industrial archaeology – Page 2 – Industrial Heritage Networks

Summer Industrial Heritage Exhibitions to Visit

July 20, 2026July 20, 2026mikenevell

As the summer holidays approach, and the festival of archaeology begins, there are many exhibitions at industrial heritage sites and museums available to visit. Here are three industrial heritage sites showcasing restored buildings, images of industry, and local communities.

Shuttles, Steam and Soot premiered at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum from 8 July 2026 before touring to other Lancashire locations. This facsimile exhibition recreates an original touring show from the 1970s, when these extraordinary photographs were taken, documenting working life in Queen Street Mill, Bancroft Shed in Barnoldswick and even atop a 150 foot chimney stack! Follow this link: Daniel Meadows: Shuttles, Steam and Soot – Pendle Radicals

The Staffordshire Potteries Water Board and Potteries Central Savings Bank is hosting pop-up exhibitions, beginning with artwork produced by students from Pinc College, which runs creative study programmes for neurodivergent young people. Known as One Bethesda, building restoration charity Re-Form Heritage, which runs Middleport Pottery, is working with its owner on future possible uses. Further details here: One Bethesda comes to life with Free Pinc College Pop-Up exhibition this Summer!

The Lion Salt Works is presenting an online exhibition about the history and uses of salt, A Brine Romance. To visit the exhibition follow this link: A Brine Romance | West Cheshire Museums

*One of the preserved open pans at the Lion Salt Woks, Cheshire. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

Festival of Archaeology 2026: Industrial Sites & Events

July 14, 2026mikenevell

The 2026 Festival of Archaeology, organised by the Council for Brityish Archaeology (CBA), includes more than 1200 events running from 18th July to 2nd August. Amongst these are many industrial archaoelogy and heritage related events.

Amongst the industrial archaeology and heritage events are:

Excavation of a small late 18th/early 19th century tile kiln and associated anomalies, Shorne Woods Country Park, Gravesend, Kent
Pinkery Canal Excavation, Exmoor National Park, built 1819-20, 8km long, and highest canal built in England
Archaeology Lab at Queens Street Mill, Lancashire
Tour of Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, Leics

There are also many talks and walks on industrial subjects across England and Wales. To explore the events on offer for the Festival follow this link: Festival of Archaeology Council for British Archaeology

The theme for the 2026 CBA Festival of Archaeology is “Archaeology and Nature”. Archaeology and nature are interconnected revealing how humans have lived with, shaped, and been shaped by the environment around them. By exploring the past using the climate, geology, animals, plants, landscapes and the effect of nature on archaeological sites and buildings today, we can understand how places and communities evolve and develop.

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is a leading educational charity dedicated to championing and promoting engagement in archaeology and supporting grassroots archaeologists across the UK. Established in 1944, they have a long history of championing public participation in archaeology, aiming to connect diverse communities with the heritage of our shared past.

DCMS Launches Call for Evidence for National Lottery Future Funding Model

July 13, 2026July 20, 2026mikenevell

The UK Government has launched a call for evidence on National Lottery Good Causes funding to help shape its future investment priorities. The 12-week consultation, National Lottery Good Causes: Fund What Matters To You, is open to members of the public, organisations, and community groups across the UK. This is the first major review of National Lottery Good Causes funding in more than 20 years.

The National Lottery is a crucial source of funding for museums and heritage. Since being established in 1994 it has awarded £9.5bn to more than 53,000 projects across the UK via the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This includes hundreds of industrial heritage sites and projects in England alone.

The UK Government is asking lottery players, organisations, and communities for views on what is working and how funding could be improved in the future. The review aims to make funding more accessible and give local people a greater say in how money is used in their communities. Under legislation, heritage receives 20% of annual National Lottery Good Causes distributions.

The consultation is open until 23 September 2026. More details about the call for evidence and how to contribute here: Public to have their say on National Lottery Good Causes – GOV.UK

To respond to the call follow this link: (Call for Evidence) National Lottery Good Causes – Fund What Matters To You

AIA Norwich 2026 Conference Bookings Still Open

July 6, 2026July 3, 2026mikenevell

The 2026 Association for Industrial Archaeology Conference is taking place at Norwich, Norfolk, in the east of England, in September. Places for the annual event are still available, providing an opportunity to explore the industrial archaeology of the city and its region.

The main part of the conference, on the 5th and 6th September, will explore the city’s electricity supply, East Anglian maltings, and the archaeology of the Herring fishing industry. The Annual Rolt Memorial Lecture on the Sunday will be given by Dr Russell Thomas on ‘From Gasworks to Heritage: Reading, Re-using, and Remembering the Gas industry’. A series of industrial archaeology tours across the region will take palce from 6th to 9th September, including windmills, pumping stations, and engineering works.

Flexible booking is available for the main weekend conference, with a deadline of 24th July, whilst online-only attendance for the weekend events can be booked up to 1^st September 2026. To book a place on the conference follow this link: Annual Conference – The Association for Industrial Archaeology

*Stationary steam engine at the Cambridge Museum of Technology. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

Iron Bridge Documents Recieve UNESCO Recognition

July 3, 2026July 2, 2026mikenevell

Three original documents relating to the building of the Iron Bridge in Ironbridge, Shropshire, have recieved recogntion from UNESCO’ s ‘Memory of the World’ (MOW) programme. This scheme protects humanity’s vital documentary heritage from being lost or forgotten. While some UNESCO programmes save historic buildings, this initiative preserves fragile archives, manuscripts, and library collections. Other British inscriptions include the Magna Carta, the Domesday Book, Charles Darwin’s archive, and documents tracking the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

The three Ironbridge documents added to the UK MOW relate to the building of the Iron Bridge in the 1770s, and are held in the archives of the National Trust Ironbridge Gorge Museums. They are:

An estimate for erecting a cast iron bridge with stone abutments over the River Severn between Madeley and Broseley, dated September 1775.
An Iron Bridge Share Certificate No. 10, issued to Abraham Darby, 20 October 1777, with three red wax seals. The item is countersigned in 1782 and again in 1819.
Abraham Darby III’s Ledger, 1771-1781. The personal business interests of Abraham Darby III for this period are listed alphabetically in the index at the front of the volume. Included are brickworks, roads and turnpikes, limeworks, house expenses, and the iron foundry at Ketley.

The three items cover the financial context for the building of the Iron Bridge. Their provenance is known, and is secure and all are in excellent condition. The documents will be on display in the entrance to the Museum of Iron in Coialbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire, from the 15th July for two weeks for visitors to see for free as a celebratation of their addition to the Memory of the World prgamme. There will also be a family trail to highlight other significant objects related to the iron bridge throughout the museum.

The UNESCO listing and detailed images of the documents can be found here: Documentary heritage relating to the building of the Iron Bridge, Shropshire | UNESCO in the UK

UNESCO World Heritage UK Launch New Online Industrial Heritage Trail

July 2, 2026mikenevell

UNESCO World Heritage UK has launched a new online Industrial Heritage Trail linking industrial world heritage sites, landscapes, global geoparks, cities of literature and film, and several of the UK’s Tentative List sites. The trail covers locations in England, Scotland, and Wales in a digital journey that runs from Cornwall to the Firth of Forth.

These 20 sites tell the story of industry from the top to the bottom of Britain, ranging from mills, mines, and quarries to canals, railways, and industrial cities. The intention is to ‘connect places and landscape shaped by innovation, labour and geology, inviting visitors to explore how industry transformed everyday life and left a lasting cutlural legacy’.

To access the trail follow this link: Industrial Heritage Trail

ABTEM – Support for Transport & Engineering Museums

June 15, 2026mikenevell

The Association of British Transport and Engineering Museums (ABTEM) and London Transport Museum are offering specialist support to museums with industrial, transport, or engineering related collections in the form of online advice sessions, email support, and physical visits. ABTEM is a non-profit-making group that exists to provide a forum for the discussion of matters of common interest to transport and engineering museums and to provide a means of representing their views on issues of national and regional concern and is recognised by the Arts Council England (ACE) as a Subject Specialist Network (SSN). They hold regular meetings at museums and heritage sites in the UK.

Lis Chard-Cooper is an ABTEM Committee member and the Vehicles and Engineering Curator, LTM, is now able to offer support sessions to the wider sector. Lis has over 25 years’ experience working with a range of different industrial, science and engineering collections across the country. She has been a peer reviewer, adviser and museum mentor on many occasions.

Industrial objects can often be overlooked in a general collection or staff feel less confident with handling them or concerned with the hazards they might pose. If you are a museum or member of staff with lots or simply just one or two big things but who have little experience or time, please do reach out. The support on offer can take whatever form is most useful to the enquirer, for example a “virtual tea and biscuits” online advice sessions, quick email support answering conservation or storage questions or even a follow up physical visit to a site within the UK. It could be help with collection reviews, or help connecting to a specialist for detailed advice.

Although no charge is made for the time devoted to this support activity, ABTEM would like the recipient museum to complete a short survey to help shape the future support it can offer. Should any on-site visits be needed the recipient museum will be expected to cover any travel costs.

If you have a question or want some guidance, please email your query to: elisabeth.chardcooper@ltmuseum.co.uk

For further details follow these links:

ABTEM Guidelines: GUIDELINES FOR THE CARE OF LARGER & WORKING HISTORIC OBJECTS

More Grants for Industrial Heritage Sites in England, Spring 2026

June 8, 2026mikenevell

This spring three more Industrial Heritage sites in northern England have been awarded grants from a variety of funding sources. These are the Liverpool Martime Museum, the National Railway Museum in York, and the Oswaldtwistle Mills Heritage Centre in Lancashire.

Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum have received £19 million from the Department of Culture Media and Sport’s Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund. The Maritime Museum was opened fully to the public in 1986 as part of the regeneration of the Albert Dock. The International Slavery Museum opened in 2007. The new redevelopment of both museums is the cornerstone of National Museums Liverpool’s Waterfront Transformation Project, reimagining the area between Royal Albert Dock and Mann Island, combining storytelling, heritage, community and connectivity in the Grade I-listed buildings – Hartley Pavilion and Dr Martin Luther King Jr Building (previously the Dock Traffic Office). The Maritime Museum will see significant regeneration to enable the museum to show a more comprehensive and coherent vision of Liverpool’s maritime story, with a new entrance and new galleries. Further details here: £19 million funding boost | National Museums Liverpool

The National Railway Museum in York has been awarded an addtional £3 million form the UK Government towards the construction work on the Central Hall, a project planned to increase visitors to the museum. Providing level access throughout the site, Central Hall will unify the museum, with new gallery space highlighting innovative technologies and the impact of the railways on everyday life. Further details here: Central Hall | National Railway Museum

The Oswaldtwistle Mills Heritage Centre in Lancashire, has been awarded £178K from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The money will be used to conserve, repair, and re-open the listed weaving shed that houses the Oswaldtwistle Heritage Centre, within the former Moscow Mill. Established in 1996, the heritage centre houses historic Jacquard looms, archives, and personal stories that reflect over 177 years of continuous textile production. However, due to roof damage and resulting safety concerns, the centre has been closed for several years. It will transform access to this heritage by working with nine local primary schools to co-create a modern education programme for Years 1 and 2, ensuring young people can connect with their local history. Further details here: Lottery grant to restore Oswaldtwistle Mills Heritage Centre | Lancashire Telegraph

*National Heritage Lottery Funding will help to restore and re-open the Oswaldtwistle Heritage Centre in Accrington. Image courtesy of Oswaldtwistle Mills.*

Festival of Archaeology 2026 – Free Support Sessions for Organisers

June 3, 2026mikenevell

The theme for the 2026 CBA Festival of Archaeology is “Archaeology and Nature”, with the Festival taking place across the UK from Saturday 18th July to Sunday 2nd August. Event listings and resource submissions for the 2026 Festival remain open, and the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is running a series of free support sessions for event organisers.

To run an event as part of the Festival follow this link: Organiser Area Council for British Archaeology

To book a free support session on how to organise an event follow this link: Festival of Archaeology 2026 Support Session 5 Council for British Archaeology

The Festival of Archaeology takes place over 16 days in July each year but beyond that, there are plenty of other ways to discover archaeology and heritage across the UK throughout the year. Follow this link to discover more about the Festival and about CBA’s role in promoting archaeology: Council for British Archaeology

Heritage Open Days 2026 Event Directory Now Live

June 1, 2026mikenevell

The Heritage Open Days 2026 event directory is now live, with over 1,600 free events across England from 11 to 20 September already listed. Each year, millions of people take part in the nationwide celebration of local heritage, community, and history. The festival is managed by the National Trust and supported by Postcode Lottery players, and delivered locally by thousands of organisations and volunteers.

This year’s festival theme, ‘Everyday Histories’, and there is still plenty of time to register an event, with the application deadline being 13 August. The 2026 festival will feature a wide range of places that normally charge for events outside of the festival, along with free sites offering something extra special and many venues that are not usually open to the public. Organisers are invited to explore the varied and often overlooked stories of ordinary working people and their daily lives. From factory floors, workhouses and high streets to kitchens, schools, and community centres, this theme shines a light on working-class voices, local superheroes and the part-of-the-furniture places that have quietly shaped England’s heritage.

Industrial Heritage sites have a long tradition of putting on engaging free events for Heritage Open Days. For further details follow the link here: Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary: Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s Everyday Histories

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