Saltwell Park Museum at the Shipley

This display features glassware and ceramics, taxidermy, bird eggs, insects, minerals, fossils and geology, as well as objects donated from Gateshead residents.

Many of the items on display were on show in the museum at Saltwell Towers in Saltwell Park until the late 1960s, by which time the house had fallen into disrepair and the collections were at risk. In 1974, when Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums took over the running of the Shipley Art Gallery the collections were rescued and stored safely, but this is the first time that objects from the old museum have been brought together again for display.

The refurbishment of the gallery and the display were made possible through funding from the DCMS Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.