Nottingham Industrial Museum 2025

Steam Hall

The purpose-built Steam Hall hugs the impressive Basford Beam Engine. One of a pair of engines built in 1858 by R.W Hawthorn in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it was installed at Basford Pumping Station to supply fresh water to the City of Nottingham. You can also see a pair of Fowler steam ploughing engines, static steam and diesel engines, miniature steam engines and a model railway.

Transport Gallery
The gallery includes a Brough Superior car, one of only four saloons made, alongside a Celer, believed to be the only example existing. You will also find our collection of Brough Superior motorbikes, including some non-production models and a significant collection of Raleigh cycles.

Textiles
In this gallery, you will learn about the fascinating lives of the men, women and children who worked in the textile factories that made Nottingham the lace capital of the world. The gallery features some of the earliest and most important machinery of its type in the country, most of which was built in the Nottingham area. The collection includes three hand knitting frames for producing woollen goods.

Gin Yard
A large horse Gin Wheel dominates our outdoor space. The wooden structure used to bring coal to the surface in a local colliery. Surrounding the Yard are a series of workshops, a coal truck on rails and a recently restored Living Van.

Local Industries Gallery
This gallery includes a number of turret (or public) clocks, a collection of telephones and other telecommunications material (donated by Plessey Co., latterly Siemens), in addition to early printing machines and a series of wireless receivers. We even have a model spark transmitter which you can use to send Morse Code messages.