Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Contact details
Silk Mill Lane
Derby
DE1 3AF
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Description
Winner of the Bronze award at the 2024 Peak District, Derbyshire & Derby Tourism Awards for Visitor Attraction of the Year
THE MUSEUM OF MAKING: A GREAT ADDITION TO THE CITY OF MAKERS
A visitor attraction like no other
The brand-new Museum of Making has thrown open its doors to visitors from Derby and beyond, showcasing the region’s 300-year history of making and celebrating its rich history of innovation.
The Museum of Making is located on a site of global significance, where the Derby Silk Mill – widely regarded as the site of the world’s first modern factory – first stood over 300 years ago. This new visitor attraction is also located in the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the key sites of the industrial revolution - something that will appeal to visitors from far and wide.
This is no ordinary museum. It has been created and built by the people and industries of Derby, with hundreds of local volunteers helping to shape and design the way the museum will work for visitors. It will also tell the story of making in the region to help inspire visitors to unleash their creativity and start making.
Some stand-out elements to the new museum that visitors can enjoy include:
- Entering the new museum via the Grade I listed Bakewell Gates. Designed by master ironmaker Robert Bakewell, the gates have stood proudly at the front of the Silk Mill in Derby since 1725
- They will be able to make their own bespoke trail through the amazing 30,000 collections, which are displayed and shared in unique ways.
- A seven tonne Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine suspended in the new Civic Hall above visitors’ heads
- The much-loved Midland Model Railway, located in the Railway Gallery
- The world’s smallest engine run using a human hair
Derby Silk Mill circa 1908 (L), and in the modern day (C), and an impression of the new Museum of Making (R).
Credit Derby Museums (L, C) and Bauman Lyons Architects (R).
A stunning building and a new place to meet
As well as being an exciting new visitor attraction, the Museum of Making will also provide a range of versatile spaces for locals and visitors alike. From fully appointed and publicly accessible workshops (packed full of equipment for any making project including a CNC machine, laser cutters and textiles) where people can actively create and make, to ‘The River Kitchen’ - a stunning new setting to meet friends and eat and drink overlooking the banks of the beautiful River Derwent.
On top of this, visitors to the Museum of Making can also enjoy:
- A new viewing gallery at the top of the museum’s tower which looks out across the city and the beautiful Derbyshire countryside
- The retail shop which showcases the work of makers, creators and designers from across the region to find new and unique products
- Venue hire spaces which can cater for a variety of events, from small business meetings to large scale conferences - and even bespoke weddings like no other!
The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine being installed in the Civic Hall in August 2019 (L) and the world’s smallest engine, ran by a human hair (R). Credit Speller Metcalfe (L) and Derby Museums (R).
Inspiring and supporting the makers of tomorrow
The new museum will also be the home of the Institute of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths), a key educational resource for Derby and the wider UK generously supported by Rolls-Royce. New start-ups and makers will also have access to a new co-working space ‘The Prospect’, and young people will be inspired to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems when the Midlands Maker Challenge competition is launched in 2021 (generously supported by Midlands-based IMI plc.).
An impression of the new Civic Hall (L) and The Assemblage (R). Credit The Creative Core.
How the Museum of Making is being funded
The Museum of Making has been developed by Derby Museums, an independent charitable trust that also manages the Museum and Art Gallery and Pickford’s House in Derby. This £18m project is being funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and a range of trusts, foundations and businesses.
Discover more of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site
Listing photographs credit: Pictoria Pictures and Chris Seddon Photography
Events at this venue
09
Jun
Melodic Moments
21
Apr
+ more
Field to Fashion Exhibition
04
May
Museum Matinees: Stitch In time! A Knitting Cabaret
12
May
Brahms’ Horn Trio
22
May
Laura Deller: Nailed It! - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
25
May
James Macintyre: Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
26
May
Morning Coffee with Gail Crowther: Marilyn And Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
27
May
Workshop: These Are My Rocks - A story about Collecting - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
27
May
Alison Weir: The Boleyn Secret - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
27
May
Edmond Smith: Ruthless: A New History of Britain’s Rise to Wealth and Power, 1660-1800 - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
28
May
Marketing Derby Bondholder Event: Ben Aitken: London 0 Derby 4 - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
28
May
STEAM Babies - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
28
May
Cream Tea with Kate Strasdin: Dressing the Queen - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
29
May
Cream Tea with Clare Hunter: Making Matters - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026
30
May
75 Years of the Model Railway with Pete Waterman
06
Jun
Derby – Osnabruck 50:50 at the Museum of Making
31
Jul
The Craft and Making Saturday Club – Making Mosaics
31
Jul
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Paper Making
01
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Blacksmithing (Afternoon)
01
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Blacksmithing (Morning)
06
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Ceramics (Afternoon)
06
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Ceramics (Morning)
07
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Learn to Sew
07
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Electro Embroidery
20
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Cyanotypes
20
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Jewellery Making
21
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Stained Glass (Afternoon)
21
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Stained Glass (Morning)
26
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Toy Theatres
26
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Character Design
27
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Tinsmithing
27
Aug
The Craft & Making Summer Club – Woodwork Frames