land of Iron is a visitor attraction and museum on the site of the first ironstone mine in East Cleveland, in the coastal village of Skinningrove. Visitors can experience the rich and fascinating history of the area, taking them back 150 years to the Industrial Revolution, when the area and its people supplied over a third of the world’s iron and steel.

Deatils on how to apply are here: https://landofiron.org.uk/opportunities/museum-manager

*Land of Iron Musuem, Cleveland. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

AIA Events in 2026: Norwich Annual Conference

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026mikenevell

The Association for Industrial Archaeology’s (AIA) 2026 conference will be based at Norwich, England, from the 4th to 9th September. The East Anglian counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire have a rich history of Industrial Heritage including wind and water mills, maritime and port industries, agriculture, and the associated manufacture of agricultural machinery and food processing.

The 2026 programme will follow the usual format, starting on the Friday evening with an informal dinner followed by a talk introducing the Industrial Heritage of East Anglia. On Saturday there will be a full day of talks on local topics, presentations to and by award winners, and the Conference Dinner. On Sunday morning there will be AIA’s AGM followed by the Rolt Lecture. From Sunday afternoon until Wednesday lunchtime there will be a number of site visits across the three counties. Lunches, informal evening dinners and talks are included. Full details and booking will be available on the conference pages of the AIA website in due course. Recordings of the 2025 Bradford Conference are now available on the AIA YouTube channel.

For more information, including booking details, please visit the events pages of the AIA website.

*View of Carrow Works and the River Wensum, Norwich c 1870. The home of Colman’s Mustard (unknown artist). From the Norfolk Museums Collections*

South Wales & West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference 2026 (SWWERIAC) Open for Booking

February 6, 2026February 5, 2026mikenevell

The Worcestershire Industrial Archaeology & Local History Society (WIA&LHS) is hosting the South Wales & West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference (SWWERIAC) on Saturday 18^th April 2026 at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove B60 4JR.

Get set for a day of engaging talks from leading speakers and a chance to explore Avoncroft’s remarkable open-air collection. The museum, home to over 30 rescued and reconstructed historic buildings spanning seven centuries, provides a unique backdrop. Highlights include the UK’s National Collection of Telephone Kiosks, working historic windmill, and a selection of timber-framed, brick, and prefabricated structures including a chain shop, nail workshop, sawmill, and icehouse. This inspiring setting promises a rich blend of learning, discussion, and heritage discovery.

Tickets cost £28 per person and include:

Six speakers covering a wide range of industrial heritage in Worcestershire
Access to the museum’s entire collection
Two 30-minute dedicated tours of the telephone kiosk collection and windmill
Buffet lunch including cold meats, new potatoes, crusty bread, and a selection of salads and cheese
Unlimited hot and cold soft drinks
Free parking

Society chairman Dr John Beale said “Avoncroft is home to 30 historic buildings and structures across a 19-acre site. For this reason, we have scheduled a 2-hour lunch break so that delegates can see the museum exhibits either self-guided and/or the dedicated tours of the 19th century windmill and the National Telephone Kiosk Collection. This marks a departure from the traditional arrangement of offsite visits as there is so much to see at Avoncroft.”

Get your tickets by submitting an online or Microsoft Word booking form available at https://wialhs.org.uk/swweriac2026/ or contact conference@wialhs.org.uk

*Avoncroft’s National Collection of Telephone Kiosks. Image copyright WIA&LHS.*

South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference 2026 Open for Booking

January 30, 2026mikenevell

The 2026 South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference (SERIAC) will take place on 25 April at Stanley Arts, South Norwood, London, from 10.30 to 16.45.

The day will consist of papers from members of the constituent societies in the region, including topcis such as Brunel’s Viaducts and Reading’s Other Industries. Display Space will be available for those Societies who wish. An optional box lunch will also be available. Further details here:

SERIAC_2026_NL Download

Book your tickets online via this link: https://tinyurl.com/SERIAC-2026

Industrial Sites Listed by Historic England in 2025

January 5, 2026January 2, 2026mikenevell

199 sites in England were newly protected by the DCMS on the recommendation of Historic England during 2025, including 173 listed structures, 21 scheduled monuments, and five parks and gardens. Ranging from a Neolithic burial mound dating to 3400 BC in the Yorkshire Dales to an exceptionally rare shipwreck lost in 1903 known as the Pin Wreck in Dorset, the newly protected sites include a number of industrial heritage structures.

Industrial heritage sites newly protected are:

Adams Heritage Centre, 17 Main Street, Littleport, Cambridgeshire
Cast-iron guideposts (finger posts), Ashley, Cheshire
Cleveland Bay public house and proto-railway station, Durham
Cast-iron coal duty boundary markers, Essex
Cowran Bridge, Skellion Bridge and revetment walls to Cowran cutting on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Drive Cottage and former motor garage, Devon
Electricity junction boxes, Worcester
Flockton Wagonway Viaduct, West Yorkshire
Havenstreet railway station building, Isle of Wight
K6 telephone kiosk, Barnsley
K6 telephone kiosk, St Andrews Street, Cambridgeshire
K8 telephone kiosk, Ferndown, Dorset
Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal milestones
Railway Overbridge, Swanage, Dorset
Sheringham Railway Station, Norfolk
Swanage locomotive shed, turntable pit and retaining wall, Dorset
Submarine telephone cable hauler and gantry at Enderby’s Wharf, Royal Borough of Greenwich
Turnbridge Mills (Hirst’s Mill), spinning block, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Weybourne Railway Station, Norfolk

Several industrial sites also recieved increased protection, including Draper’s Windmill, Kent, upgraded from II to II* listing. For further details of all new listings follow this link: https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/19-remarkable-places-granted-protection-in-2025/

Industrial Heritage Sites in England Continued to Struggle with Visitor Numbers and Finance in 2025

January 1, 2026February 24, 2026mikenevell

A survey of industrial heritage organisations in England during the second half of 2025 has indicated that a majority of sites have still not seen visitor numbers return to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, that volunteer recruitment remains difficult, and that a record number of sites have closed. The survey of industrial heritage organisations was carried out by the industrial Heritage Survey project during the regional industrial heritage network meetings run as part of the project.

71 industrial heritage organisations attended 10 in-person regional network meetings between June and December 2025. All the organisations reported an increase in visitor numbers, but a majority reported that these numbers had not returned to pre-pandemic 2019 levels. This trend was noted in the wider museum sector in England, in the Annual Museum Survey undertaken by Museum Development England with support from Arts Council England. Worryingly, 2025 saw a rise in industrial museum closures to eight sites, compared to 2024, a record number of closures since the project started tracking these in 2020, with industrial sites being particularly vulnerable to closure compared to the wider museum sector.

Furthermore, industrial heritage sites reported that the recruitment of volunteers remained difficult for many sites, although numbers a majority of sites have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, a trend in line with the Annual Museum Survey. All the industrial heritage organisations attending the regional network meetings noted that the continuing rise in the costs of fuel, heating, and maintenance was putting a strain on day-to-day finances and reserves.

*The Museum of Cannock Chase, which closed in April 2025. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

Sandford Awards 2026 Now Open for Heritage Submissions

December 24, 2025December 12, 2025mikenevell

Entries for the Sandford Awards 2026 are now open to all heritage organisations large and local, urban and rural, across the UK that have a site and/or a collection and deliver a formal learning programme.

The Sandford Awards provide a framework for success whether you are looking to gain the recognition your learning programmes deserve or seeking to develop the quality of your learning provision. The closing date for applications is Friday 13 February 2026. The winners in 2025 included several industrial-related sites: Bridging the Tamar Visitor and Learning Centre; the Chiltern Open Air Museum; Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum; Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum; and The Food Museum.

For more details on the awards frollow this link: https://www.heritageeducationtrust.org/about-the-sandford-award

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Category: industrial archaeology