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
05
Oct
+ more
Think Human
09
Oct
Stargazing with Derby and District Astronomical Society
19
Oct
Make your own JackTar Bag Workshop
26
Oct
Assemble: Derby’s Making Festival 2024
30
Oct
Makes inspired by Think Human
02
Nov
Saturday Art Club Taster session
09
Nov
Design a Derby Symbol
13
Nov
+ more
Derby CAMRA Heritage Beer Festival
16
Nov
Is Making It Really Faking It?
23
Nov
Book and Craft Market - Part of Derby Book Festival: Autumn Edition
23
Nov
Human Inventions: Izzy Gizmo - Part of Derby Book Festival: Autumn Edition
29
Nov
+ more
Christmas Ball at the Italian Mill
30
Nov
Festive Derby: Christmas crafts
14
Feb
+ more
UK Ghost Story Festival 2025
16
Mar
Wedding Fair at The Italian Mill 2025