Archaeological collection
Much of the Society's famous archaeological collection is on display in the Great North Museum: Hancock, under an agreement with Tyne and Wear Museums, along with those of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and the Shefton Museum. Opening hours for the museum are 10.00-5.00 Monday to Friday, 10.00-4.00 Saturday, 11.00-4.00 Sunday.
Our collections range from the Palaeolithic period through to the Tudors and Stuarts with world famous artefacts such as
- the Tribley Shield, one of the first objects to be donated to the Society in 1813,
- the Milecastle 38 inscription, which proved that Hadrian was responsible for building Hadrian's Wall,
- the Aemilia finger-ring, possibly the earliest Christian artefact from Roman Britain,
- the Rothbury Cross, the earliest known Rood in Britain
and many more. We also have extensive Social History collections, housed across a wide spectrum of museums in the north of England, including the Discovery Museum, Beamish, and Bellingham Heritage Centre.
We are in the process of building a Virtual Museum; so far, this includes details of some of our latest acquisitions, and links to YouTube clips of members talking about some of their favourite objects in our collection.